Steve entered Rosalia's office last. Michelle and Russ occupied the leather chairs in front of her desk while Claire and Audra pinched together on the tiny sofa along the back wall. Russ began to stand in an offering of his seat to Steve, but Michelle held his arm. The static hum of a struggling air conditioning unit filled the paneled room.
Claire released an exaggerated sigh and Audra patted her hand. Seconds crawled into minutes while they waited for Rosalia. The door opened and Rosalia took her place behind the piles of her desk. She cleared a small square and dropped Drew's file. "Hello everyone."
"How's Drew?" Michelle asked.
"He's a..." Rosalia absently pushed files back into a folder and perched at the end of her chair. "He's exhausted, but today's testimony gave him hope."
"Um, like, about that testimony," Claire said. "Sam said she saw marks on my brother's neck, so that's total proof for self-defense."
Rosalia smiled at Claire and nodded. "It's a good start, but the D.A.'s going to try to show that those marks could have come from any of the kids holding him down."
"But that's a lie," Michelle burst in. "Those are marks are from Bruce. Can't you make the jury see that?"
The hum of the AC settled in the room. Michelle's answer drifted in the air like a stagnant smell. Russ touched her shoulder. "What Rosalia is saying is that if one kid testifies to holding Drew down by the neck, it may make some jurors feel that those marks came from that kid, and not Bruce."
"But if no one testifies to that," Steve said. "Then those marks came from Bruce."
Only Rosalia looked to Steve. "Conceivably, but I think our strongest argument will come with the DNA proving Drew was not the rapist. If the jury then views Drew as the hero, they will be more inclined to believe he did not intend to kill Bruce."
"Would we plea out to involuntary manslaughter?" Steve asked.
Michelle turned to face him. "We're not pleading out to anything and if you would've been here you would know that."
Russ stood up. "Rosalia has a lot of work to do in preparations for tomorrow." He reached his hand to assist Audra. She steadied herself.
Thank you for reading my story! Hope you're enjoying the plot twists!
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HARMONY
General FictionHer father left. The perfect house in the perfect neighborhood. Claire needed her father. Her mother works hard, but hard to keep the neighbors impressed. Then, her dad runs away to be a rock band roadie. Her 4.5 AP Nerdfest brother is accus...
