Six
On the morning before the
trial was due to start it rained, Christian glanced at himself in the bathroom
mirror then let out a deep sigh, the prosecution were already speculating as to
just how many days the trial would last.
“Chris” he heard
He appeared seconds later and greeted his
mother with a kiss. She looked at him with tears in her eyes as she held him at
arms length, before pulling him into her arms again. “I know you didn’t do this” she said firmly.
“All you have to do is tell them the truth” he pouted and walked away, “Yeah
mom I’ll tell them the truth…it’s whether they believe me will be the problem”
his mother followed him outside. “They must” she said her voice cracking, he
placed a consoling arm around her shoulder. “Mom if I go down for this…” he
begun to speak, she looked into his eyes “You wont” she insisted “If I get
convicted…would you take care of Jessie?” tears formed in his mother’s eyes,
“Yes of course that goes without saying but you wont get convicted” he wanted
so much to be as sure as his mother.
Next day he arrived at the court house
dressed casual in cream jeans and green sweater. “Christian…where’s the suit I
left you?” asked his mother looking worried. “I feel better dressed this way
mom” she looked a little disappointed but remained silent. “I’ll be inside” she
said nervously, “Chris I have to talk to you” he heard Lennon say as he
motioned him into a vacant room. “Wow…What’s the hurry?” he asked but noted the
anguish on the man’s face. “What the hell’s going on Lennon?” Eric Lennon placed a hand on his forehead,
“The state are gonna call
Christian entered the court, his heart
beginning to beat faster with each step; this was like something from LA law or
some other lawyer program he use to watch.
But this wasn’t fiction, this was real and deep down Christian knew
things looked very bleak indeed. They
all stood when the judge entered the courtroom and sat when she sat.
The prosecution began his opening
arguments, painting a very dark picture of Christian. “Ladies and Gentlemen of
the jury please don’t be fooled by this young man, he may have the face of an
angel but he is a cold blooded killer and what’s more I will prove it” the dark
haired young man hissed and stared right into Christian’s eyes.
Lennon stood and looked around the room,
all eyes on him. “The prosecution may think they have a case but I will prove
to you that all the evidence they have is circumstantial all based on maybes
and howevers…Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury this young man killed no-one and
what’s more I will prove it”
The first witness to be called was Joe
Robson, Christian sat staring across to where the young man now sat, he was
nervous “Please state your name” said the prosecutor
The
young man lent forward and spoke clearly into the microphone “Err Joseph
Robson” the man turned his back
“Tell me Mr Robson where were you on the night
of
“I
was at a party Sir”
“You
were at a party?”
“Yes
Sir that’s correct”
“And
whose party was it?”
“Sir
it was Chris’s party…it was his birthday next day”
“Chris?”
Joe
glanced across to where Christian sat staring back.
“Yes
Sir Christian Ingebrigtsen”
“Is
Mr Ingebrigtsen present in this courtroom today?”
Joe
cleared his throat “Yes Sir”
“Would
you please point to him?”
The
young man obeyed.
“Now
then Mr Robson did anything unusual happen at this party?”
“I
don’t know what you mean by unusual Sir?”
The
man turned slowly round, “Did an argument take place?”
“Yes
Sir it did”
“Who
was arguing?”
“Chris
and his step father”
“The
accused?”
“Yes”
“Can
you tell the court just what was said?”
Joe
swallowed nervously “I can’t remember it all happened so fast”
“Try?”
“Okay”
Joe
glanced once again across to where Christian sat, and then frowned
“I
think it started when Larry asked about Jessie”
“Jessie?”
“Yes
Sir…Chris’s little girl”
“Go
on”
“Well
it was obvious Chris wasn’t expecting him to be there coz he almost chewed his
head off”
“What
did the accused say exactly?”
“He
said what the hell are you doing here?
Then
“He
wasn’t calm?”
“No
Sir but Chris’s step dad always had that affect on him…he always made him
angry”
“And
he was angry now?”
“Well
yeah he started having a go at
“Then
what happened?”
“Well
then Larry goes, Chris please let’s not do this…I came to celebrate your
birthday and Chris told him he didn’t want him there and to get out but Larry
just stood there so Chris told him to get out of his house, Larry wanted to put
the past behind them but Chris was having none of it, he seized him by the
throat and pushed him against the wall” Joe suddenly clammed up, knowing that
with each word things for Christian looked bleaker and bleaker “What did he
say?”
“I
can’t remember”
“Try!”
“I
can’t”
“What
did the accused say?”
“He
said if Larry ever came within two foot of him he’s blow his fucking head off!”
“If
Larry Anderson ever came within two foot of him he’d blow his head off?”
“Yes”
“No
further questions your honour”
Christian frowned as he watched Eric
Lennon get to his feet then walk over to where Joe still sat. “Hello Joe, may I call you Joe?”
“Yes
Sir”
“Joe…how
long have you known my client?”
“All
my life Sir”
“And
would you say that he’s a violent young man?”
“No”
“No?”
“No
Sir”
“But
when Larry Anderson’s around he’s violent?”
“No
Sir not really”
“Not
really?”
“No”
“That
night…just how violent would you say he was?”
Joe
shrugged then shook his head.
“Go
on have a guess?”
“He
only pushed Larry…and told him to get out”
“Have
you ever seen Chris do this before?”
“No,
he usually tries to avoid fights”
“But
not with Larry?”
“Especially
with Larry!”
“Why?”
“Objection
your honour…where is this leading?”
“It’s
leading somewhere your honour” Lennon insisted
“Okay
continue” said the judge
“Why
did Chris avoid fights with Larry?”
“Because
Larry use to beat the crap outa him”
“Would
you say Chris was afraid of this man?”
“Yes
Sir he was petrified”
“So
when
“Objection
your honour! How’s the witness going to
know he was acting out of fear?
“I’ll
allow it…continue” said the judge
“Well?”
“Yeah
of course”
Lennon
walked away from Joe and stopped by his table.
“Just
one last question Joe” he said and Joe waited.
“Would
you say Chris is capable of killing someone?”
“No!”
said Joe /Objection your honour! Cried the prosecutor/sustained said the judge
all at once and Lennon merely walked back to his seat smiling. “No further
questions your honour” he said with a sigh.