Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 00:57:17 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: The Castaway Hotel - book 7, chapter 11

Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts.
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.

Don't read this story if:
**You're not 18 or over,
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
**Or if you don't want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex.

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against violators.

I wish to extend my thank you to Emoe57 for his editorial assistance with
this chapter, and Art, the real Vinnie and John for their additional input
on each chapter.

E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive'
comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.

                  *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Although the boys in these stories have unprotected sex, I strongly urge
all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various
sexually transmitted diseases by using condoms when having intercourse.

                  *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

The Castaway Hotel-Book 7-by BW (Young-Friends).  Copyright 2004 by billwstories
Chapter 11 - The verdicts.                        January 2004

Once we were out in the hallway, the boys started talking excitedly to me,
explaining something they had picked up on in Tim Wood's testimony -
something that would mean his statement couldn't possibly be true.  I
quickly listened to what they told me and then considered their arguument,
and quickly I realized they were correct.  After reaching that conclusion,
I left the courthouse, because I had things I would need to do before the
trial resumed.  I asked Jake to take the O'Haras and the boys out to eat,
while I ran my errands, which he readily agreed to.  I arrived back at
court just before the trial was scheduled to restart, filled Mr. Gouldin in
about what we had learned and I what I had done, so he might be able to use
it, once the trial resumed.  Now we all took our places, waiting for court
to be called back into session.

Soon the judge entered the courtroom and took his place, and then he began
by addressing the prosecutor again.  "Mr. Osgood, will you please call your
next witness."

The acting D.A. chatting quickly with his assistant before he rose from his
seat and looked toward the judge.  "The prosecution rests, your honor," he
said meekly, startling us and causing a series of audible gasps from the
other spectators in the courtroom.

This actually surprised us, because we felt the prosecutor would draw out
the testimony of those who knew about the animosity between my boys and the
victim, and possibly even elicit more testimony about how we had pushed to
get the boys expelled and then went after the Boy Scouts, because
Mr. Hubbard was a scout master and both David and Tim were members of his
scout troop.  However, I guess Mr. Osgood felt he'd present enough of that
information and decided to end on what he thought was his strongest witness
to tie my boys to the crime.

"Mr. Gouldin," the judge stated, after realizing the prosecution was done,
"would you please call your first witness to the stand then."

"Yes, your honor.  The defense calls Mark Williams to the stand."

Even though I had just picked Mark up from work, and there was never any
plan to call him as a witness, all the boys had been listed on the witness
list, as we didn't know who might remember what, when it came time to
testify.  Looking shy, Mark stepped forward and was sworn in, and then
Mr. Gouldin began to question him.

"Please state your name in full," he told Mark.

"Mark Edward Williams."

"And how do you know the Currie family."

"They are very good friends, and I've lived with them for a while.  I also
work for the foundation the Curries founded."

"Would you tell us what you were doing the week of the July tenth
incident."

"Yes, sir.  I was attending a conference for work, in the Catskills."

"How did you get to this conference?" Mr. Gouldin followed.

"I drove."

"And did you drive your own vehicle?"

"No, sir," Mark answered him.  "I had to borrow one of the Currie's cars,
as mine wouldn't start the morning I was to leave."

"I see.  So, which vehicle of their vehicles did you borrow?"

"Mr. Currie let me take the Grand Am."  Mr. Gouldin let a smile spread
across his lips, and then he turned to look at the jury, before he turned
to look at the prosecutor's table.  It was plain to see that Mr. Osgood was
not pleased about this surprise.

"And when did you leave and return?"  Mr. Gouldin followed, looking very
smug and confident at this point.

"I left on Sunday, July sixth, and returned on Friday, July eleventh," Mark
stated, confidently.  Mr. Gouldin nodded and grinned again.

"And do you have any way to prove that information is correct?" Mr. Gouldin
continued.

"Yes, I have the parking receipt from the resort."

"Do you have it with you?"

"Yes, sir.  I do."  At that point, Mark pulled some paperwork out of his
shirt pocket and began to unfold it.  We had gone home to retrieve those
receipts, as he had kept the originals and turned in copies of them for
reimbursement from work.

"Would you please show those documents to the court and read the
information on it."  Mark held the papers out for the judge to see, and
then he flashed them out toward the D.A, and finally he showed the jury,
before he began to read the information on them.

"These papers give my name, the room number I stayed in at the hotel, the
year and description of the Grand Am, and the license plate number."

"Does it have any other information, such as dates?"

"Yes, sir.  It says it's a parking receipt for July 6 - 11 of this year."

"Your honor, I'd now like to put this receipt into evidence."  Mr. Gouldin
took the piece of paper from Mark and handed it to the judge, who looked it
over, before he responded.

"So ordered.  This will be entered as defense exhibit A."  Now, Mr. Gouldin
turned back to Mark to ask him one further question.

"So, seeing you had the car during this period of time, there was no way
Mr. Wood could have seen the Grand Am with the defendants in it on July
tenth?"

"No, sir.  The car was with me, hundreds of miles away from here."

"Thank you, Mr. Williams.  I have no further questions for you."

I had been watching the prosecutor during the testimony and I could tell he
was very flustered by this surprise, which made his star witness look like
an unmitigated liar.  Now he scrambled to save his case.  "So,
Mr. Williams, would you please tell us again why you had the Currie's
vehicle."

"Yes, sir.  When I went to leave on Sunday, my car wouldn't start, so
Mr. Currie let me borrow the Grand Am, so I wouldn't miss going.  I left my
car with him and he had it repaired while I was gone."  Thinking he might
have found an opening, Mr. Osgood followed up with his next question.

"What type of vehicle do you normally drive?"

"I have a Saturn, sir."  Mr. Osgood looked crestfallen, after hearing his
response.  I think he was hoping Mark also drove a Grand Am.

"And you are sure of the dates you were gone?"

"Absolutely.  Besides, they are written on the receipt that was just
entered into evidence."

"So they were," he conceded, not knowing where else to go with his
questioning.  "I have no further questions for this witness, your honor."

As Mark left the witness chair, Mr. Gouldin turned and motioned me to come
forward.  As I did, the judge addressed him.  "Mr. Gouldin, would you
please call your next witness."

"May I please have a moment, your honor?"

"Make it brief," the judge responded and Mr. Gouldin turned back to speak
to me.

"I think we should rest here," he advised the O'Haras, Jake, and me.  "We
just destroyed their connection between the boys and where the incident
took place, and none of your boys can really vouch for any of the accused
boys during the nine to ten time span.  I think it's best if we just rest
now, because I think this new evidence will give the jury enough to think
about and supply them with sufficient reasonable doubt to find your sons
not guilty."

"Are you sure about that?" I wanted to know, not sure if I agreed.  I was
worried we hadn't done very much to defend the boys.

"It's a close call, but I want this information fresh in the jury's mind,
and seeing any other witnesses we call won't add anything substantial, I
think it's best if we rest now."

I looked at the boys, who were listening in on our discussion, and I could
tell by the expressions on their faces that they were concerned about this
suggestion.  After talking it over very quickly with Brandon's parents and
Jake, I finally gave Mr. Gouldin our answer.  "If you think that's best," I
advised him, "because you know much more about criminal defense than any of
us do.  That's why we hired you in the first place."

"Then I say we end this now."  I merely nodded, and he turned to face the
judge.  "Your honor, the defense rests."  There was a collective gasp in
the rest of the courtroom and the prosecutor just looked over at the
defense table and stared, as if he were trying to size them up.  However,
there was nothing left to size up.

"In that case," the judge began, "we shall take an hour recess, while you
prepare your closing arguments and I prepare my charge to the jury.  Court
will reconvene at that time."

With that said, the judge stood up and went back to his chambers, but most
of the courtroom stayed where they were, except for the jurors.  They were
led back to the jury room, where they would wait until the judge returned.
We sat and talked among ourselves, trying to weigh the information that had
been presented and speculated about whether there was sufficient evidence
for the jury to find the boys guilty.  While we were talking, Mr. Gouldin
and the District Attorney left the courtroom, to go prepare their closing
arguments.

After the judge and the lawyers left, the courtroom began to clear, so we
decided to take a walk, to get away from there.  The fact that the Hubbards
and Tim Wood were glaring at us from the other side of the chamber sort of
motivated our decision.  We wandered around the Courthouse Park for about a
half hour, just enjoying the temperate fall day.  Thinking the hour was
almost up, we wandered back to take our seats, still talking about how we
thought the jury would decide.  We were still discussing various facts when
the judge came back into the courtroom and everything went quiet again.
Once the jury had returned as well, the judge spoke.  "Mr. Osgood, would
you please make your closing remarks."

"Yes, your honor," he began, while standing up, and then he strode over, in
front of the jury box.  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.  This case is
fairly simple.  It has been shown there was a past history of animosity
between these boys, because of an incident at school, and when the four
defendants finally got their opportunity for revenge, they took it.  They
were seen in the area just before the attack occurred, have no alibis for
that time period, and have plenty of motive for wanting to hurt the victim.
If you agree with these facts, you have to return a verdict of guilty."

Having finished his remarks, the D.A. returned to his table and took his
seat.  I thought his closing was more than a little weak, probably because
his star witness had been discredited, but now we all watched Mr. Gouldin,
as he made his way over to address the jurors.

"For one of the few times during this trial," he stated, while holding his
body very erect and looking very professional, "I agree with the District
Attorney.  This case is very simple.  The biggest piece of evidence the
prosecutor had to tie my clients to this crime was an eyewitness, who
claimed he passed their car after dark, while both vehicles were doing
approximately 55 m.p.h.  However, after he testified, we discovered he
could not have seen what he claimed, as that vehicle he said he saw wasn't
even in town at the time.  If that's not reasonable doubt, then I don't
know what is.  You have no choice but to come back and return a verdict of
not guilty."

Mr. Gouldin gave the jury one final scan, to read their expressions, and
then he moved back to his seat.  There was a brief lull in the proceedings,
while the murmuring in the courtroom died down, and then the judge turned
to face the jury, so he could give them his charge.

"Members of the jury, there are two charges involved with this crime,
however before we delve into those, I must remind you that you must find
the evidence sufficient to place the defendants at the scene of the crime
when it was committed.  You must also find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that
they in fact perpetrated this crime.  Now concerning the specific charges,
if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants attempted to
cause, or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused injury to David
Hubbard, or that they negligently caused bodily injury to David Hubbard
with a deadly weapon, then you must find them guilty of simple assault.  If
you find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants attempted to cause
serious bodily injury to David Hubbard, or caused such injury
intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting
extreme indifference to the value of human life, then you must find them
guilty of aggravated assault.  Do any of you have questions concerning my
directions?"  No one responded, so the judge continued.  "Bailiff, will
please take the jury back to the jury room and sequester them, until they
reach a verdict."

The bailiff did as he was directed and led the jury out, and as they were
leaving, I turned to look at my accused sons, and I noted the very
concerned looks on their faces.  They knew their continued freedom and
criminal record rested solely with twelve men and women who just left, and
that was not a reassuring thought for them.  Once the jury was gone, we met
with Mr. Gouldin, who told us he thought we did all we could do and that he
felt the verdicts should come back not guilty.  I told him I hoped he was
right, and now we started to exit out of the back of the courtroom, as we
planned to wait in the hallway until the verdicts were announced.
Mr. Gouldin told us he felt it wouldn't take the jury long to reach a
decision, as it had been a short trial and very little evidence was
presented that the jury would have to wade through.  Therefore, we took up
our vigil in the wide corridor outside the courtroom.

As I looked around, I could see Mr. Hubbard, his son David, and Tim Wood
sitting at the opposite end of the corridor, and they looked just as
worried about what the jury would decide as we were.  Every few minutes,
they would turn in our direction and give us their patented glare, and it
was obvious their animosity toward us only grew with time.  I became
involved with one of these eye to eye stare downs with David and his
father, and I was determined to outlast them, but it ended when the bailiff
came out into the hall to announce the jury was back and we needed to
reenter the courtroom.

We knew the verdict would be quick, but we thought it might take a little
longer than this, so I glanced at my watch and calculated how long it had
taken.  The jury had been out twenty minutes or less, and I wondered if
that weighed in our favor or against us.  On the way back in, I asked
Mr. Gouldin what he thought and he just shrugged his shoulders, saying it
could go either way.  We walked in and took our seats, and shortly after
that, the judge entered, so we had to stand again.  Once he called the
court back into session, the jury was led into the jury box, and I noticed
they didn't look at the prosecutor or us on the way in.  Instead, the
members of the jury seemed to prefer to look toward the floor or study
their hands, for the most part.  Once they were seated, the judge addressed
them.

"Madam foreperson, has the jury reached its verdicts?"

"Yes, your honor," the matronly looking woman replied.  "We have."

"For the defendant Daniel Currie, on the charge of aggravated assault, how
do you find?"  I think we all held our breath at this point.

"Not guilty," came the reply.  We were somewhat relieved, but dared not to
cheer yet.

"For the same defendant, on the charge of simple assault, how do you find?"

"Not guilty, your honor."  I think some of the weight began to be lifted
from us, and I glanced quickly at the other side of the courtroom, where I
saw David, his father, and Tim Wood all looking like they had just
swallowed a whole lemon.  It was quite obvious they were not happy with the
verdicts and they didn't consider the matter closed, at least not yet.

We sat in controlled silence, while the same verdicts were read for Pat,
Brandon, and Shannon, and then the judge thanked the jury and told the boys
they were free to leave.  I kept them all with me in the courtroom for a
few more minutes, wishing to give the Hubbards and their friends time to
leave first, as I wished to avoid a possible confrontation in the hallway
or parking lot, which could lead to more charges.  The boys were eager to
get away from there, but I made them wait about fifteen minutes before we
left, and I also made sure to warn them to stay together until we reached
home.

As I suspected, the Hubbards and their supporters were still in the parking
lot when we got there, and I think they were planning to do something to
our vehicles, but we showed up before they had the chance.  When they saw
us, and how many of us there were, they all turned and got into their own
vehicles, and eventually left.  Then we did the same and began to drive
home, but once we were away from the courthouse, a series of excited
comments and cheers began to break the silence, as my relieved crew
celebrated their vindication.

When we got to the house, the euphoria continued, however the discussion
now changed.  Instead of talking excitedly about how everything worked out
to clear them, they began to wonder what would have happened if Mark's car
hadn't refused to start on the Sunday before he left for his conference.
In fact, they considered that quite a scary thought.

"You know," Danny stated simply, "we've been thanking Mark, when we should
be thanking his car for breaking down."  There were a few scattered
chuckles from some of the younger boys, as they didn't get his implication
at first, but then the room became somber again.

"Yes, I hate to think what might have happened," Brandon agreed.  "We could
have been convicted just because of what Wood said, if Mark hadn't had
those receipts to prove he had the Grand Am at the conference during that
week."

"I wouldn't go that far," Jake countered.  "I'm sure we would have come up
with other things, which would have cleared you."

"Possibly, I can't really say for sure, but I'm really glad that some of
you caught that fact about the car," I told them, "because it hadn't
registered with me at all."

"Yeah, even we didn't catch it," Pat added.  "We were focusing on how
Hubbard said he had seen us and didn't catch his mistake about the car."

"By the way, who DID catch that?" Shannon asked.

"It was Cole," Dion boasted.

"How did you pick up on that?" Ricky asked him, looking more than a bit
impressed at a brother, who for the most part, had just seemed to blend
into the background.

"Yeah, what made you think of that?" Sammy asked Cole.

"Well, it's because I always like to take the Grand Am when I need to go
somewhere, and that week I couldn't do it.  I guess it just made me
remember that it had been gone all week."  He looked slightly embarrassed
by all the attention, but you could tell he was pleased that he had been
the one to help the most.

"Cole," Brandon began, "I think I can speak for the others too, when I say
thank you for catching Wood's mistake about the car."  This time, Cole was
blushing and it took him a few seconds before he was able to respond.

"If I hadn't picked up on that," he finally stated, "someone else would
have.  Maybe not then, but once we got home and started talking about it,
someone would have remembered."

"Possibly," Jake told him, "but we might have remembered it too late for it
to be used in court.  By catching it so quickly, the lawyer was able to
make that his whole defense, and I really believe that's what made the
difference here."

"He's right," I added, supporting Jake's position.  "If you hadn't caught
that, the lawyer would have called a bunch of you to the stand to testify
as to what all of you were doing before we left for vacation.  By the time
one of us had caught the mistake about the car, the jury may have been too
confused wading through all the other information to see that fact clearly.
Whether you are willing to admit it or not, Cole, it was your observation
that helped the others to be found not guilty.

The boys now slapped him on the back or made some kind of complimentary
remark to him, but each of the four boys who had been accused of the crime
made sure they personally thanked him for his astuteness.  Although he was
still embarrassed by the attention, I think he was proud of himself too,
and this was a feeling Cole seldom enjoyed.  Due to his early life, his
learning difficulties, and problems in school, Cole had seldom enjoyed
opportunities to feel good about himself.  That was one of the reasons I
gave in to him about the old car he wanted to fix up, hoping he could take
some pride in the fact that he would have refurbished it entirely by
himself, both the body and the engine.  Now, I just sat back and enjoyed
the fact that he was getting recognition from something other than his
automotive prowess.

During the rest of the evening, things began to quiet down and get back to
normal, and by morning, the boys were beginning to talk about other things.
We let the four college boys stay home for the rest of the week however,
just to unwind and put what they'd been through behind them.  Although I
did this for their mental well-being, I did insist they keep up on their
studies, while they were home.

Brandon's parents stayed until Saturday, when they caught their flight back
home.  It was a relieved, yet tearful parting between them and their son,
but we were all happy that this was behind us.  They promised that they
would come back to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with us, which
pleased Brandon immensely, as it meant he wouldn't have to fly there for
either of those holidays.  It wasn't because he didn't want to go see them,
but he also missed the other boys, and this way he could be with everyone
at the same time.

After we saw the O'Haras off, Jake and I took the college boys back to
their campuses, to resume their normal life, as students.  I think by that
point they were all ready to get back to school and we parted with little
emotion when we dropped them off.  As Jake and I drove back late Sunday
afternoon, we both commented about how we had managed to dodge that bullet,
and we wondered how many other scary incidents like that we might still
have to face.

                *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me
at 'BW's Rainbow Youth Connection,' at http://bwsryc.gayauthors.org/

You can also locate my stories by clicking on the Nifty author link and
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Bill.