Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:33:15 +1000
From: The Haydster <thehaydster@yahoo.com.au>
Subject: Love On Campus - Chapter 14

Disclaimer: This story contains love between two teenage males. If it is
illegal to read this in your community, or if you are below the legal age,
leave now. No responsibility is accepted by the author for any effects of
this story , directly or indirectly. By continuing to read this, you accept
that you are accessing this of your own free will, and indemnify the author
against all cases.

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Love On Campus
by theHaydster
Copyright 2006, theHaydster. All rights reserved
PLEASE email me at thehaydster@yahoo.com.au I run off feedback!

THANKS FOR READING! Sorry about the delay, I intend to have the next
chapter out soon. Any ideas about the case for the defence, I don't have
many ideas. The more ideas, the sooner the next chapter will come out (no
pun intended).

Thanks goes to Don Hanratty and TimTheStoryGUy for their advice.

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Chapter 14

Note: Literary license is taken with regard to the court case.

The ball had an excellent three course meal, surprisingly enough. Most
formal dinners I've been to, the food is there mostly for looks. After the
dessert had been cleared away people started to get up and dance. The
people that weren't dancing started chatting with their friends as the
night wore on. Alex and I did a fair amount of dancing together, and we
enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Josh and Tim still took the ball by storm, as no one (except us) had any
inkling that they were gay, and a couple. I slipped away from Alex from
time to time and took some great photos. Regardless of the precautions,
people got drunk, and that made for very funny photos. By chance, the ball
was the last Friday of the term, so we had our mid-semester break
starting. This put everyone into a mood to celebrate (hence the
drunkenness).

At midnight the ball broke up and there were buses to the kick-on. Alex and
I decided not to go, as did everyone else at our table. The limo turned up
on time and we gave Tim and Josh a lift back too. Once we arrived at our
room we were too knackered to do anything but undress and climb into bed.

The Saturday morning we slept in, as did everyone who had been to the
ball. We eventually staggered out of bed and went to breakfast. Tiny turned
up half way through our breakfast and asked us if we had remembered that we
had to pack today. We both swore simultaneously with that comment. On
Sunday we had to fly down to Canberra for the trial. Our flight was an
early morning one, so we had to pack today.

After breakfast we dug our good suits out and ironed them. I hate ironing
with a passion; I don't know how Alex can stand it. Eventually we had
everything packed up and stored it all in our cupboards. We spent the rest
of the day finishing up our assignments, so we wouldn't have any more
pressure while we were in Canberra.

Our work took us all the way through to dinner time, and we got ready for
bed afterwards so we would have a good nights sleep. I was jumpy about the
case and eventually I blurted out "Alex, I'm so nervous about this trial".
"I know Davey, I'm nervous too, but it will work out" "But they must have
some sort of case; otherwise we wouldn't need to testify" "They can demand
a full trial, but there is nothing which can go for them."  "I know, but
I'm still scared" "Turn over babe" "What?"  "Turn over so your on your
stomach" I did as Alex said and he started to give me a massage. He was
incredibly good at it. The next thing I remember was being woken with a
kiss while it was pitch dark.

"Davey, time to get up?"  "Wha... It's only 2 in the morning Alex. What's
going on?" Ok. I'm not exactly at my brightest at 2 am, who is (except
nocturnal animals)?  "Dave, plane flight, Canberra, trial" "Hell! I forgot!
When do we need to be at the airport? We haven't arranged how to get
there!"  Alex started chuckling at my confusion "Kate is taking us there,
and we need to be out of here in about 20 minutes"

We dressed quickly and were out the front just as Kate pulled up. She
greeted us with "I must be insane to get up at this our so you two can
catch your flight. You owe me for this one." "And a good morning to you two
Kate" I replied. We lugged our ports (suitcases) into the boot of her car
and took off for the airport (no pun intended), Alex drove.

We took the Inner City Bypass to the airport and got there at about 3. Kate
parked in the short term parking when we told her that she wasn't driving
back until she'd had a cup of coffee. I felt bad about getting her up, but
she told me it all comes with having crazy friends (Alex and I). We all
smiled at that. We always joke about being crazy, just thought you should
know, so it's not an insult or anything.

We checked in with QANTAS, at least there was no queue. Security were a bit
more rigorous, because there was no one else about. They used the
explosives swab thing on Kate. I swear they are paranoid here, but not as
much as the US is. Once we had bought Kate a cup of coffee and had one
ourselves (I had tea, what is it with coffee?), Kate left to go back to
college. At 5:30 we heard "Cityflyer QF214 to Canberra is now boarding at
gate 14". Cityflyer is the QANTAS service running about every hour between
all the capitals on the east coast (flights run less often to Perth,
Adelaide and Darwin).

Once we arrived at the gate we were approached by a gentleman who looked
about 55. He was wearing a formal suit and tie. "Mr. Andrews and
Mr. Scott?" he inquired, once we assured him that we were he introduced
himself. "I am James Smith, the prosecutor for your case. We may have a
problem regarding the character of the judge and the tactics we expect of
the defence lawyer."

We were flying business class (courtesy of the government), so we boarded
the plane last. There was no one else flying business class this early in
the morning (they would be crazy to do so). As soon as we were at cruising
altitude we all had soft drinks and Mr. Smith started talking to us. First
he asked for identification, as the case was becoming very high profile.

"Mr. Andrews, Mr. Scott" "Please call us David and Alex, sir" "Very well,
then please call me James" "David, Alex, I'm going to put my cards on the
table about your case. All the evidence is in your favour, and under normal
circumstances we should have no trouble gaining a conviction. As the
prosecution, we have a more difficult task than the defence. The defence
just needs to poke enough holes in our case. They don't have to prove
anything, we have to prove that they are guilty `beyond all reasonable
doubt' to quote the law books" "James, what are the problems then?"  "Our
major problem is the judge. At the end of a case the judge sums up and if
his summing up is biased it can have a great effect on the juries
decision. The judge they have chosen is homophobic, and if they are
acquitted we can't re-try them with another judge. Or that's not entirely
true, we can appeal the decision, but if we do it will need to go to the
High Court, and I don't think that they will accept our appeal."  "That's a
pretty major problem James, what's our other one?"  "The other problem is
the barrister. He is going to try and make your sexuality the reason for
the attack. I don't know what else he may try, but he will try to prejudice
the jury. I don't know what else he may try, but he is going to stoop to
foul means for this case."

We discussed tactics that the defence would be likely to use and ways to
avoid them for the rest of the flight. Once we had collected our baggage we
hailed a taxi that took Alex and I to the Rydges, where we had a double
room reserved (courtesy of the govt.)  James got into a different cab that
took him home.

Once Alex and I had hung up our suits we decided to go for a walk and have
some lunch. We saw Parliament House and had lunch not far from it. Not much
of interest happened that day. We had dinner at the cafe in the hotel and
then went to bed holding each other. The trial started the next day.

At 6:30 the next morning the alarm clock went off. Alex and I got showered
(together) and dressed in our suits while trying to keep calm. We had
breakfast in the cafe and then finished getting ready to leave. Just as we
were ready James knocked on our door. He was dressed in full court attire,
and looked very lawyer-like. A taxi took us to the court where he went over
everything once more, so we knew what to expect and how to act.

At 8:30 we walked into the courtroom, scared about what to expect. "All
rise. The honourable Judge Wilson presiding" Everyone in the courtroom
stood as an elderly gentleman entered and sat at the bench. "Be seated" he
said in a commanding voice. With that everyone sat except the baliff. "The
Crown versus Jones, Daniels, Redland, Tanner, Flint and Goodman. All
defendants are charged with 2 counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of
assault upon a police officer and 2 counts of intimidation of a
witness. Jones and Daniels are also charged with assault with a deadly
weapon. The court now asks the prosecution to open the case"

With that remark James stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the
prosecution intends to prove these charges beyond all reasonable
doubt. Mr. David Andrews and Mr. Alex Scott received death threats
regarding their testimony regarding an assault upon Mr. Andrews. Later on
these 2 men were attacked by six unidentified men, who put both Mr. Scott
and Mr. Andrews in hospital. From that time on they received protection
from the federal police. A second attempt was made upon their lives, but
this time armed police were ready, and these 6 men were arrested. I intend
to call Mr. Scott, Mr. Andrews and Officer Casey to the stand to prove this
case." He then sat down.

"The court now asks the defence for their opening remarks." The barrister
stood up and opened his case with "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the
defence intends to prove reasonable doubt in the case for the
prosecution. We intend to disprove the charges of intimidation by lack of
evidence, and the other charges due to the fact that the witnesses were
provoked. We intend to call Mr. Jones, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Gavens and Officer
Leeland to prove the case." Both our jaws dropped at that speech.
Mr. Gaven's was the president of the St. Mark's College Council!


Please email me with comments and ideas. Flames will be ignored.
thehaydster@yahoo.com.au