Race by SLMN

Author:SLMN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kingston Imperial

There were only four of us left in the cell by the time my turn came.

I’d covered a handful of court cases when I first started working as a journalist. They were never that compelling to be honest. Most of my energy was spent desperately trying to stay awake. I’d never seen a courtroom as empty as it was today.

There was me, and the guard who had taken me to the dock. The judge, a clerk, someone from the D. A.’s office and my lawyer.

That was it.

No one from the press, no interested parties up in the gallery.

I stood as the charges were read out by the clerk and I was asked to enter my plea.

“Not guilty,” I said in as clear a voice as I could muster.

The judge looked up from whatever he was writing on his pad, clearly surprised.

“Has your client been informed of the offer that has been made by the prosecution?” He said, looking at my layer, not at me. It was a curious moment, as though I was utterly irrelevant in the fate of my own life.

“He has, your honor,” Havers said, quickly getting to his feet. I saw flakes of dead skin on the carpet around his sandals.

The judge sighed. “Very well.”

He took a moment and after consultation with the clerk came up with a date for trial that was two weeks away.

“As to the matter of bail, your honor, I would like to assure the court that my client is a man of good standing in the community, with full time employment, and with no history of violence, he does not pose a threat to either himself or the general public, and it is my considered opinion that Mr. Moon does not in any way present a flight risk.”

The judge turned his attention from the lawyer to me, slowly looking me up and down as though assessing a cut of meat.

“Sadly, I cannot agree with your assessment, counselor. While I have not yet been presented with the evidence of either Mr. Moon’s guilt or innocence, I must assess the weight of the prosecutions brought before me this day—and it has been a long day. I know the District Attorney well enough to know they would not have countenanced bringing so many charges before the court without the surety of securing a conviction. Indeed, the number of guilty pleas entered only serves to reinforce that assessment. And while it is currently true that Mr. Moon has gainful employment with the political campaign being run by Jordan Thomas, that is a position that will come to an end before I will be able to hear this case, meaning upon hearing he will in fact be unemployed. There is, I fear, something of an irony to be found in the fact that he will most likely spend more time on remand protesting his innocence than he would have if he had simply accepted the D.A.’s offer, but that is your client’s right. On that basis, Mr. Moon’s request for bail is denied.

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