Scene 8 (continued)
[the Scene opens upon a courtroom everyone is sitting and the judge comes in and everyone rises and then sits again upon the judges command the charges are read out and the jury is sworn in the Prosecutor who is seated next to Dimitri rises and delivers his opening statement]
Prosecutor: Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, goodmorning to you all this beautiful day, it is my unfortunate duty, to set the tone for this morning, it would bring me no greater pleasure than to tell you to go home and forget the spectacle you will undoubtedly see this morning, but that’s not my job, and in fact forgetting is the last thing you need to do, indeed, I don’t think anyone will be able to forget what we the prosecution have the duty to do is describe to you, what occurred during the early morning hours during the first Saturday of last month, when these four young men, broke into the house of Derek Reynolds, attacked him, tied his uncounsious body to the back of their pick-up truck and drug him out into the wilderness where they proceeded to mercilessly beat him and then bind his hands, and tie him up to a tree with barbed wire and leave him to slowly bleed to death.
Well fortunately he did not bleed to death that night, or else they wouldn’t be here today, instead, he made it to the hospital where it took another two and a half weeks for him to eventually pass away from complications of his injuries, ladies and gentlemen these boys are guilty as sin and their actions were the direct manifestation of hatred and ignorance of another, ladies and gentlemen, ignorance is not a disease, hatred is not a disease, it is simply unwillingness to accept, these boys should incur the maximum sentence and furthermore
Defense Attorney: Objection your honor
Judge: you object to an opening statement
Defense Attorney: He is slandering my clients your honor, and further more he is leading
Prosecutor: its facts of the case, you will have your time to make your opening statement, now , your honor , if it pleases the court , may I continue
Judge: yes please, Mr. Fletcher, please keep quiet until you have a legitimate objection, during the PROCEEDING of the case, or you will be held in contempt, Alright Mr. Walker, you may proceed when ready
Prosecutor: Well now, as you can see the Defense is afraid, now it seems to me, the only need we have to be afraid, is because we know we are guilty, now I know, Derek somewhere up in the beyond knows, and indeed the defense knows those boys are guilty as sin, and by the end of this time you will find see for yourself the guilt lies within these boys hearts, and I hope you will do whats right, and convict these boys, because the knowledge of their guilt will never be enough to punish them of the horrible things they’ve done
[ the prosecutor sits back down and the defense attorney makes his statement]
Defense Attorney: Ladies and Gentelmen of the jury, im a man of facts, I don’t need to rely on cheap theatrics or emotional persuasions, and the facts are that there is nothing but the last words of a delirious victim of a brutal beating, that ties my clients to this deplorable crime, and the entire basis of this case is circumstantial that is all I have to say, and look it didn’t even take an hour unlike the prosecution
Judge: Now that was a slander
Defense Attorney: forgive me your honor
Judge: Strike that last bit from the record, Okay Walker, the balls in your court , do you want to call witnesses first?,
Prosecutor: sure, no reason this should go on longer than lunch, and all of our testimony might make them shorten their witness roster.
Judge: very well you may begin
Prosecutor: actually your honor, I change my mind, my approach would be better affective simply cross-examining their witnesses
Judge: very well the ball appears to be in your court now Mr. Fletcher you may call your first witness whenever your prepared,
Defense Attorney: very well defense calls defendant Josh Watts to the stand
[Josh gets up and takes the stand the bailiff rises and places him under oath]
Defense Attorney: Mr. Watts, first off, did you or your colleagues perpetrate these heinous crimes of which you are accused
Josh: I think we covered that when we entered our plea of not guilty, but to answer your question no I did not, Bradley did not, nor did Jesse, or Jeremy
Prosecutor: Objection your honor Defense has no way of substantiating this claim, therefore this testimony is invalid and counsel is stalling
Judge: sustained, counsel, get to the point
Defense Attorney: I’m getting there your honor we’ve only just begun, we are simply establishing absence of guilt, Now Mr. Watts, do you have any proof of your whereabouts on the night of November sixth?
Josh: uh yes, the four of us were staying at my house studying for the chemistry exam we had on the following Monday
Defense Attorney: can anyone corroborate the validity of your testimony
Josh: yes my dad was there the entire time
Defense Attorney: and can you please tell the court who your father is
Josh: my Father is Sheriff Watts
Prosecutor: Objection your honor, this is irrelevant
Judge: indeed counselor where is this going
Defense Attorney: were simply establishing an alibi, and character of the witnesses
Judge: get to the point counselor
Defense Attorney: and what time did you and your colleagues arrive at your house for this study group
Josh: at around 8:00 pm
Defense Attorney: and what time did you and your Colleagues leave the house
Josh: at about 11:30 am the next morning
Defense Attorney: so you see these boys were accounted for during the hours of this event, defense rests, your witness counselor
[ Prosecutor stands up]
Prosecutor: Mr. Watts, does your father sleep
Josh: yeah, doesn’t everyone
Prosecutor: don’t play coy Mr. Watts, what time does your father usually go to bed
Josh: a little after ten or eleven on the weekends when he’s not on call
Prosecutor: I see, so, in theory, is it not possible that you and or your associates could have left the house shortly after your father was sound asleep in his bed
Defense Attorney: Objection, leading
Judge: its relevant counsel, he’s the prosecutor he is establishing a scenario that in my opinion is quite plausible so if you please sit down I want to hear this
Josh: its plausible In theory but my father is a light sleeper, and we passed out at twelve o’clock
Prosecutor: and do you have any evidence to support this claim
Josh: no I guess you would have to take my word on it, or you could question my dad
Prosecutor: in due time Mr. Watts, but what I want to know is what kind of vehicle do you drive
Josh: a 2005 Ford F150 red in color with some sweet subwoofers in the back
Prosecutor: you know a lot about cars I assume, take a lot of auto mechanics classes at high school
Josh: yes I take one auto shop class a semester since 9th grade
Prosecutor: and your truck has it had any cosmetic customization or accessorizing to the chassy or the wheels?
Josh: no aside from the interior and the sound system it’s the same as it was when it rolled out of the dealership
Prosecutor: so could you tell us with your knowledge of motor vehicles what size wheels come standard on a 205 F150?
Josh: that would be size 14 R and I use bridgestone tires, I like to have the best
Prosecutor: I’m glad you mentioned that it brings me to my next question
Josh: go ahead I have nothing to hide
Prosecutor: can you please tell us what this is, Men and Women of the court exhibit 2-a
Josh: it’s a picture of tire marks
Prosecutor: would you say these tire marks would be consistent with the tires on your vehicle
Josh: I suppose so, it’s a popular type of truck
Prosecutor: why yes it is, but that’s not my question could your trucks have made these tire marks
Josh: yes they could have
Prosecutor: interesting, could you describe the weather on the night of November sixth
Josh: it had rained that day but it was clear at night
Prosecutor: so, is it thesable that you and your associates snuck out of the house and attacked and kidnapped Derek Reynolds after your father went to sleep, and then took him out to an abandoned part of town where you beat him and strung him up to a tree leaving him to die, then returned to your house and went to sleep?
Josh: No its not, because as I said earlier, it had rained that day and was muddy, hence the presence of tire marks, and if I had took my truck out, it would have been muddy but as I’m sure my dad will tell you it wasn’t
Prosecutor: I see, but couldn’t you have simply washed your truck off, when you returned home
Josh: No because I didn’t, and my dad would have heard the water running if I had
Prosecutor: can you explain this, Prosecution presents exhibit C-5
Josh: big deal it’s a water bill, whats it prove
Prosecutor: well you see this calculates your water usage for each day of every week within the month, and from the hours of 3am to 4:30 pm , it shows the water was on, I say that would be around the time you would have gotten back from perpetrating the hate crime wouldn’t you
Defense Attorney: Objection, counsel is badgering the witness
Judge: he has a point, Mr. Walker do you have any further questions
Prosecutor: no further questions
Defense Attorney: I have one further question for the defendant
Judge: very well
Defense Attorney: Mr. Watts, could you tell me, what your lawn looks like
Josh: its pretty green I guess
Defense Attorney: so in being , pretty green , you must water it quite frequently yes
Josh: yeah that’s correct
Defense Attorney: do you water it yourself with the hose
Josh: no we have sprinklers
Defense Attorney: and are they automatic time sequenced sprinklers
Josh: yes they are
Defense Attorney: could you tell me what time they are set to
Josh: they go off at 3 am, and 3 pm
Defense Attorney: well I believe that accounts for the water being on at 3am wouldn’t you counsel , no further questions your honor
Judge: you may step down, there will be a brief recess, we will reconvene at 3:30pm anyone not in this court room, will be locked out
[black out, curtain closes]
Scene 9
[ the curtain reopens on a the mens room, Dimitri is about to exit the stall when Josh, Bradley, Jeremy, and Jesse walk in loudly talking he pulls out his phone steps up onto the toilet seat and records their conversation]
Josh: did you see that, he was so stumped, I told you were almost home free
Jeremy: thank god your dad got us that lawyer
Jesse: that prosecutor was really smart though, I thought when you paused there when he asked about the tire marks that you were gonna choke
Bradley: my question is, if he had the water bill what else does he have up his sleeve
Josh: nothing, now that the tape is gone, it’s our word against Dimitri’s, and when they call my dad up to the stand then the jury will immediately side with us
Jeremy: thank god we silenced that fag when we had the chance
Josh: it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, with all the character witnesses we have, we could have admitted on the stand in front of god and everyone that we killed that queer, and the jury still wouldn’t convict us
Bradley: I’ll rest easy when the verdict comes in, I don’t want to go to jail for what we did
Jeremy: were untouchable, besides we did the world a favor when we killed that queer, I just hate we had to do it twice
[they exit the restroom and Dimitri steps down and runs to the Prosecutor and plays the recording, the curtain closes and reopens on the courtroom once again, there is a montage of character witnesses, in favor of the boys, then Sarah ( the one who sings at the funeral) takes the stand and delivers testimony that Derek and Dimitri were harmless and would never hurt anyone who didn’t mess with them, and tells the jury about how every time there was a fight it was because one of the boys started it with Derek]
Prosecutor: your honor I would like to admit one more piece of evidence, an audio recording
Judge: I would like to review it later in my chambers
Prosecutor: very well, it can wait till tomorrow I suppose, in the meantime the Prosecution would like to call Dimitri Van Burick to the stand
Judge: very well
[ Dimitri takes the stand and is sworn in]
Prosecutor: can you please explain your relationship with the victim
Dimitri: he was my boyfriend
Prosecutor: and how long have you been dating the victim
Dimitri: since 9th grade
Prosecutor: and since the time you were dating the victim, how did the other students and members of the community receive you
Dimitri: most of our fellow students were understanding, except for a few of the population that were close minded, older members of the community were very disrespectful and certain authority figures treated us with hostility, others just acted as if we didn’t exist or were less worthy of life than a heterosexual couple
Prosecutor: so you could say, this isn’t exactly a town that is safe to be gay in
Dimitri: no it is not, and we were planning on moving after graduation
Prosecutor: can you please tell us what happened the day of November 6th carrying up to the present
Dimitri: it started off with the usual abuse, we got to school, when Derek got slammed up against his locker, by the defendants, they threatened to assault him, then the principal came and threatened to suspend him, after that we went to class, where there was yet another altercation between Derek and the defendants, That resulted in Derek getting expelled and the defendants got away free and clear once again, after that, I got home went to sleep, and at 3 am I was awoken by my usual craving for food, when I noticed Derek hadn’t texted me, I called him, no answer I called his house , again no answer, I knew his mom was out of town so he would be up, he was supposed to come stay over at my house, but he never showed up , so I went to his house, and he wasn’t there, I saw the tire marks of a truck outside of his house and I knew no one he knows or is related to drives any kind of vehicle that makes tire marks that big so I called 911 and went looking for him, when I found him, paramedics had already arrived and he was in critical condition, and we rushed to the hospital, I stayed with him every minute I could, he told me in great detail what had happened, and I was attacked by the defendants in the alleyway outside of the market coming out of school and heading to the hospital, they assaulted me and threatened my life If I testified in court, and then I went to the police , and they made the arrests, and here we are today
Prosecutor: compelling stuff, nothing further your honor
Judge: court is adjourned for the day, counselors meet me in my chambers we will discuss the admittance of this new evidence
[black out curtain closes]
Scene 10
[ scene opens up on the judges chambers]
Judge: now what is this new evidence
Prosecution: it was gathered just this morning
Defense Attorney: no fair we have no way to prepare for it
Prosecutor: even if we had discovered it a week before the event you would have no way to prepare for this
Judge: just what is it
[ prosecutor pulls out a phone and plays the recording that Dimitri made in the bathroom]
Judge: I’m afraid, audio evidence is not allowed s late entry, under code 6-5-3-m, your case will have to proceed without it
Prosecutor: but your honor this is the final nail in the coffin, this is damning, the purpose of the courts is about finding justice
Judge: to be quite honest counselor, I don’t care, its against the code, and I don’t want to piss of the sheriff, besides, this town is not one for gays, maybe this will be a beacon for them to stay away, and take their sin with them
[the curtain closes and then reopens on the restroom Dimitri has just walked out of the stall and then the boys walk in and slam him up against the wall holding his throat]
Josh: well well boy, we found ourselves a snitch
Jesse: we just want you to know, we have the judge in our pocket so don’t try any of that bullshit again, what with the taping our conversation
Jeremy: if we get convicted, we will kill you, right there in the court room, I refuse to go to jail
Josh: if I was you, I would pray very hard that we get off, otherwise, things don’t look so good for you
[they exit and the curtain closes]
Scene 11
[ the curtain reopens revealing the courtroom]
Judge: ladies and gentlemen of the jury have you reached a verdict
Foreman: we have your honor
[ the foreman hands the bailiff a piece of paper with the verdict on it, the bailiff hands it to the judge who reviews it hands it back to the bailiff who hands it back to the foreman]
Judge: very well, would you please read the verdict
Foreman: we the jury find the defendant, in the charges of homicide, hate crimes, and deprivation of civil rights , ( takes a long three beat pause) Not Guilty
[ the defendants rejoice and Dimitri’s head sinks to the floor the curtain closes and there is another brief intermission for about ten to twenty minutes]
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