"Remember Julia, you closed all the doors and windows before you left, there's CCTV footage from inside the estate if they want any evidence of that so don't hesitate to accept that, he broke into your private property which is a violation of law, he then attacked you, threatened you with a gun and attempted to assault, Justin used his gun in self defence and in defence of you, he purposely shot Mr Daniel Ricciardo in the hand so that he would be unable to pick up the gun again. Therefore Justin didn't violate any of the laws and you haven't either, you want him prosecuted for the full amount of years undergoing the crimes he has committed," Jeff sternly recited the whole paragraph to me, while we sat in the packed court room, on two extremely uncomfortable chairs awaiting the magistrate and judge.
"Ok, I got it, how many years do you think he'll get?" I looked over to him, his gaze met mine.
"From 7 years on, I would imagine," he replied before carefully assembling all the paperwork in front of him neatly.
We sat in silence for the next few moments until everyone stood which made me click back to reality and stand up too.
A middle aged woman with an imitating facial expression walked up to the middle, highest seat in the court. She was a light shade of caramel and her worn out curls poked out beneath her white wig. This was of course the Judge, 'Judge Benson' was engraved on a name plate which she gently placed in front of her before taking a seat and gazing towards both me and Jeff.
Everyone took their seats.
"Where is Mr Ricciardo?" Her voice was surprisingly gentle, but her expression certainly didn't meet her voice.
"He is on his way through the hall your honour, a few complications had occurred," another middle aged man spoke up from the corner, he wore the police uniform and a strong Eastern Asian accent echoed through the silent room.
The judge frowned. "Well I guess we'll just have to wait for his presence," she sighed and turned her gaze to me, "and you are Miss Stuart, yes?"
"Yes your honour,"
She nodded and glanced at a piece of paper which she bought in with her, she read silently until the huge, wooden doors behind us slowly opened. I turned my head and a very tired, very aggravated Daniel walked to the front of the court and stopped at the gate. He had handcuffs on an a glum expression.
"Daniel Ricciardo, your honour," a man behind him said, he wore a tailored suite and had a black briefcase just as Jeff had.
Judge Benson nodded over to the police officer standing in the corner and he went to open the court gate, which allowed Daniel to enter and slump into his chair before the court.
"Mr Ricciardo, would you like to explain yourself as to why you have kept me and the court waiting for your presence?" Her voice went from gentle to stern in 0.003 seconds. Damn what an intimidating woman.
Daniel stood up lazily along with his lawyer.
"There were a few set backs along the way, your honour," the lawyer spoke very professionally and intelligently.
"No sir, I asked Mr Ricciardo," she pinned her eyes onto Daniel, "would you like to explain, to the court, what set backs occurred that kept us waiting?" The tone of her voice grew in anger and frustration.
"The officers attacked me your honour, which caused for me to jump back in an act of self defence," Daniel's voice croaked, he was pissed as FUCK.
The judge huffed and dismissed it with a flick of her wrist.
"I came here today to judge the verdict of this case, now sit down both of you muppets,"
I almost chocked when she said that, but then again she was the highest person in this room at this time.
"I have read the police report of this event, and it seems pretty clear to me," she raised the piece of paper she was studying earlier, "Mr Ricciardo broke into Ms Stuarts house, mother of Miss Julia Stuart," she gestured towards me, "he then used violence towards Miss J Stuart, threatened her with a gun and attempted to rape her, criminal assault," he voice boomed around the wooden room.
"Mr Ricciardo you and your lawyer have 5 minutes to tell me what happened, otherwise the verdict is pointing to you and this case will have your name written all over it and have to jailed for it," she sat back against her chair and let her long, slim fingers tap against the arm rest.
"Your honour, Mr West, Mr Ricciardo's lawyer" the middle aged man introduced himself, "Miss Stuart threatened Mr Ricciardo via text message a few days prior the incident, resulting into Mr Ricciardo showing up at Miss Stuart's house, he bought a gun in self defence as he was unsure of the circumstances in Miss Stuart's presence, he did not attack her or use violence against her, he was protecting himself from her as he knew Ms Jensen, mother of Miss Julia, had a gun located somewhere in the house," he recited the whole thing in a way that seemed like it was simply a play. My eyes widened at all the lies and false information that had swept across the court from his mouth to the Judges ears.
He sat back down and the Judge turned to us and opened her mouth to speak but immediately Jeff shot up from his seat.
"Your honour, these two people have committed treason against the conduct of law - they have utterly and totally lied. I'd like some evidence of the threatening messages, please," he spoke loudly and I could hear the anger in his voice.
"That makes the two of us, where is the evidence?" Ordered Judge Benson.
The officer walked over to Mr West, who handed him a piece of paper. It was put under a small projector which then showed on a small tv screen a screenshot of my text message to Daniel.
