Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 251,879 times)

[Kpatch]

I don't think anything with the words "Widows Club" will appeal to Marlena. I hope Julie is more delicate than that. I'm glad Maggie reminded her that Jennifer is still capable of hosting holidays. Let's not skip a generation.

[heroicmuse]

Week 518 - 4
Ruby sat on her bed, looking at the instructions she had gotten from her therapist at the Horton Center.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
Volunteer to do something to help others over Thanksgiving. Then write a one-page essay about what you did and how it made you feel.

“What the heck am I supposed to do?” she said to herself. “I’m barely part of this community.”

She sighed and picked up her phone. It rang twice, then went to voicemail.

This is Sydney, so if you were expecting someone else, you have the wrong number. If you were looking for me, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Ruby’s heart pounded. “Sydney, it’s Ruby. Um, I have to do a community service thing over the holiday and, um, I was wondering if you were doing one and if you’d like to do it together.”

She hung up and flopped back on the bed, certain Sydney would never call her back.


It was time for closing arguments. Judge Hildebrand said to the jury, “You will now hear from the defense attorney first and then from the district attorney. Each attorney will be attempting to sum up their argument and convince you that their side should prevail. However, after arguments I will be providing you with a copy of the relevant laws, and you will be expected to make your decision based on whether or not the evidence supports the idea that these laws have been broken. I will instruct you further on these points after you hear these arguments. For now, please listen with an open mind to what each attorney has to say. Mr. Saxon, are you ready?”

“Yes, your Honor,” Saxon said. He stood and straightened his tie. Then he turned to the jury. “I know this trial hasn’t been easy. It’s been downright ugly, hasn’t it? According to two girls, Natalie Simmons is responsible for rapes and kidnappings and murders. She has unlimited power to force everyone in the universe to do what she wants. Come on!” Saxon’s voice rose. “Natalie Simmons is not nearly the monster these girls made her out to be. The prosecution’s entire case relies on you believing two girls with criminal records who would rather blame somebody else for their problems than admit that they screwed their own lives up.

“According to Hannah Martin, every criminal act she engaged in, from driving into bad neighborhoods to buy drugs to drinking an open beer on the street when she was only 18 years old, was Natalie Simmons’ fault. Ms. Martin spent a year in jail behind that open container, and if she were the one on trial today, you’d see that the police report said she was uncooperative and disrespectful and that was part of the reason the DA recommended a sentence of a year in jail instead of a fine or a diversion program. Yet instead of taking responsibility for the ugly things coming out of her own mouth, Ms. Martin claims that she wouldn’t have been arrested if Ms. Simmons hadn’t asked her to hold that open container. Preposterous And somehow, Ms. Simmons is responsible for her brother, who is no longer here to explain himself, allegedly raping both Ms. Martin and Ms. Dupree.

“Speaking of Ms. Dupree, she claims that she was forced to do Natalie Simmons’ bidding, forced to run drugs, forced to commit other crimes, even forced to kill Ms. Simmons’ brother, and that Natalie Simmons herself ordered the hit on Marcel Simmons, the only brother she’d ever known. If you believe that, I’ve got some swampland in Florida for you.

“Chanel Dupree is a career criminal. At 14, she ran away and began doing drugs on the street. She’s been arrested multiple times for possession with intent to sell, she shot Marcel Simmons in the back and framed Kenneth Hansen for it — yes, the same Kenneth Hansen that was abducted by Marcel Simmons and claimed it was his sister’s fault, but they leave out the part where his cousin framed him for murder because it doesn’t fit the narrative. Chanel Dupree should be in prison for a very long time, but she’s free today because she made a deal to testify against Natalie Simmons, and I guess it didn’t matter if what she had to sa was true or false.”

Rubin stood. “Your Honor!”

Judge Hildebrand sighed. “Let’s not claim the District Attorney is encouraging perjury,” she said. “If you want to cast doubt on the witness, fine, but you’ll have to leave everyone else out of it.”

“Sorry, your Honor. I misspoke. What I meant to say was, Chanel Dupree would say anything to get that deal, so you can’t trust a word she says, especially when she’s convinced that Natalie Simmons is some sort of omnipotent goddess who has absolute power to ruin lives.

“Look, the witnesses for the prosecution were playing games. I have no doubt horrible things happened to them, but I do doubt that Natalie Simmons was responsible. The prosecution simply has not made that case, and if you think they did, just remember: both of these girls were supposedly under Natalie’s thumb for years, yet neither of them joined the FIre Lions or got a Fire Lion tattoo. If she really had that kind of control, wlouldn’t she have forced these girls into the gang she allegedly runs? Think about that, and then vote to acquit, because there is no case here. Thank you.”

Saxon sat down. Rubin got up and said, “I’ve been a prosecutor for 25 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I thought a case was a slam dunk. Most of the time, I know that someone is guilty and that I have the evidence to prove it, but I have to also counter a defense that makes some sense. Maybe the evidence is circumstantial or the defendant has an excuse that might resonate with the jury. But this time… no. This time, the defense has nothing. You’ve seen for yourself Natalie Simmons’ behavior, in real-time, during this trial. If you had any doubt that the things Hannah Martin or Chanel Dupree or Kenneth Hansen said about Natalie Simmons were 100% accurate, all you need is your eyes, your ears, and your memories.

“The court transcripts will show that Natalie Simmons undermined her defense at ever turn, that she threw temper tantrums every time a witness said something she didn’t like, that she threatened officers of the court, that she played dirty tricks to get the case thrown out… if you had any doubt that she intimidated her witnesses so much that they had to testify remotely from a safe house, you saw your evidence. If you doubted that she would scream and yell and threaten if they tried to walk away from her criminal enterprise, you saw that in real time too.

“But as distasteful as Natalie Simmons’ behavior has been in court, I don’t want you to convict her based on disliking her childish antics in front of the judge, in front of all you. She wasted your time, she disrespected you as well as the judge… but that’s not the basis to convict. No, you have to make your decision based on the law.

“The law says that you cannot offer an impressionable 14-year-old an incentive to engage in illegal behavior. That is called contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and the evidence showed convincingly that Natalie Simmons committed that crime over and over with both Hannah Martin and Chanel Dupree.

“The law says that if you assist somebody with an abduction, you are as guilty of kidnapping as they are. In this case, it would be aggravated kidnapping because Marcel Simmons used a weapon to subdue Kenneth Hansen and Natalie Simmons helped her brother hold Kenneth prisoner. It doesn’t matter that she was a kinder, gentler kidnapper who insisted her hostage be fed. She held Kenneth hostage and she demanded that Hannah Martin surrender to her in exchange for his freedom. That makes her guilty of kidnapping, and we have proven that too.

Natalie Simmons bought drugs and resold them, and you’ve heard evidence demonstrating that crime happened. Or more specifically, that those two crimes happened, because drug trafficking and possession with intent to sell are two separate charges and we have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that she is guilty of both.

The defense has no answer for any of this. The defense has not shown you that there is any reason to doubt that Natalie Simmons is a gang leader who thrives on terrorizing young women who are in dire situations and forcing them to do her bidding. I know that all of you take your obligation as jurors seriously. I know that you want to weigh all the evidence and make absolutely sure that you have it right so that you don’t send an innocent woman to prison. And I know that when you do that, when you look at everything we have shown you and everything the defense has NOT shown you to counter it, you will come back, confident in your belief that this woman is guilty of every one of the crimes in that lengthy indictment the judge is about to explain to you. Natalie Simmons thinks she is untouchable, that she can create all sorts od chaos and destruction and nothing will happen. Show her that she’s wrong. Find her guilty on all charges. Thank you.”

Rubin sat down so that the judge could give her final instructions before the jury went into the jury room. Natalie Simmons was staring into space instead of giving her dirty looks, so she guessed that she had won and that Natalie knew it, but still. She couldn’t be sure until the jury came back with the right verdict.

[André DiMera]

Hopefully Sydney will call Ruby back.

Saxon’s last speech was as disgusting as I expected. Rubin’s was great! Hopefully the jury will make the right choice!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 518 - 5
Rafe met Justin in the conference room next to the courtroom. Justin told him, “This is how it’s going to go. Sloan Petersen will come in here and she’ll make an offer, which we’ll probably reject because, knowing her, it’s going to be ridiculous. Then we’ll go into court and the judge will ask if we reached an agreement and set a trial date when he learns we haven’t.

“Right,” Rafe says. “And at trial… what do you think our chances are?”

“Well, this is Sloan we’re talking about,” Justin said, “so if there’s a way to screw up her case, she’ll find it. But the fact that you lied about who shot that gun doesn’t bode well. The rest of the case, the jury won’t care about. But that, my friend, suggests you are guilty of orchestrating a coverup.”

Rafe swallows hard. “You can’t do any fancy lawyer stuff to make up for it?”

“The best bet would be if that wasn’t allowed into evidence, but I see no real argument for that. Your statement was given freely, and it would be really hard to argue that you didn’t know your rights at the time, given that you’ve been in law enforcement for over a decade. The good news, however, is we can probably get Roman’s comments about your past excluded since the judge excluded them at the PC hearing, so at least your previous stupid attempts at protecting someone you care about won’t come up. I honestly think our best bet is to put Kate on the stand and dare them to cause trouble over a grandmother defending her kidnapped grandson.”

“I guess,” Rafe sighed. “So if we lose… and I’m not sayin’ we are, but it’s startin’ to look like a possibility… then what?”

“You’d probably get 25 years to life. But that’s not the end of it. We can appeal and have your sentence stayed until the appeal is settled. However, in the end, if you are convicted, you will likely face significant prison time. So, if we are going to go to trial, let’s make damn sure we win.”

Rafe nodded slightly, trying to hide his fear.

“All right,” Justin said. “You ready to face the vipers?”

“Ready as I’m gonna be,” Rafe said.

Justin opened the door and said, “You can come in now.”

Sloan came in, holding a large file folder and smirking. “I have a very generous offer for you, Mr. Hernandez, and if your attorney is worthy of the money you’re paying him, he’ll advise you to take it rather than wasting any more of the court’s time on pretending you’re innocent.”


At home, Eve said to Eric, “I think I may regret letting Erica stay with that nanny Paige hired. Oh, I’m sure the girl means well, but she’s Australian and doesn’t understand how things are done around here.”

Eric frowned. “What happened? Did she not take proper care of Erica?”

“Nothing like that. It’s just, she let her spend the whole time we were at the memorial drawing. That girl must have killed three dozen trees with the number of pages she used.”

“And?” Eric crossed his arms. “I feel like I’m missing something here, because that doesn’t sound like a serious problem.”

Eve lowered her voice so that Ericka wouldn’t hear. “An artist is no career for her when she grows up. I’ve been trying to discourage it, but now this stranger comes along and lets her draw for hours.”

Eric put his hand on Eve’s wrist. “I understand how you feel, but I think you’re overreacting. Children enjoy drawing. That doesn’t mean she plans to make a career out of it. And if God does intend for her to use her gifts that way, I have no doubt He will also ensure that she is provided for.”

“I suppose you’re right. But still, a career in the arts is not easy, as I well know, and I just don’t want her to end up so desperate for money that she…”

“That she turns to selling her body like her mother did.” Eric’s voice is soft.

“Or like I did. You can say it. It’s all right.”

Eric squeezed her hand. “You know I don’t judge you,” he said softly. “But I also think that you are reading far too much into our nine-year-old having a hobb¥ she enjoys. And even if she does grow up to have an interest in art as a career, it doesn’t have to be as a starving artist. You may recall that I was pursuing photography when we met. So just let her draw if she likes to draw, and leave the rest to God.” Eric’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it. “That’s Julie. It might be something about the Horton Center. Excuse me a second.”

Eric walked off to talk to Julie. Eve shook her head slightly. “Let her do it and leave the rest to God,” she said. “I’m sorry, Eric, but I just don’t think I can do that.”

[André DiMera]

I’m sure Sloan’s offer is anything but generous. Hopefully Rafe won’t have to go to jail, though.

I agree with Eric on this. Too bad his advice fell on deaf ears.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[Kpatch]

Eve is being ridiculous. If she wanted the nanny to do something different with Erica, she should have left instructions.

I sure hope Justin can help Rafe beat this rap.