Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:12:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: Different Points of View, chapter 20

Different Points of View - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 20 – The Trial.

After many delays, several new court dates and a great deal of anticipation, not
all of it good, the trial was set to begin.  I was a nervous wreck as the time
approached and wondered not only what types of things I'd have to endure in the
courtroom, but also what might happen when I was traveling to and from the
courthouse.  I wouldn't be alone during much of that time, since my attorney had
suggested I drive to his office and then ride with him, but that was primarily to
give us a chance to discuss various issues on the way in, as well as to allow him
to help to keep the press off of my back.  With this goal in mind, he told me that
as we moved to and from the courtroom, I was to walk slightly behind him and off
to one side, so he could try to shield me from the reporters and photographers, or
at least make it more difficult for them to get what they wanted.  I thanked Bruno
for his thoughtfulness and was glad that he was on my side.

The first time we began the long walk from the parking garage to the courtroom, I
was certainly glad that he'd suggested this approach, because the vultures from
the press were out in full force.  Not only did I see the photographer who had
snapped my picture as I got off the elevator for my arraignment, but video crews
from the local television station were also there, as well as the reporters with their
microphones.  As we dodged these various individuals, I made sure that I
heeded Bruno's advice and kept him between me and the scavengers who were
eager to pick at what meat was left on my bones.

I doubted that any of the reporters and photographers were happy with the
results, as we successfully negotiated our way past them without giving them any
comments and making it difficult to get any kind of decent shot of me.  However,
once we entered the courtroom, we didn't have to worry about the press any
longer, because they weren't permitted inside the chamber.

As Bruno and I made our way to the defense table, I tried not to glance at the
small crowd that had already taken seats in the gallery, because I didn't want to
become upset if I noticed that some of them were glaring at me.  My lawyer had
told me that most of today would be spent selecting a jury and nothing more than
that would happen until tomorrow, so I wasn't as nervous as I might have been
otherwise.

A few minutes later, the Assistant District Attorney came in and seated himself at
the table to our right, so now we were merely waiting for the judge to enter, so
proceedings could begin.

"All rise," the Bailiff announced.  "Court is now in session, with the Honorable
Judge Thomas Murphy presiding."

Once the judge had taken his seat, we were told we could be seated again and
the process of voire dire began.  Voire dire is the process where the lawyers are
given an opportunity to question the jurors.  The questions they ask were
designed to determine the competency of each prospective candidate and see if
either lawyer would challenge their selection, for one reason or another.

This process began with the judge asking the jury pool a series of general
questions, to learn if they might have any prior knowledge that would disqualify
them from serving in this case.  First of all, he asked if they knew any of the
attorneys involved or if they had dealt with any of them or their law firms.  Those
who had were then released, and then those remaining were read a list of
potential witnesses and asked if they had any previous connection with or
knowledge of these people.  If they did, then that connection was explored and
some of those people were let go as well.  The judge then asked if any of the
potential jurors had ever been sexually abused or had a family member or close
friend who had suffered such abuse.  Those who had were then released as well,
since such an occurrence would put their subjectivity in question.

Once those people had been eliminated, the lawyers finally got a chance to
question the various potential jurors personally, to see if they wanted to
challenge their suitability for serving.  This process was quite time consuming
and not very interesting, but the lawyers asked the judge to excuse several other
people from this duty as well.

During this process, the lawyers asked the prospective jurors questions such as,
"Do you have children or grandchildren?" and "How would you feel if you'd
discovered they had been sexually abused?" to see how sympathetic they might
be to the victim or possibly predisposed against the abuser.  The lawyers also
wanted to know if any individual or immediate family member had been "involved
in any legal proceedings, no matter the reason," to determine if those people
might have a bias against the legal system in general.  The people in the jury
pool were then asked if they thought they could be "open minded and judge this
case solely on its merits and the evidence presented, rather than on the
emotional issues surrounding the case."  Hopefully, that would prevent a juror
from deciding the case based only on their feelings and the stigma such charges
might evoke.

During this questioning process, I was watching those being interrogated, as well
as those waiting their turn, and I noticed a couple of them giving me very
accusatory or hostile looks.  I made sure to point this fact out to my attorney and
then he requested that those people be dismissed as well.  By the time we broke
for lunch, nine jurors had been seated, so the final three and the two alternates
would be selected when we came back for the afternoon session.

My lawyer invited me to join him for lunch at his club, so we could discuss some
other issues while we were eating.  I agreed, so I followed him out of the
courtroom and rode with him over to this private establishment.  I didn't eat
much, because I was far too nervous about this ordeal to get much down, but we
did talk about certain jurors and what he expected we would need to do to win
them over.  We also discussed some of the jurors who had been questioned
before we left, but had not yet been selected or dismissed, to see if I felt any of
them should be challenged to prevent them from being seated.  After going over
all of these various issues, we finished our meal and then paid the tab, before
making our way back to the courthouse.

It took about two hours of the afternoon session to seat the final jurors and
alternates, and once that was completed, the judge adjourned the proceedings
for thirty minutes, so the lawyers could prepare their opening statements.  These
would be given when we returned and then the prosecution would be allowed to
call its first witness.

During this recess, my lawyer left me alone, so he could spend the time polishing
up his opening remarks.  I was left sitting in a small conference room, but there
were no magazines to read and nothing to do there, but in a way it wasn't entirely
a bad thing.  That's because being in this room also kept me away from the
media and others in the courthouse that might have wanted to gain access to
me.  Due to the absolute boredom I faced during this period, this seemed like the
longest thirty minutes I think I've ever had to endure.  I know thirty minutes is still
thirty minutes, no matter how you look at it, but when you consider it in the
context of what you're about to face next might affect the rest of your life, then
each second seems to take a minute or more to pass by.

When this seemingly endless half hour was up, Bruno led me back into the
courtroom and the trial got underway.  First, the prosecution got to give its
opening remarks, so the A.D.A. stood up, strolled over in front of the jury box and
prepared to give his best dramatic plea for justice.  As he spoke, he walked up
and down the length of the jury box and made eye contact with each juror, in an
attempt to sway them over to his point of view from the very get-go.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began.  "This case involves one of the
most heinous crimes that could ever be committed against a minor.  It is a case
where an adult takes advantage of the physical and emotional needs of an
underage child and uses it to his own advantage.  This adult used his position, as
someone who employed this boy to do some odd jobs around his house, to force
the kid to also gratify his sexual urges.

"You will hear testimony that will describe how he manipulated this boy and used
the threat that he wouldn't be allowed to continue working for him, unless he
agreed to his demands," the A.D.A. continued.  "If this boy could no longer work
for him, it would take away money that his family had come to depend on, so this
put pressure on the child to relent and engage in certain sexual acts.  Not only
that, but the defendant was also careless enough to let the boy's younger brother
witness one of these sessions and that minor oversight was what took him down
and brought this case to the attention of the authorities.

"All that the District Attorney's office is going to ask of you is that you listen to the
testimony, weigh the evidence and then reach the only conclusion substantiated
by the facts – that he is guilty of the crimes charged and then see to it that he is
sentenced to the justice he deserves.  Every child in this community will sleep
better and feel safer once they know that twelve honest men and women did
what they could to protect them from this evil."

The Assistant District Attorney then leisurely sauntered back to his seat, but not
before giving me a very cold and threatening glare.  While that was happening,
my lawyer rose from his seat and walked toward the jury box as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.  Trials like this often elicit a certain emotional
responses to the accusations, some of which can be rather extreme, and these
responses tend to make jurors want to decide the guilt or innocence of the
defendant based solely upon their feelings, instead of taking the time to
scrutinize the facts of the case.  This is precisely what my learned colleague is
hoping will happen, because he's already attempted to tug at your heartstrings
and gain your sympathies using the emotional aspects of the charges, rather
than focusing on the meager amount of evidence that he has in this case.  This is
a situation where the District Attorney's office hopes your heart and gut reaction
will sway your decision, rather than having you use your brains and focus on the
dearth of evidence.  I will try to help you separate the facts from the emotion, as
well as distinguish between the truth and the fiction in this case.

"I will also try to expose the distortions," Bruno continued, "as well as point out
the exaggerations, so you can zero in on the lack of evidence in this case.  The
prosecution will ask you to accept everything they tell you at face value and not
question the veracity of those statements, but I shall ask you to look beyond what
is said to determine what is the truth and what has been fabricated or twisted to
fit what the prosecution hopes to prove.

"Throughout this trial, all the defense is going to ask of you is that you listen to
the details presented and weigh the evidence, but most importantly I ask you to
base your verdict SOLELY upon those facts," Bruno added.  "I will also ask that
you leave your emotional baggage at the courtroom door and refuse to let any
preconceived notions blur your perception of the facts in this case.  I implore you
to base your verdict solely upon the evidence put before you and not on the
highly charged rhetoric the Assistant District Attorney will spew, in order to slant
your perception of these facts."

Once Bruno had finished his remarks, he returned to our table and sat down
beside me once again.  At this point, it was the judge's turn to speak.

"Mr. Levitt, you may call your first witness," he stated, addressing the A.D.A.

"Thank you, Your Honor," he began.  "The State would like to call Ms. Susan
Kazinski to the stand."

This was the woman who gave the third statement that Bruno had shown me
previously.  I still had no idea why she was testifying, since it seemed that most
of her information was second-hand.  However, she was sworn in and then the
Assistant District Attorney began to question her.

"Would you please state your name and occupation for the court?" the prosecutor
requested.

"My name is Susan Kazinski and I work as an aide at the local middle school."

"Thank you.  Now, Ms. Kazinski, were you the one who brought this case to the
attention of the authorities?"

"Yes, sir.  I was," she answered, looking smug.

"And why did you do this?" he asked.  "What information did you have that made
you report this situation?"

"As I said, sir, I work as an aide at the middle school and one day I overheard a
conversation between Josh Carlson and one of his friends," she stated.  "From
what was said, it made me realize that Josh had seen his brother having sexual
contact with an adult."

"Objection, Your Honor.  This is hearsay testimony," my attorney pointed out.
"This witness has no first-hand knowledge of any such acts."

"She is only testifying as to what she heard and why it led her to file a complaint
with the Department of Child Services," the Assistant District Attorney shot back.

"However, Your Honor, that complaint was based solely upon hearsay
information, so none of the testimony should be admissible," my lawyer pointed
out.

The judge thought for a moment, before he made his decision.

"The objection is overruled," he stated.  "The witness may testify that she heard
the boys talking and what opinions she formed as the result of what she heard,
as well as why and how she reported it.  However, she may not give direct
testimony about the content of what was said between the boys."

My lawyer looked a little surprised and dejected by the judge's ruling, but he sat
down again without further comment.  The A.D.A. turned to face our table and
gave us a little smirk, before he continued.

"Now, Ms. Kazinski, would you continue, please," the A.D.A. prompted.

"Yes.  As I was saying, I overheard Josh Carlson telling his friend that he had
seen his brother, and this man named Bob..." she stated, when my attorney cut
her off.

"Objection, Your Honor," he shouted.  "You clearly stated the witness could not
testify to what was said between the two boys, yet she's doing exactly that."

"Objection sustained," the Judge ruled.  "Ms. Kazinski, you may not relay the
essence of the conversation you overheard, just why you took this situation to the
authorities."

She looked a bit confused by the judge's comment, but eventually she continued.

"From what I heard, I believed that Josh's brother, who I had also known when
he attended the middle school, was having sexual contact with an adult," she
stipulated.  "Seeing I knew Jared, the brother, was still a minor, I felt it my duty to
report this to Children's Services."

"So what did you do, precisely?" the A.D.A. asked next.

"I went to Children's Services and filed a report," she answered.  "They then
directed me to go to the police station and give them a statement to that effect.  I
later learned that they arrested the man involved."

"And why did you do this, again?" the prosecutor asked, to emphasize the point.

"To protect a vulnerable minor from what I believed was a sexual predator," she
replied.

"Thank you, Ms. Kazinski.  No further questions, Your Honor."

The A.D.A. then sat down and the judge turned toward my lawyer.

"Mr. Colongeli, do you have any questions for this witness?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Honor.  I most certainly do," he responded.

Bruno then walked slowly toward the front of the courtroom and stood just off to
the side of the witness stand.

"Ms. Kazinski," he began, "you've said you overheard the conversation between
two boys, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," she confirmed.

"And this conversation indicated that sexual activities were going on between a
boy and a man.  Is that also correct?" he pressed.

"Yes, that's correct," she agreed.

"What did you do to verify that these statements were true?" Bruno followed.

She looked totally bewildered by his question and didn't immediately respond.

"I'm not sure that I understand what you mean," she eventually admitted.

"Ok, then let me put this another way for you," Bruno followed.  "Are all of the
conversations you hear between students truthful?  Do they ever tell each other
lies?"

"Yes, sir.  Sometimes they tell lies, but not all the time," she answered.

"And how do you determine what is a lie and what is the truth?" he pressed.

"Sometimes I just know whether the things they are saying are true or not,
because I have knowledge about the topic," she answered.

"Ah, so sometimes you have firsthand knowledge of the facts, so you know
whether what the student has said is true or a lie then," Bruno reiterated.

"Sometimes," she agreed.

"Did you have firsthand knowledge in this case?" Bruno pressed.

"No, sir.  I didn't," she confessed.

"Ok, then how else might you determine if what you overheard was a lie or the
truth?" Bruno continued.

"Well, sometimes I ask different teachers who might know or maybe even the
principal," she replied.  "On a few occasions, I have even confronted a parent
about what I heard."

"So you know everything you hear the students say isn't always the truth?" Bruno
continued.

"Yes, sir, I know that," she confirmed.

"Then what did you do to determine if the statements you heard in this case were
true or not?  Did you question the boys about what was said?" Bruno wondered.

"No, sir, I didn't do that," she confessed.

"Then did you confront the brother, who was supposedly involved in this matter?"
he followed.

"No, sir, I didn't do that either," she admitted.

"Did you confront the boy's mother or the man who was supposedly involved in
this situation?" he pressed.

"No, I didn't check with the mother and I had no way of knowing exactly who the
man was," she acknowledged.

"In that case, were you even sure it was a man and not merely another boy?"
Bruno pressed.

"I was pretty sure it was, but I couldn't be positive, since I didn't know exactly
whom they were talking about," she admitted.

"In that case, did you have a teacher or the principal question the boy, his brother
or any one else, to determine the veracity of these statements or discover if an
adult was actually involved?" he followed.

"No, sir.  I just reported what I'd heard to Children's Services," she stated.  "I
figured they'd check to see if the accusations were true or not."

"Ah, so you didn't do anything to verify the truthfulness of these statements and
just passed them along to Children's Services, while leading them to believe they
were true?" Bruno stated, using an accusatory tone.

"I don't know what they believed, sir," she confessed.  "I just told them what I'd
heard."

"Didn't you merely hear gossip, without even knowing exactly whom the boys
were talking about, and then pass it along?" he continued.

"I knew the brother, just not the other person," she confessed.

"Tell me, Ms. Kazinski.  Out of every ten statements you hear the children tell
each other, how many of those would you consider to be falsehoods or lies?" he
mused.

"What do you mean?" she responded, with a blank expression covering her face.

"Well, out of every ten comments you overhear at the school, on average, how
many of those ten conversations would turn out to contain lies or
misinformation?" Bruno rephrased.  "One, two, three, four...eight?  How many on
average are not totally true?"

"Maybe four out of ten," she replied, still looking a bit confused.

"So knowing that forty percent of the conversations you overhear from the
students are not true, you still reported this conversation as being reliable,
without first investigating it yourself or having others at the school do so?" Bruno
challenged.

"Yes, sir.  I guess I did," she admitted.  "I just assumed that Children's Services
or the police would investigate the truthfulness of what I reported before they
acted upon the information."

"Ah, yes, assumed," Bruno stated, adding a hint or sarcasm.  "Are you familiar
with the old adage about people who assume?"

The prosecutor immediately jumped to his feet.

"Objection, Your Honor.  Is the defense attorney trying to testify now?"

"I merely asked the witness a question, as to whether she was familiar with a
certain expression," Bruno responded, while trying to look completely innocent of
the accusation.

"Objection sustained," the Judge quickly ruled.  "Mr. Colongeli, I suggest that you
refrain from characterizing the witness' testimony.  Do you have any further
questions for this witness?"

"No further questions, Your Honor.  I think we all see how Ms. Kazinski
operates," Bruno replied.

He had a very smug look as his face, as he walked back to his seat and sat down
beside me.  When I looked up again, I noticed that the judge was looking at his
watch.

"Seeing it's getting late in the day, court will adjourn until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow," he
announced.  "The jury is instructed not to read any articles or view any news
reports related to this trial, nor are they permitted to discuss this case with
anyone else.  This includes spouses, parents, children, friends and each other.
Court is adjourned."

As soon as the judge rapped his gavel and stood up, we all rose from our seats.
Right after he left the courtroom, the rest of us got ready to leave as well, and
Bruno asked me to follow him, which I did without hesitation.  He led me to a
door at the rear of the chamber and then down a back stairway to the basement
level, before heading for his car.  Along the way, Bruno stated that he wanted me
to meet him at his office at 8:00 the following morning, so I could ride with him to
the courthouse again.  That way he could help to protect me from the press and I
could fill him in about anything that might have come to me during the night.  I
agreed, just as we arrived at his car, and then he drove us over to his office.  As
soon as he pulled into his parking space, I bid Bruno goodnight and walked to my
own vehicle, which was parked nearby.

It turned out to be a very long and disquieting night for me, as I sat alone at
home.  All I could think about was how my lawyer was going to cross-examine
Josh and Jared tomorrow when they took the witness stand, especially after I'd
seen what he had done to Ms. Kazinski.  It was eating me up thinking that he
was going to do something similar to those boys, whom I still cared about, but
Bruno kept insisting that it was necessary.  God, how I hated this!  It was bad
enough watching him beat up on the teacher's aide like he did, while confusing
her and making her look foolish in front of everyone, but now he was going to do
this to Josh and Jared as well.  I know that since I'm facing these charges that I'll
probably never have contact with either boy again, no matter what Bruno does or
doesn't do, but even so, I was still having trouble accepting the fact that my
lawyer needed to rip their testimony, and them, apart.  There had to be another
alternative.

This continued to haunt me throughout the night and made it difficult for me to
sleep.  No matter how hard I tried not to think about this, I would end up
visualizing both boys being on the witness stand and answering the questions
asked of them by the prosecutor, while at the same time realizing they were
trying very hard not to say anything that would hurt me any worse than what had
already happened.  Then I would see them getting riddled with questions from
my attorney and painfully watched as Bruno badgered and tried to confuse them.
I even cringed when I pictured him upsetting the boys to the point where they
could barely think or when he made them cry.  How could I let this happen?  The
knowledge of what was to come was eating me up inside.

After what little sleep I was able to get, although it wasn't very restful, the alarm
went off and I slowly got ready for another day in court.  After showering and
getting dressed, I had a cup of coffee and a couple of pieces of toast.  That was
all I thought I could hold down, since my stomach was tied up in knots, as I
worried about what was going to happen today in court.  At 7:30 I went out and
got in the Tahoe, drove to my lawyer's office, parked my vehicle and then went
inside to meet with Bruno.  After a polite greeting, we went back outside and got
into his car and drove to the courthouse.

Bruno parked in the garage again and we got into the elevator at the basement
level.  The elevator stopped at the first floor, and to my surprise, a woman got on,
accompanied by Jared and Josh.  I discovered later she was the caseworker
assigned to look after the boys during this process, since Sherry didn't feel she
could afford to take time off from work to be here with them.

At first the boys didn't see me, because I was standing behind my attorney, but
as they stepped toward the rear of the elevator, they noticed I was there.  They
both stared at me briefly, like deer caught in the headlights of a car, but then they
quickly looked down at the floor, not knowing what else to do.  In that brief
moment when our eyes met, I saw how much Jared was hurting.  His eyes were
red and puffy, like he had been crying, and when I looked directly into them; I
could see that they were also filled with moisture.  My God, this was tearing him
up and he was suffering as much as I was over this situation.  How could I
continue to see him hurt further?

It was at this point that I made up my mind.  No matter what the consequences
were for me, I couldn't put Jared through any more than he had already been
forced to endure.  I was the adult here and should have resisted his advances,
but I didn't, so now I'd have to pay the piper.  How do they say it on the streets?
Don't do the crime, unless you can do the time.  Well, I guess that's exactly what
I was going to have to do now.

As soon as we got off the elevator, I advised Bruno that I needed to speak with
him in private, before we went into the courtroom.  He looked at me with a very
odd and surprised expression, but nodded his understanding, and then he led me
to a small room, off to one side of the hallway.

"Bruno, I want you to check with the D.A. and see if he'll offer me a plea deal," I
began.  "I saw the boys in the elevator and realized how badly this was affecting
them, so I can't put them through any more.  I'll plead guilty, rather than having
them take the stand."

"Bob, you can't get cold feet now," Bruno urged.  "Things have been going fairly
well for us so far, so it would be unwise to give in at this juncture."

"That's not the point," I objected.  "I told you before that I did things with this kid
and I can't let you tear him apart on the witness stand, just to save my neck.  I
believe you saw the boys get on the elevator and observed how badly they were
hurting.  I just can't put them through any more than they've already had to deal
with."

"Are you sure about this?" Bruno asked, seeking confirmation.

"I'm positive," I stated.  "Please ask the D.A. if he'd be willing to negotiate,
because I don't want to put these boys through any more, especially your cross-
examination."

"Ok, if that's what you want," Bruno reluctantly agreed.  "You're the boss and it's
your hide."

We then walked into the courtroom and made our way to the defense table, at
just about the same time as the judge entered the courtroom.  After he was
seated, my lawyer remained standing and addressed him.

"Your Honor, may I have a minute to confer with the Assistant District Attorney?"

"Yes, but make it quick," Judge Murphy agreed.

My lawyer then stepped across the brief expanse separating the two tables and
addressed the A.D.A.

"My client wants to know if you'd be open to negotiate a plea?" Bruno began.
"He saw the two boys on the elevator and doesn't want to put them through the
stress of testifying or having to be cross-examined, because he knows I'm going
to rip them up, if given the chance.  I think he saw what I did to your first witness
and doesn't want to see the same thing happen to these boys, but that's your
call.  How much pain do you want to cause these kids?"

"That's very big of him, considering what he's already done," the A.D.A. shot
back.

"Look, Sam, he didn't coerce that boy into anything," Bruno pointed out.  "Yes, he
did something with the boy, but it was because the kid wanted to and kept asking
my client to give in to his request.  This guy wouldn't hurt these kids, and in fact
he's proving it right now, by being willing to plead, in order to save them further
discomfort.  Even though I advised him against this, he's willing to go to jail,
rather than harm these boys.  Why don't you make me an offer I can recommend
he accept?  Ok?"

"Gentlemen, we're waiting," the Judge prodded.

"Yes, Your Honor," the prosecutor responded.  "Just another minute or two, if you
please, and we might be able to resolve this matter."

"All right, but don't take too much longer," the Judge urged.

"You know, the boy told me a similar story when I talked to him alone," the A.D.A.
admitted.  "He said he kept asking your client to do those things and kept at it
until he finally gave in.  He told me that he was willing to deny anything like that
ever happened, because he didn't want to hurt your client, since he was the one
who had talked the guy into doing it.  He even told me in private that he wouldn't
have admitted to it at all, but doing that would have made his brother look bad
and he was getting pressured, so he had to choose between the two.

"I'm still not sure what to do about this matter," the A.D.A. continued, "but I'm
beginning to wonder if someone wasn't a bit overzealous in investigating this
situation and possibly they coerced the kid into filing charges.  I'm not saying
your client is blameless, since what he did was still a crime, but he didn't force
himself on this kid or rape him.  Ok, I'll do it.  Sexual abuse one, with a sentence
recommendation for one to three years in prison."

 "You call that an offer?" Bruno quipped.  "How about sexual abuse two, with a
year in county jail?  He's not a big time criminal and I doubt he'd survive a year or
more in prison."

The A.D.A. eyed Bruno for a few seconds, before he responded.

"Alright, I'll agree to those terms, but he'll have to allocute to having had sexual
contact with the boy," the A.D.A. insisted.

"I think he'll accept that deal, but let me check with him quickly," my attorney
replied.

Bruno hurriedly returned to our table and told me what was being offered.  Since
I was ready to accept any deal they offered, I gave him my consent.  Bruno now
turned and nodded toward the A.D.A.

"Your Honor," the prosecutor began, addressing the Judge, "I believe the
Defense Attorney and I have reached a plea agreement, so if we may have a
short recess to work out the details, I think we can avoid taking up any more of
the court's valuable time."

"You have?" the Judge asked, while raising his eyebrows and frowning.  "In that
case, this court will recess for an hour and then I'll expect to hear the details of
this agreement, before I dismiss the jury."

"Yes, Your Honor, and thank you," the A.D.A. responded.

"Yes, thank you, Your Honor," Bruno added.

The judge then slammed down his gavel and declared a recess and the jury was
led out of the courtroom.  Once the judge and jury had departed, I followed Bruno
and the A.D.A. to a small office, where we hammered out the details for this deal.
The A.D.A. then typed out what we'd agreed to on his laptop and copied the file
onto a flash drive, so he could take it to another area where he printed it out.
After Bruno read the plea agreement over, the A.D.A., Bruno and I each signed it
and then Bruno and I waited in that small room until court reconvened.

Once the judge entered and declared the court back in session again, he looked
at the A.D.A. and spoke.

"Do you have a signed plea agreement?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Honor, we do," the A.D.A. told him.

"May I ask what you have agreed to?" the Judge pressed.

"Yes, Your Honor.  The defendant has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to sexual
abuse in the second degree, with a sentencing recommendation," the A.D.A.
answered.

"Mr. Cox, do you realize that by accepting this plea agreement it has the same
effect as being found guilty by a jury?" the Judge asked, while eying me
suspiciously.

"Yes, Your Honor, I do," I confirmed.

"In that case, your plea is accepted and recorded," the Judge ordered.
"Sentencing will take place two weeks from today and a pre-sentence
investigation will be required.  All reports and recommendations are to be
submitted to me no later than three days prior to sentencing.  In addition to that
requirement, I am also issuing a temporary restraining order, to prevent the
defendant from contacting or communicating with the boys involved in this matter
or any other child under the age of eighteen.  Is that clear?"

I nodded my agreement, but I also said 'yes,' so it could be recorded, and then
the judge turned toward the jury and spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this completes your service and I thank you
for your time and effort," he stated.  "You are now excused."

The judge then stood up and went to his chambers, after which the members of
the jury were escorted out of the courtroom.  Once they had gone, Bruno
instructed me to follow him to the car and stated that he'd explain the details
about what would happen next, after we got back to his office.  Obediently I
walked behind him, as we made our way from the courtroom.  Once again, he
took me out a back door, but this time he led me through areas I had never been
in before, in order for us to avoid the press.  He was very crafty in how he went
about this, and rather than taking the elevator or the stairway we had used
before, this time we walked down a different stairway instead, until we came to
the level of the parking garage.  We quickly got into his car, but neither of us said
a word, as we drove back to his firm.  Once we were there, he led me into his
private office and closed the door, before he turned to me and spoke.

"You were very fortunate that the A.D.A. was willing to accept a plea deal,
especially since the trial had started, but you were even luckier that I could
convince him to agree to the generous terms I'd suggested," he acknowledged.
"By dropping the charge down to this lesser count, it means that you won't have
to go to prison and can serve out your sentence in the county jail instead.  Now
don't get me wrong, because I'm not saying that is such a great place either, but
it's certainly better than a state facility, where there are more violent offenders
that you would have had to intermingle with.  The biggest downside is that you
will still have to register as a sex offender, once you're sentence has been
completed."

"I suspected I would," I confessed.  "So why do you think the A.D.A. agreed to
this deal then, if it's so much better for me?"

"I don't think he had much confidence in his witnesses," Bruno announced.  "He
saw that we already cast doubt on his first witness and might have been worried
that the jury would wonder why she chose to believe a conversation she'd only
overheard, without investigating it further, since she admitted that she didn't
believe everything the children said."

"I was surprised the judge even allowed her testimony in the first place," I pointed
out, "since she had no direct knowledge of anything that happened."

"I was too, but he ruled that it was only admissible under a very narrow
interpretation of the law and she could only describe what she'd heard to explain
why she reported the incident to Social Services, while at the same time not
being allowed to reveal what was said," Bruno explained.

"I see, but she almost slipped," I stated.

"I know, but we prevented that from happening," Bruno acknowledged.  "I think
the A.D.A. was also worried about the boys' testimony as well.  He indicated that
the older boy was hesitant about admitting to what happened and stated that
he'd only done it so he wouldn't make his brother look bad.  I think the A.D.A.
was concerned about what he might say and possibly even worried that the kid
would change his story, once he was on the witness stand."

"I was wondering about that myself," I interjected.  "After seeing him in the
elevator, I had my doubts that he wanted to go through with this."

"I don't think the A.D.A. had any more confidence in the other boy either," Bruno
went on.  "I think he was afraid that he might also change his story and claim that
he'd only said those things to impress his friend, so there was a chance that you
may have ended up getting off altogether."

"Possibly, but I just didn't want to put those boys in that situation," I admitted.  "I
didn't want Jared to feel that he had to lie or be stigmatized if he didn't, because
I'm certain that he realized his testimony would send me to prison."

"That's very admirable of you and I hope you don't come to regret your
generosity later," Bruno stated, while giving me a sideways glance.

"I'll survive this better than he would have made out on the witness stand," I
responded.

"I hope you do," Bruno muttered.  "By the way, I hope you also understand that
you'll have to allocute before sentencing, right?"

"Yes, I heard that too," I confirmed.

"Ok, so here's what I need you to do," Bruno continued.  "I want you to write
down exactly what you're going to say in your allocution, so I can go over it with
you and suggest whatever changes I think are necessary.  I suspect the judge
will go with the year in jail that the A.D.A. and I will both recommend, but you'll be
out in seven or eight months, once you are credited for good time, as long as you
don't get into any trouble while you're incarcerated.  You should also be prepared
to be taken directly to jail after the sentence hearing, so I suggest that you just
wear a dress shirt and no tie that day, instead of a suit."

Once he'd told me this, I thanked Bruno for not only taking my case, but for also
listening to my request that I didn't want him to interrogate either Jared or Josh.
That is what led to the plea agreement, after he convinced the prosecutor into
taking a lesser charge and offering a reduced sentence.  Even though I'll be
spending time in jail, I still feel this is better than harming Jared or Josh further.

After we finished up there, I went home, so I could get my things in order, before
the sentencing date.  I had a great deal to do and only two weeks in which to do
it.  The first thing I took care of was to drain my pool and cover it, because I knew
the boys wouldn't be coming down to swim again and I had certainly lost interest
in swimming as well.  I also took all the pool toys and deck furniture and locked
them in the shed, because I wouldn't be coming back until next spring.

Sitting at home later that night, I began to think about how Jared and Josh were
doing.  I wondered if they realized what I had done to protect them today, by
accepting the plea agreement and taking them off the hook at the last minute.
After seeing them in the elevator, I could tell that they had both been hurt enough
already and realized that if my lawyer had cornered Jared into admitting he
wasn't forced into having sex with me, then that might affect Jared's situation
with his peers at school.

No, what I did was for the best – I was convinced of that.  I would end up having
to pay for doing something I knew I should have avoided in the first place,
although I won't go as far as to say that it was wrong, because I don't feel Jared
was harmed by what we did.  In fact, I think someday Jared will even admit that
he benefited from our time together and definitely wasn't injured in any way, be it
physically, mentally or emotionally.

After that, I prepared to call Jack Coughlin, so I could inform him about what had
happened in court and arrange for him to take care of things for me while I was
locked up.  The more I thought about it, the better I began to feel about what I
had done, by accepting the plea agreement.  It wasn't that I was happy about
going to jail and eventually being required to register as a sex offender, because
having a criminal record was certainly going to follow me and present a whole
bunch of new challenges.  On the other hand, I had prevented Jared from having
to go through testifying against me, being cross-examined and possibly having to
admit to some things that he might regret forever, if that information was to get
out.  I'll do the time, as long as neither of the boys has to be scarred any further
than what has already happened.


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