This Kiss

Chapter 118

A/N: Sorry for the delay our new foster to adopt baby has some medical needs that took up most of my time the last couple of weeks. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading.

The jury had been in deliberation for well over five hours. Dinner had been delivered and consumed and still they just couldn't agree.

"I cannot commit to a guilty plea. Mr. Cooper's version of the events seems to be just as plausible as the Spencer-Rivera family's." Said juror number seven. He was a nice-looking man in his mid to late forties. No wedding band, but there was a light tan line around his left-hand ring finger, he was smug, and completely full of himself. He was the type of man that would want to defend a scumbag like Frank Cooper, thinking woman were possessions and not human beings. The others thought that perhaps he had a preconceived disliking for Olivia since he only seemed to want to point out her bad qualities of ripping apart marriages, and breaking hearts, refusing to even listen to anything positive about the woman. At one point the woman to his right was pretty sure she heard him mumble, "she got what she deserved," under his breath.

"How can you possibly believe that load of crap. That man put that family through hell. And to abuse a woman the way he did..." Juror number three countered. An older man with a well-worn wedding band proudly sitting on his left hand. The man had mentioned in no uncertain terms what he would do to anyone who dared touch his wife the way Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera had been abused.

"See, this is exactly what Mr. Carter was trying to point out about that woman. She is praying on the fact that you are women or married men, manipulating you into feeling sorry for her and refusing to see the truth. Olivia Spencer is no innocent woman; she is viper poised to attack at any moment. I have no doubt that she attacked Mr. Cooper without cause and he was merely defending himself." Juror seven all but screamed.

That's when it clicked for the jury foreman. This man had a personal vendetta against Olivia Spencer-Rivera and allowing her abuser to walk would be his revenge against whatever Olivia had done to him. It was clear by the way he spoke of her. He wasn't quoting facts from the trial; he was lashing out from personal anger towards the woman.

Clearing her throat, the foreman looked juror number seven straight in the eye. "I have to ask; do you have some sort of past with Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera?"

Juror seven swallowed hard and then schooled his features. "Of course not. That's absurd."

"Are you certain?" The foreman asked. "You sound awfully bias against her. As if you have some sort of personal vendetta with her." The woman with deep blue eyes and auburn hair in her late fifties asked, fake sweetness dripping from her voice.

"I assure you I have never met that vile woman before in my life." The man said, averting his eyes.

The foreman cleared her throat and then stood, walking to the door she peaked her head out and spoke with the bailiff. It didn't take long for judge Anderson to summon the foreman to his office. She explained how she and most of the other jurors felt that juror number seven had a large bias against Olivia and that he alone was holding up deliberations. She asked that the judge remove him.

"Removing him now would be cause for a mistrial Mrs. Foreman. It would be better suited to attempt to get him to vote as the rest of you have. If a decision cannot be made, he will be removed and we will motion for an alternate, however, if the prosecution or the defense fights against it, a mistrial is a huge possibility."

"Yes your honor." The foreman bowed her head and made her way back to the deliberation room. Once inside, she spoke with conviction. "Juror seven, the rest of us have made a clear decision on all charges in this case. Are you willing to change your vote to match the rest of us?"