Chapter 28 - THE TRIAL OF EVERYONE ELSE
The courtroom did not look important enough to hold what happened there.
Wood benches.
Fluorescent ceiling panels.
A clock that ran two minutes slow.
Santiago wore a navy suit.
Maurice wore gray.
Emmett sat at a separate table because he had accepted a cooperation agreement.
Renata sat beside the prosecutor until testimony began.
I sat behind her.
She did not look back.
The state's case began with doctors.
Fractures.
Bruising.
Force patterns.
The surgeon who had first spoken to me described injuries inconsistent with a fall.
Santiago's lawyer suggested multiple impacts could occur on stairs.
The surgeon said, "Not like these."
No drama.
No speech.
Just anatomy.
Abigail Dunn authenticated the photograph.
Aaron Cho explained the recording.
Samuel Ortiz described prior complaints the university buried.
The judge limited how much prior-act evidence the jury could hear.
That angered me.
Grace whispered, "Rules protect defendants because someday the defendant could be someone you love."
"He broke her face."
"And he still gets rules."
I hated that.
I knew she was right.
Maurice testified under his plea agreement.
He admitted locking the service door.
He admitted shoving Renata.
He admitted invoking his mother's name to keep Santiago under control.
The defense called him a liar saving himself.
He said, "Yes, I'm trying to save myself. That doesn't make every sentence false."
The jury watched him carefully.
Emmett testified next.
His hands shook.
He admitted blocking the door.
He admitted failing to call police.
He admitted smiling outside the station because his father told him looking afraid would make him appear guilty.
"Were you guilty?" the prosecutor asked.
Emmett swallowed.
"Yes. Not of hitting her. Of staying. Of helping it happen."
Santiago's attorney attacked him for cooperation.
Emmett did not collapse.
He also did not pretend courage.
"I talked because I was scared of prison," he said. "And because Renata's face kept showing up when I closed my eyes. Both are true."
Then Renata testified.
She walked to the witness stand without a wheelchair.
Slowly.
The courtroom watched every step.
I wanted to carry her.
I kept my hands on my knees.
The prosecutor did not ask her to tell the entire story in one emotional speech.
She asked small questions.
Where were you?
Who took your bag?
Who locked the door?
Who hit you first?
Renata answered.
Sometimes she paused.
Once she said, "I don't remember."
Santiago's lawyer returned to that answer later.
"You don't remember where Mr. Varela was standing, correct?"
"Correct."
"You don't remember how many times you were struck?"
"No."
"You don't remember whether Mr. Cordova spoke before or after the door locked?"
"Not exactly."
He turned to the jury.
"There is quite a lot you don't remember."
Renata looked at him.
"Yes."
He seemed surprised.
"Trauma affects memory, doesn't it?"
"That's what doctors told me."
"So your memory could be wrong."
"Parts could."
He stepped closer.
"Yet you want this jury to convict a young man based on what you admit may be incomplete memory."
Renata's hands tightened.
The judge told her she could take her time.
She did.
Then she said, "Don't convict him because I remember everything."
The lawyer frowned.
"Convict him if the recording, the photo, the door log, my blood, Maurice, Emmett, and the doctors match the parts I remember."
The courtroom went still.
The defense attorney objected.
The judge sustained part of it and instructed the jury.
But the sentence had landed.
Then my turn came.
Santiago's lawyer asked about The Ghost.
Every crime.
Every threat.
Every lie to Renata.
He wanted me angry.
I understood the strategy because I had once built my life around provoking mistakes.
"Did you threaten witnesses in the past?"
"Yes."
"Did you arrange assaults?"
"Yes."
"Did you use shell companies?"
"Yes."
"Did you lie to your daughter about these things?"
"Yes."
He paused.
"So why should this jury trust you?"
I looked at Renata.
Then at the jury.
"They shouldn't, unless something I say is supported by evidence outside me."
The lawyer did not like that answer.
Neither did I.
It was simply true.
The jury deliberated two days.
On the second afternoon, they sent a note.
REQUEST TO HEAR AUDIO FROM 8:51 P.M. THROUGH 8:56 P.M. AGAIN.
The exact portion where Maurice said his mother wanted no marks.
And where Santiago demanded the card before the beating intensified.
Everyone returned to the courtroom.
The recording played.
Then the jury went back out.
Forty minutes later, the buzzer sounded.
They had reached a verdict.
---
(To be continued)
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