The Vindicated With The Monstrous

Twelve

"Calling the case of the state of New York versus Lauren Jauregui, are both sides ready to proceed with this preliminary hearing?" The judge begins as the crowded courtroom begins to sit down. Seeing as Lauren's case only gained more attention as time went on, every journalist had fought to get a seat in the courtroom. It was laughable to Lauren, usually a defendant could look behind them and see people that supported them, regardless of the crime they may or may not have committed. But when Lauren looked behind her, all she saw were people with notepads, who looked at Lauren not with support, not even with curiosity, but as if they already knew her and they were only here to further write in detail about the monster that they had already assessed her to be.

Lauren had zoned out what Normani and Ally were saying until she heard Normani say, "Your honor, the defense calls Detective Hansen to the stand." Lauren used this as an excuse to look at the row behind Ally where Dinah and Camila were sitting; Lauren didn't want to blatantly stare at Camila because Camila had refused to look at her ever since she entered the courtroom. She also was hyper aware of the fact that she was being closely watched by the army of roaches behind her and didn't want them to see that she could really care less about this hearing, she would much rather just look at Camila. She was looking particularly sexy today in a black pantsuit with her hair pulled back, a couple of loose strands fell on the sides of her face. Lauren bit her lip to prevent a smile as she admired Camila's serious, concentrated look as Camila's eyes followed Dinah who was now settled and sworn in on the stand.

"Do you recall the time that you picked up my client?" Normani asked, looking at Dinah with an unreadable expression.

"It was around six in the morning, I believe" Dinah replied, pretending to not remember the exact time although she did as she had to write it down on the report.

"Interesting," Normani commented as she turned around to pick up a paper that sat on the table where her and Lauren were sitting, "And do you recall the exact time of the confession?"

"I don't know exactly but I think it was around noon."

"It was 12:45, as documented right here on the report," Normani states as she lifts the paper up for the judge to see, "That means that you held my client in custody for almost six hours without charges, is that correct?"

"Yes, but we intended to charge her and that is far less than the 24 hour maximum," Dinah replied, getting defensive which only made Ally give her a pointed, 'let me handle it' look.

Normani gave Dinah a fake, unamused smile as she responded, "Please stick to answering the question and only the question, Detective Hansen."

Dinah stared at Normani for a few moments, the two looking as if they both were silently challenging each other, "Of course, my apologies," she said, not sounding at all genuine.

"Six hours is a pretty long time, so tell me detective, in that long period time did you ever tell my client that she could leave?" Normani asked, narrowing her eyes accusingly at Dinah.

"I asked her at her home to come with me down the station so yes, she knew she was there at her own will since it was not a demand," Dinah confidently replied, although on the inside she was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable as she felt small under Normani's piercing stare.

Normani shook her head in annoyance before replying, now in a much more demanding tone, "I'm going to ask you don't make assumptions on what you 'know' about Ms. Jauregui. Now, let me rephrase, did you, in the six hours that you held her in an interrogation room, remind my client that she was free to leave at any point in time?"

Dinah gulped, her hesitance probably already enough of the answer, "Well, no, but-"

"But nothing," Normani said, cutting her off before she could voice her opinion on how Lauren seemed to be very well aware of her rights, "You held my client in that room for six hours and you clearly had no intention of letting her leave until she said what you wanted. So, you gave her no attorney, didn't blatantly state her rights-"