Detective Badass

Muhammad Carters (3)

Days later the trial began.

"They pushed me down and started calling me names."
"What names?," Barba questioned.
"Fag, terrorist, and freak."
"Then what happened?"
"They started throwing punches and kicking me. After a few minutes they took my phone and ran."
"Then what did you do?"
"I got up and limped to my house. I was almost home when I blacked out."
"He limped home. These boys brutally attacked this young man because of his artwork. If the jury could look at pictures A, B, and C. These are just a few examples of his work. As you can see this young man was targeted for his non-discriminatory work. He viewed the world as it is full of different people and equal love, these boys choose to attack him because of his views."
Barba walked back to his desk.
"Mr. Carters, you are very talented may I add," the lawyer, Mr. Hudson, stood up and walked over to Muhammad.
"Thank you."
"Is it safe to say that you have many fans?"
"Not really but I do have five hundred followers on Instagram."
"So not that many. Are you trying to spread the word about your work?"
"I try to put some work up on different social media sites."
"Anything work for you?"
"Sometimes."
"Would you even try to get more followers by lying to the police about being attacked?"
"Objection!," Barba shouted.
The courthouse went into a frenzy.
"Order!"
"I wouldn't lie!," Muhammad tried to reason.
"No? Did you not post on Facebook saying that you wished for more money for art supplies? A day before the assault?," the lawyer challenged the young man.
"Your honor, this is the first I am hearing of these allegations!," Barba was shocked, we all were.
"The witness may answer," the judge ruled.
"I did but only because my parents were having a tough time with money," he reasoned.
"So you decided to set these two young men up by saying they assaulted you?," the lawyer spat back.
"No, I didn't lie about that!"
"No further questions, your honor," the lawyer sat back down next to the kids.

"Did you and Aaron hurt Muhammad?," Mr. Hudson questioned Mike now.
"No."
"Did you call him names?"
"No."
"No further questions."
Barba chuckled to himself. "So why are you boys here then?"
"Because he lied."
"He lied about what?"
"The attack."
"But we have evidence from the school that suggests otherwise," Barba showed the jury documentation of the boy's detention records. "These say that you harass Muhammad almost daily. Are these fake?"
"Ok, we push each other around just having fun."
"Does this look like "fun"?" Barba put the pictures of Muhammad's bruises and injuries on the TV in the courtroom. "No further questions."

"The young men were at a party when this young man was attacked. It was violent but not done by these two boys. They said what happened at school is all in good fun. I believe them," Mr. Hudson spoke his defense.

"Muhammad Carters is a talented artist who is brave enough to speak or rather paint his views on the world. He paints of love and diversity. Those young men who attacked him were threatened by that. By his ability to see the world anew. Muhammad loves his parents and would do anything for them but make up something as serious as assault for money? He's a good student and son, he would never commit a crime like that. He was raised better," Barba eyed the two boys.

"Man, it got intense in there," I was outside of the courtroom with the squad.
"Tell me about it," Sonny handed me a cup of coffee. "Careful it's hot."
"Thank you," I took a sip of the coffee anyways, burning my lip. "Shit."
Sonny shook his head at me. "Also you know you're supposed to be able to taste your coffee, right?"
"What do you mean?," I asked.
"You told me to put five creams and four sugars in it. It's pratically white!"
I laughed. "I like it with a lot of cream."
He disagreed.

"We've been waiting a while does that mean it's good," Muhammad asked Liv.
"It means that the jury is taking this case seriously and they don't want to skip anything."
Muhammad went over to his parents.
"Jury's in," Barba announced.

"Jury, have you reached a verdict?"
"We have, your honor. We find the defendants, guilty."

"That was a good case," Fin recalled as we were getting ready to leave.
"It was. Even though they're only getting a couple years and some community service," I was putting my jacket on when Liv came out of her office.
"Good work everyone. See you all tomorrow."
"Good night, Lieutenant," I called after her.
"Good night, Garcia," she called back.
"Gotta hot date," Fin guessed as Liv walked out of the room.

I was outside on my bike about to pull out of the lot when someone flagged me down.
"Sonny?"
"Hey, glad I caught ya. Listen, Rollins' daughter Jesse is turning 2 on Saturday and she wants you to come," he handed me the invitation.
"Um, I don't know. Is it ok? You know I've only been here a couple of weeks?"
"Yeah, you're part of the family now."
"Really?"
"Of course! You should come, we're ordering food, play a few games, open presents."
"Ok. I'm down."
"Great. See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah. Have a good night!"
"You too. Be careful on that thing!"
I flipped the switch on my dash that automatically turned the lights on my bike. "I will."
He smiled before walking away.