299 Days: The Visitors by Glen Tate

Author:Glen Tate
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: 299 Days: The Visitors
ISBN: 9780615788104
Publisher: PrepperPress.com
Published: 2013-03-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 152

The Verdict

(June 6)

Grant asked each defendant if they had anything to say. They declined, and Frankie didn’t even answer. He wanted this over with.

Grant said to the jury, “It is now up to you to decide guilt. I, as the judge, will not comment on the evidence or tell you what I think. This decision is yours alone. You will be put in a room for deliberations and cannot talk to anyone outside the jury, even if this deliberation takes multiple days. You can take all the time you need. Your decision must be unanimous among the twelve regular jurors. The two alternates cannot participate in the deliberations, unless they become a regular juror because one of the regular jurors gets sick, or something like that.”

One of the jurors asked, “Can we go into the kitchen and deliberate?” That meant that they didn’t think this would take long. Of course it wouldn’t.

“Yes,” Grant said.

The jury went into the kitchen for about five minutes. A member of the jury came out. Everyone was on pins and needles anxiously awaiting the quick and certain verdict.

“Um, we’ll need some more time,” she said. Most in the audience were let down. They wanted a quick deliberation.

“Take as long as you need,” Grant said. “If you need another place to do it, let me know. We can get a house for you in case it takes days.”

“Days!” a man in the audience yelled. “C’mon!”

Grant glared at the man. “The jury decides, sir, not the audience.”

The juror went back in the kitchen. Fifteen minutes passed. She came back out and said they needed a house for the deliberations. Arrangements were made to use the house closest to the Grange.

After settling into the house, an hour passed. Then two hours. People in the audience were leaving and going home. No one could believe that this was possibly such a complicated decision.

Grant knew why this was taking so long: the Snelling juror. Damn it. One asshole was ruining this whole thing. Now Frankie would be released and killed by a vigilante, which was the exact opposite of the fair and orderly system Grant wanted so desperately out there.

Finally, the juror came back over to the Grange. She had been crying. “We have a verdict.”

Grant nodded and told her to bring the jury back to the Grange. Word got out that the jury had made a decision and people started returning. Finally, the jury and audience were assembled.

The jury foreman, the same woman who told them they had reached a verdict, stood up and softly said, “We find all the defendants guilty on all charges.”

A few people cheered; most didn’t. They knew how serious this was and the horrible things that would follow.

Grant said, “Thank you, ma’am, for delivering the verdict. Now is when I poll the jury, which is asking each juror if this is their verdict.” Grant asked each juror and they agreed that it was their verdict.

When Grant got to the Snelling juror, the audience was silent.

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