We Come Alive 5

"We Find The Defendant..."

Sunday morning, bright and early, Mateo was adjusting his tie with his right hand while his left hand was holding onto Kiara's as they walked into the correct courtroom. When they walked in, they sat in the same row as Jacob and Andrew who were in front of Stephen and Diego. Right after Mateo and Kiara sat down, Jose came into the courtroom with Ethan right behind him on his crutches. Both sat down next to Stephen and Diego. Kiara waved to Clover who was sitting in the front row along with Ricky's mom.

When Clover waved back, she noticed that they all came to support Ricky. Kiara turned to Mateo and laid her hand on his chest.

"Does she have to testify?" Kiara asked.

Mateo nodded but allowed Jacob to jump into the conversation. Jacob pointed to the man who Ricky beat up sitting at the table with the district attorney.

"He described Clover to the police and then when they arrested him, they saw her and gave the address to the district attorney and sent her one of those testifying letters." He explained. "So now...she's the credible witness or whatever it's called."

Diego elbowed Jacob in the ribs when one of the back doors of the courtroom opened, and Ricky walked out. He was in a light pink button up shirt, black tie, grey slacks, and black loafers. His long hair was up in a professional bun, and he looked pretty good from spending a week and a half in jail.

Ricky smiled to his friends and family then dropped it when he needed to talk to his lawyer, Ron Williams. They didn't speak for long when the bailiff called for everyone to rise as the judge walked in. They all saw Ricky's body deflate when Judge Lee walked in, taking a seat at his desk in the front of the room. He was an older Japanese man with black hair and dark eyes that would nearly pierce into you when he looked at you.

Ethan leaned towards his friends. "Ain't that the judge who sentenced Ricky last time?" He whispered.

Stephen nodded. "Said if he sees Ricky in his court again with a guilty assault verdict, he's going to prison."

They stopped talking when Mateo glared back at them. None of them said a word as the district attorney, Mrs. Julian Smith, called for the person to the stand. The man Ricky beat up, a man named Daniel Johnson. A white man in his mid-forties that didn't try to heal the bruises on his face so he'd still have them for today.

"Mr. Daniel Johnson, you were going out for a drink after a long day at work and was brutally assaulted by the defendant," Julian asked, walking around her table to the middle of the floor.

"Yes, ma'am." Daniel nodded. "It was unprovoked."

Ricky clenched his jaw, but relaxed knowing body language was everything today. He couldn't get upset by the accusations. He glanced at the jury and saw they were all staring at Daniel.

Julian folded her hands in front of her body. "What do you do for work?"

Daniel cleared his throat. "I'm a mechanic. I work in cars."

Julian motioned back at Ricky. "Have you ever met the defendant before?"

Daniel shook his head. "Never."

"What happened that night?" Julian asked, walking back to her table and leaning on it.

Daniel looked over to Ricky who was watching him. "I want to the bar, and I saw this beautiful young lady walking in. Apparently, that was his, the defendant's, girlfriend. A little while later, I saw her dancing on the dance floor with a few of her friends. All of them male. I went over to talk to her, and she flirted back."