After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 13

December 7, 1992. 8:58AM.

Courtroom 4 at the Chatham County Juvenile Court house was large; so large that it made Ralph feel like he could lose himself in it, and not in a good way. The chairs were that same glossy, dark burgundy-ish brown color that the front desk was. So was the judge's bench at the very front, the witness box beside it, and the attorneys' chairs and benches on that same side of the same awfully colored gate that separated the lawyers and the judge from the rest of the courtroom.

Only the primary defense attorney, the two leading prosecutors, and the judge would sit on the other side of the gate for most of the trial. All twenty two defendants, their personal attorneys and their families would all sit in the gallery. The rows of chairs reminded Ralph of old timey church pews; the kinds in the 1950s movies his mother liked to watch. Ralph sat down with Zoey and his parents in the right-hand second row. The rows were divided into two sections; split down the middle, the aise a clear pathway from the double doors to the gate witnesses would walk down to get from the gallery to the witness stand.

In the first row in front of Ralph's family was Andy's family. Ralph focused his eyes on the fiery red hair on the back of the boy's head. His mother too had bright red hair, his father's dusty brown. There was another redheaded child sitting beside Andy, a younger girl who Ralph assumed was the boy's sister. A moment later, a well-dressed man with slick black hair joined them. He sat beside Andy and started whispering in the boy's ear.

Ralph glanced around the room in the last minute before the clock would strike 9:00AM. He noticed sitting in the other rows were the families of some of the boys he saw out in the hall. He saw Tony's family on the other side of the aisle, and Peter's, Maurice's, Rapper's, Percival's, Sheraton's, and Will's. He also saw Jack, Paige, and Evan a few rows back on the left-hand side of the room. Ralph also noticed more of the little ones who weren't as little anymore and their families, and even Roger and both his parents sat a couple rows behind Ralph. When he finally saw Sam and Eric, one of the twins locked eyes with him before waving a small wave to him. Ralph simply smiled and nodded slightly in response. He couldn't find the strength to lift his hand.

When the quiet chatter stopped abruptly, Ralph turned to determine the cause. From a side door at the front of the courtroom, a man in a robe walked in and moved up to the judge's bench. He looked to be about sixty something, Ralph thought. His light brown hair had several strands of grey hairs mixed in, and he was taking his sweet time to get up to the bench.

Ralph was startled by the voice of the bailiff asking everyone to rise. He instinctively did as instructed, following suit with everyone around him. The bailiff swore in the jury, just like Zoey said he would. Then the judge addressed the jury, and then asked each of the presenting attorneys if they were ready to proceed. Hearing the voices of the two prosecutors made Ralph's stomach churn. Before today, they were just hypothetical characters in a story Ralph could pretend wasn't his own. He knew they were about to tear him and the other boys to pieces in their opening statements. The sound of their actual voices made that all too real now. Ralph could only see their backs from where he sat, and he preferred to keep it that way. Faces, like voices, had a way of making an imaginary threat come to life.

After addressing both parties, Judge Eldeson spoke to the case itself.

"Before we proceed to the opening statements" Judge Eldeson began, "I'd like to ensure that all members of the jury, councils, defendants, and supporting parties understand that this is an incredibly complex joint case. It is also a very unique case. In all my years as a federal judge, I've never seen one quite like it. Here we have twenty two minors on trial for one of Georgia's seven deadly sins. This case was initially sent to Superior Court due to the automatic requirement that minors charged with one of these seven offences are to be tried as adults in Superior Court. But due to the uniqueness of this case, the district attorney has indicted the case, resulting in a transfer down here to juvenile court. This case is still a Class A Designated Felony case, and will be treated as so. We have plaintiffs on both a national and global scale here today, and multiple defendants as this is a joint trial. Members of the jury, and of the court, please keep the complexity of the matter in mind as you hear the following arguments and testimony. If we are all ready to proceed with opening statements, the floor is yours, Ms. Barnes."