The Real Jem and The Hologram movie.

Chapter Seven - Victory!

Chapter Seven.

The next Monday afternoon, Jerrica's phone rang. She answered it and nodded several times before hanging up the phone. She looked over at Aja and Shana. "He is in jail still, he couldn't post bail and he has pleaded not guilty."

"Not guilty, my ass, he is so guilty!" Aja cried out.

"We know but now the trial must be done and the thing is his court ordered defense attorney asked for a judge's ruling on the case, no jury will hear it. The judge will be the one who convicts him by the evidence alone." Jerrica stated.

"But he would try to get it overturned by appeal?" Shana asked.

"That is a possibility, if he is found guilty. I doubt he'll even make that attempt as he thinks that he got away with the crime and we're just grasping at straws here." Jerrica said.

"Will he get free is my question?" Aja asked. They turned to look at her. "If he can trick your father into ingesting whatever he gave him, why can't he trick the judge with evidence that he's innocent of the crime?"

"Well, for one thing his secretary that he hired is going to testify against him and a few others from the company who had overheard his comments about our dad." Jerrica replied.

They discussed what could happen at court with Eric. All of them hoped for a very swift trial and verdict and it would be what they want – a guilty verdict.

~~~~~~~~~

For the next several weeks, the prosecutor brought one witness after another all who testified against Eric Raymond. Some of the doctor experts, showed proof that the poison he used would kill over seven to a year after ingesting it. People at the company saw Eric pour what looked like sugar into Emmett's coffee and then pour cream into it like he likes it and hand it to him, every time after Eric witnessed him take the first sip of the coffee, he would smirk and walk away.

The defense tried their best to claim that the man was in poor health before his death and had their medical experts talk about how poor health he was in. But as soon as the prosecutor asked his questions of them, they basically backtracked on their earlier statements stating that they did not see the toxicology report that their medical examiners were given. The defense medical examiner looked at the report and spoke, "From what this report says that Emmett was in great health before he started to get ill. His previous medical checks were showing a healthy man till the last one which showed him becoming ill with what was first described as the flu. His decline in health was at that point and it happened slowly like someone was being poisoned. By the test results, done on his person it looks like someone was poisoned with arsenic,"

Eric was furious that his examiner had reversed his statement as he whispered to his attorney about something.

When the judge asked him if there was anymore witnesses, Eric's lawyer shook his head and said. "We have no more witnesses, your honor."

"Very well, then. I will go and read over all the evidence that I have heard to date and render my verdict." He stood up and walked into his room with the pile of paper that he had written in.

~~~~~~~~~

It was two hours later, Jerrica glanced over to the prosecutor. "Could he get away with the crime?"

The prosecutor shook his head. "I doubt it, he didn't even take the stand, which means his case to defend himself was extremely weak and even his own medical examiner once he saw the toxicology report backtracked on his earlier statement of that Emmett was in poor health before his death."

The bailiff stepped into the hallway. "The judge is about to return to the courtroom."

The prosecutor looked at his watch. "Two hours, that can either be good or bad."

Kimber whispered. "I hope good news."

They all nodded their heads as they walked into the courtroom to see Eric smirking like he knew he was going to be getting off. Everyone took their seats as the judge made his way into the courtroom.

The judge looked over everyone before he looked at Eric. "I am adding one more crime to this trial, Mr. Raymond." Everyone looked at the judge with shock as this was not heard of before. The judge continued, "Bribery. You had one of your people come into my chambers and try to bribe me with three million dollars to declare you innocent. He is currently in jail waiting to come to court – a Mr. Zipper. He told the police that you were the one who gave him the money to bribe me into giving you a not guilty verdict. But you are sorely mistaken, Mr. Raymond."

Eric was livid as he snapped off at the judge. "I am innocent of it, I didn't give Mr. Zipper any money! If I had that type of money, I wouldn't have a court ordered defense attorney; I would have had my own lawyer!"

"Sorry, Mr. Raymond, but he already admitted that you gave it to him by the way of the audio tape he did of you giving him the money." The judge stated.

Eric slumped in his chair defeated. He didn't know that Zipper was audio recording him saying that. He now knew he was totally screwed.

The judge looked at him. "I will now render my verdict in this case. Please stand, Mr. Raymond." Eric did so as he looked at the judge knowing it was not good. "Mr. Raymond, I find you guilty on all charges. You are remanded into custody immediately. Sentencing will be in five days from now. Case is now closed."

~~~~~~~~~

Jerrica and the others walked out of the courthouse thrilled that they got the justice that their father deserved as the media came around them. Jerrica smiled and informed them that Mr. Raymond was found guilty of murder and attempted bribery. She thanked everyone for their support and walked away with the others to their car and drove back to Starlight Music to start working even harder in getting new bands and a house band for solo singers to play with.

Several months later, Jerrica looked out her window of her office thrilled that they were able to make Starlight Music a success. She had produced her mother's songs that she found on the master recording that was by Eric's foot. She had wondered why he had it there, but she shook her head to dispel any thoughts of him. She had won and she made her father's music company successful and the bands that they had produced created multiple hits and gold albums. The most gold albums came from one band – Jem and the Holograms. They were a surprise hit for the company and one that had a secret which no one really minded not knowing and she was pleased that no one wanted to know the truth behind Jem. They all accepted her and loved her.

Jerrica knew this was going to stay good for a very long time, as she turned back to her desk and started to do more work on bringing in new singers and bands to the music company. She knew somewhere in Heaven – her father and mother were watching her succeed and they were very proud of her.

This is the end of this story.