Justin Time (Chapter 13) An original Novel

                                 

 

Link to beginning of story:

 https://steemit.com/fiction/@justephen/justin-time-chapter-1-an-original-novel 

Link to Chapter 12: The Jury

https://steemit.com/fiction/@justephen/justin-time-chapter-12-an-original-novel

Review Chapter 12:

Mark Hannity finds that he will be a juror for the high profile case concerning Katherine Time. William is warned that he may lose the Millionaire Moguls account because it could tarnish their reputation being associated with a potential law breaker and potential co-conspirator. Larry Van Morrison is courting the Millionaire Moguls to return to his upper class restaurant.

Chapter 13: The Trial

During the next week as the trial continued, Justin would continue practicing track and field. After school, he asked not be picked up, but would rather run home. Home was about a mile away and he would run through the east side of town past some shops, then down an ally behind some old warehouses and finally his residential neighborhood. He also liked to practice jumping over a variety of instruments including benches, rocks and anything else he could find. Justin had made up his mind that he would be on the track and field team in high school.

He also liked to conduct his own science experiments with the aid of Blair. There most recent one was of with Ruffus as their subject. They wanted to test how acute his senses were; particularly his hearing and smelling. They would place Ruffus and Blair in different rooms and locations in the house and then Justin would call Ruffus' name. Even though Blair couldn't hear Justin, he knew Ruffus could as Ruffus would run out of the room towards Justin. Many times his ears perked up first. Justin was amazed how softly he could speak and Ruffus would still hear him. The smell test was more difficult. Rather than testing the distance at which he can smell, they decided to test if Ruffus could tell if a substance was edible or not by smelling it. It was a chore attempting to blind fold Ruffus, but they were finally successful. They would put a variety of things in front of Ruffus including roast beef, pepper, ham, beer and bleach. Ruffus liked the roast beef and ham. He also liked the beer. When they put the pepper to his nose, they started to laugh as he could not stop sneezing. Finally, they couldn't get his nose anywhere near the bleach. Ruffus would persistently move backwards as to avoid anything to do with it. Being the professional scientists that they were, they always documented their experiments. They would start with their theory. They would test that theory and then reach their conclusion. They took their science very seriously. Although they put Ruffus through quite a trial, he did appreciate the attention.

During the second week of the trial, the plaintiff brought in a few more expert witnesses including head Nurse Decantor and finally the head Neurologist, Dr. Pearce.

"Dr. Pearce", began Attorney Richmond, "Did you have a patient named Justin Time?"

"Yes I did", answered Dr. Pearce.

"Please explain the events on the day that Justin came out of his coma as you remember them.",  asked Richmond.

Dr. Pearce carefully went over the events as he remembered them saying, "I first received a phone call from Nurse Latresky around 3:00 am telling me that Justin had awakened from his coma. She told me his vitals were find and he seemed very attentive. After a shower and early breakfast, I arrived at approximately 5:00 am. As I examined Justin, he seemed to be in miraculously good shape in every way possible. It appeared he had suffered no brain injury. That being said, brain injuries sometimes are difficult to diagnose even for a neurologist and sometimes symptoms can show up years later. Later in the early afternoon, we started taking a variety of tests including a C.A.T. scan and many blood tests. There was one unusual result regarding his blood test."

"And what was that Dr. Pearce?", asked Richmond.

"His blood showed positive for Phenobarbital.", said the doctor.

"Please explain to the jury what Phenobarbital is and how it can get into the blood system.", said Richmond.

"Of course. Phenobarbital is a barbiturate. It is a medical drug used for a variety of reasons usually though to stimulate the patient. There are only two ways Phenobarbital can enter the system. Either orally or by injection.", replied Dr. Pearce.

"Did you or any of your staff give Justin Phenobarbital?",asked Richmond.

"No.", answered Pearce.

In your expert opinion,", asked Richmond sarcastically, "Was Justin in any shape to take Phenobarbital by himself orally?"

"No. He must of been injected with this substance.", answered the Doctor.

"How do you know the exact time this substance Phenobarbital entered his system?", asked Richmond.
"Through our blood samples, we could tell that it had been injected anywhere from 6 to 16 hours."

"Once you discovered this, what happened next.", asked Richmond.

"Well, me and Nurse Decantor received that news around 3:00 am and were both alarmed. As nurse Decantor said when she was on that stand earlier, she decided that it was her civic duty to call the authorities."

"Thank you doctor. Your witness." said Richmond speaking to Paulson.

Paulson stood up and said, "No need to cross examine. The defendant never denied her role in Justin's miraculous recovery. Something that your expert witness Dr. Pearce couldn't do."

"Another comment like that Mr. Paulson and I will hold you in contempt of court. Stop trying to make a mockery of my courtroom."

"That went well.", whispered Katherine.

William Time was working that evening at the Gourmet Grille as the Millionaire Moguls had a very special charity event. This 'black tie' event supported an extra large crowd of over 300 people. William and his crew had prepared vigorously for the last few days for this very special event. The menu was beyond exquisite and they were charging $195.00 a plate which included unlimited alcohol and their best champagne. There was a live jazz band playing mostly from the 'swing music' era.
It was 1:00 am when Henry Longfellow approached a very spent William. 

Longfellow said, "What an incredible event William! You certainly outdid yourself today! I have something I need to tell you, but I want you to know that I am your biggest supporter. I am currently receiving pressure from my members and outside influences to leave the Gourmet Grille. Not one of them can argue that it is because of the food or service. We all think there is none better. As the trial with your wife attracts more media attention and your alleged contribution in it, we feel increased pressure to disassociate ourselves from you to preserve our reputation. The board and I made a decision that we will endure this until the outcome of the trial. We all agree that this decision is self serving to the degree that we love your food. Everything is resting on the outcome of the trial. If the jury decides your wife is guilty, then we feel our association with you would be too tarnished to endure. However, if they find her not guilty, then we will be demanding apologies from all the skeptics who insinuated that we compromised out principles."

"Thank you Mr. Longfellow", William replied, "I understand your position. Regardless of the outcome we will always continue to have the best food and service possible and we will always hold the Millionaire Moguls with highest regards."

The day before the closing arguments, the defendant had their final expert witness. "I now call to the stand clinical psychiatrist Dr. Lisa Halprin.", called James Paulson.

"Hello Dr. Halprin.", said Paulson kindly.

"Hello."

"Would you mind telling the jury your credentials?"

"I am a licensed psychiatrist and hypnotherapist. I received my BA and BS at UCLA and my PHD at Berkeley. I have written four New York Times best seller books on psychology. My best selling book was called the, The Mother's Psyche, where I show how mothers truly have innate instinct.", boasted Dr. Halprin.

"Thank you Dr. Halprin," said Paulson as he continued, "In your expert opinion, do you believe Katherine Time acted out of the ordinary?"

"After studying thousands of mothers throughout, not only the United States but the world, Katherine's reaction to save her only son was not only normal, but indeed expected. A mother's maternal instinct trumps any logic or reason. I have documented cases where a mother had rescued her baby who was underneath the tire of a two ton car. Certainly that defies logic and reason. The only difference with Katherine, is that she had the intelligence, the means and wherewithal to perform this procedure where other mothers or dare I say anyone else could not. Just because she is an intelligent scientist, that doesn't mean she is void of maternal motherly instincts. In Katherine's mind she had no choice. She did what she had to do. She did what virtually any mother in this courtroom or anywhere would do.", recited Dr. Lisa Halprin.

"Thank you Dr. Halprin. Your witness.", replied Paulson looking at Richmond.

"Thank you.", said Richmond and then continued, "Lisa, that was quite a..."

"Objection!", yelled Paulson, "This expert witness has gone through decades of schooling and is very prestigious in the medical community. She has earned the right to be called doctor."

"Fine. Dr. Lisa,"Interupted Richmond, "That was well practiced. I just have one question for you. Are mothers exempt from the law?"

"Objection", said Paulson, "This is an expert witness on psychology and not law."

"That's okay your honor. She doesn't need to answer that, I think everyone in this courtroom even if they're not a legal scholar can answer it.

"Tomorrow will be closing arguments. We start at 9:00 am tomorrow. Court is adjourned.", said the Judge.

The following day, Judge Jacoby got straight down to business. "Will the plaintiff please begin your closing statement."

"Thank you Judge. I want to start by thanking the gentlemen and ladies of the jury. You have all been very patient and I appreciate you sacrificing your time."

His closing argument reiterated the stack of evidence as well as the expert witnesses he had.

Finally he said, "In closing, the defendant herself does not deny breaking the law. They argue that she was justified to break the law. Nobody is above the law. World famous scientists as well as mothers must obey the law. If you allow Katherine Time to break the law because she is a mother, then you are setting a dangerous precedence giving all mothers permission to break the law as long as it is instinctual. This is one slippery slope that our society could not recover from. Please do the right thing. Katherine Time broke the law and she needs to be accountable. Thank you."

"Mr. Paulson, your closing argument.", said the Judge.

"Thank you Judge and thank you ladies and gentlemen.", started Paulson, "There is no slippery slope and there will be no precedence set. You are asked to judge just one case. This case. Katherine Time has been an upstanding citizen all her life. She had a horrific unimaginable situation thrown upon her. She and her only son Justin were hit by a drunk driver. Her only son was in a coma for nine months. The head neurologist gave up on Justin and suggested that Kathrine pull the plug. Katherine Time had nothing to lose as there is nothing more important to a mother than her only child. Katherine was blessed that what she specialized in, made her the sole person capable of saving her son. She did what she must. Please do not send this mother to jail. Her family including Justin has gone through enough torture. Thank You."

 "We will adjourn for the rest of the day. The jury can start deliberation Monday morning. I must remind you again that you are not permitted to discuss this case with anyone. See you Monday."

Sunday evening Judge Jacoby sat back in his outdoor lounge chair by the pool.
"I think the trial went incredibly well.", he said blowing a smoke ring from his cigar.

"That's great and my meeting with Wadsworth went well too.", said Bel De Flur owner, Larry Van Morrison.

"If we get a guilty verdict, The Millionaire Moguls will come back." he continued.

"When!," corrected Jacoby, "That is WHEN we get a guilty verdict."

"I have seen plenty of trials with plenty of jurors. I can tell with the exception of one maybe two people, the plaintiff has full control. The remaining one or two will be persuaded quite easily I am sure."

"I can't thank you enough.", said Van Morrison.

"No need to thank me. We have been best friends for a long time. This is the least I can do. You would do the same for me if you had that opportunity.", said Jacoby.

"That is very true! I would do anything for my friend, 'The Judge'.", he said smiling.

On Monday morning Judge Jacoby in his well rehearsed dissertation said, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, before deliberation, I have instructions. You have been  instructed to deliberate on six different charges. On each charge you will come with a verdict of guilty or not guilty. Those six charges are: Practicing surgical medicine without the appropriate medical license, the administering and injecting of an unauthorized experimental drug, the premeditation and conspiring to conduct an unauthorized surgery, child endangerment, the experimental drug use on a human and finally, child abuse. You will deliberate until 5:00 pm today and every weekday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm with a one hour lunch break until you reach a verdict. Thank you again and you are excused."

 The bailiff then escorted the Jury out of the courtroom.