The trial of Walker
After a very anxious two weeks, the day was finally here. It was probably rushed under heavy pressure from the public mainly because most believed that he would be pleading guilty despite his rejecting multiple plea bargains. But they were wrong, Walker had no intention of pleading guilty, he couldn't, even if he wanted to, He would be murdered. Not to say that there wasn't a chance that he would be murdered even if he pleaded not guilty, he was just trying to minimize the chances.
But he wasn't too worried about that, Because he was pretty certain that he would get away with all of this. This case was rushed, It hadn't even been a week since he was arrested, there was no way they had nearly enough evidence to convict him, right? Especially with the help of this big wig lawyer Rarity sent his way just for participating in some lie that was supposed to carry over to her case with Sweetie Belle.
Walker sat there, smiling to himself, he couldn't help it, the thought of getting away with all of this was quite funny to him, It was the perfect revenge on the system and that stupid little girl that almost ruined his life. Of course, the other scenario wasn't great as he was facing, Kidnapping, assault and battery of a minor, rape, attempted murder as well as involuntary manslaughter (For his role in the death of Split Sight). His lawyer graciously let him know that all of these charges combined could very well make him a candidate for the first death penalty in Equestria in well over one hundred years but he wasn't too worried about that after all the equestrian police force, as well as the EBI, had a short but well-documented history of folding under public scrutiny, especially in situations like this leading many ponies believe that Equestria would have been better if they had just stuck to the royal guard.
His internal musings were interrupted by the door opening. "Good evening Walker," He looked up to see his lawyer, Flawless Contract. "So, are you ready for today?" She asked.
"Yeah I guess," Walker answered. The unicorn mare took a seat across from Walker and opened her briefcase.
"Alright, I'm going to cut it to you straight, A fast case trial is a dual edge sword, They might not be able to get as much concrete evidence but at the same time we don't have the chance to get a concrete defense together," She explained. Walker sat there, staring at her, he had no idea what that meant to him. Flawless Contract sighed, she knew this was going to be a tough one and she was honestly starting to regret taking this contract, despite Rarity paying her a beyond astronomical amount of bits for it. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that I don't have a defense for some of your charges, therefore we need to work together right now to find one," She said, emphasizing every word as if Walker was a toddler.
"I thought that was kind of, you know, your job?" Walker remarked. Flawless Contract rolled her eyes, It wasn't the worst thing he could've said, she had heard worse.
"Its pretty hard to present you to a judge and jury as innocent," She explained. "Which, might I add, you aren't," She added. Walker wanted to retort but going into a trial on bad terms with your lawyer didn't seem like the best idea. "Now, we have some work to do, the biggest one is the rape charge, that one doesn't look good," Walker stopped her.
"How could one of the charges involving her be harder to defend than the other? Wouldn't my defense all-around simply be 'I didn't do it'?" Walker asked. Flawless Contract let out an exasperated sigh, this was the last time she would let Rarity convince her to do something for a lot of money.
"You can't just say I didn't do it, It doesn't work like that, and I understand how you could think that but you need a defense for every charge no matter how related they all are," She explained. Walker still had no idea what she why but he was wasting time.
"Alright whatever let's get this done," He said.
"Okay, let me start by explaining something, I't have an issue with the Kidnapping or assault because I can pin those back on Stormy Seas, because from what you have told me and what I heard Sweetie Belle said, It was mostly him, the issue is the rape charge where you are the sole suspect, I don't have a defense because my source said that she described it as you and her in a room alone, Now, as you have refused to discuss that with me I am struggling to find a good way to present you as innocent," She explained. "Now unfortunately her word holds a lot of value here, so she holds the power," She added. Walked to the table, he wasn't sure what to do about that one, there seemed to be a great defense for it.
"Well, I guess If I'm already going to try and portray her as insane then that could be a solid defense," Walker offered. Flawless Contract sighed and rolled her eyes, she had forgotten about the stupid conspiracy Rarity had created to attempt to make Sweetie Belle look insane, she didn't envy the poor mare who had to defend Rarity, Oh wait, that was none other than herself.
"Well, you better pray that one works, or else you are in deep shit," Flawless Contract said. She got up, her work, technically finished and not wanting to be in the room with Walker anymore, she left but not before giving Walker some more words of encouragement. "I sure hope you are good at improv,"
Night Shade paced around the room, many different scenarios and thoughts running through his head, truth be told, he had never been in court before, at least, not for a case of this magnitude, it felt like the entirety of equestria was going to be staring at him. But, this was almost a warm-up of sorts, he needed to get used to the spotlight for next time when they take Rarity to court, then everyone in Equestria might be bearing down on him.
He tried to shake off these fears though, he had to be strong as Sweetie Belle would be arriving soon, and he had to be the strong one. He was truthfully a little worried about the interaction her was about to have with Sweetie Belle, they hadn't spoken since the spat at Minuette's and he was worried that she wouldn't forgive him, or them, rather, he had sent Blue Streak to fetch her as running a little behind.
He was jolted out of his thoughts as the door swung open and in walked Blue Streak, followed closely by Sweetie Belle and Minuette, and, to Night Shade's dismay, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. He sighed, worried that she might bring them and even more worried that Blue Streak would allow her to bring them to Los Pegasus. "Blue Streak, Where are their siblings," Night Shade deadpanned. Blue Streak smiled sheepishly "Well I couldn't get Sweetie Belle to come along and I figure that It wouldn't be smart to leave our star witness in Ponyville," He explained. Night Shade's face hooved. This seems like this day couldn't get any more stressful.
He turned his attention to the other ponies in the room. "Hey guys," Night Shade greeted with a smile. No one said a word, Night Shade frowned he was hoping that their meeting wouldn't start this way (Not that his interaction with Blue Streak helped). But he couldn't dwell on that, they had important work to do, like introducing Sweetie Belle to her lawyer. Meeting your lawyer for the first time on the day of the trial sounds like quite the idea, but Sweetie Belle flat-out refused in all of their prior attempts, Minuette had even said that she had asked Sweetie Belle a few times since their incident and the answer was always no. Night Shade figured she was trying to put off the crushing reality of what she had to do, not one but two court dates, not very far apart where she would have to bravely take the stand and testify against the very ponies that brought her harm, not to mention being in the spotlight, this case was the largest in equestria in a very long time.
"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle but your friends can't be in the room while we do this," Night Shade said gently. Sweetie Belle gave him a pleading look. "I'm sorry but they have to go for now, They will be right outside I promise," He offered. Sweetie Belle looked at the table, trying to keep herself together, this whole situation just kept getting worse and worse. Recognizing the seriousness of the case, Apple Bloom begrudgingly got up and began to trot towards the door, Scootaloo, however, gave a huff and crossed her forelegs over her chest. Night Shade sighed. "Scootaloo, I know that you want to support your friend but, We need to get a few things done, so we can put away the stallion who hurt her," Night Shade explained. Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, who despite trying (And mostly failing) to hold back tears gave her a nod. Scootaloo thought about it for a second, she didn't know the issue with her being there. "Unfortunately, that means you too Minuette," She shot him a glare.
"I'm not supposed to let her out of my sight," Minuette said. Night Shade couldn't help but sigh, this was going worse than he thought.
"Yes but she is with us now, she is safe," Night Shade said. Minuette opened her mouth to respond but thought better of it, she stood up, putting a hoof around Scootaloo, she whispered something to Scootaloo. Whatever Minuette said, it worked as Scootaloo reluctantly got up and began following Minuette out of the room. But not before shooting one more reassuring glance at Sweetie Belle and mouthing 'You got this' Night Shade couldn't help but smile, they might have got in the way at times but he was happy that Sweetie Belle had such good friends.
Once everyone was out of the room, Blue Streak spoke. "Alright Sweetie Belle, I know you have been putting it off but it's time to meet your lawyer," Sweetie Belle looked at the table, squeezing her eyes shut, all of her interactions with Rarity's sleazeball lawyers in the past gave her a bad perception of the profession, she was afraid that it would just be another one that her sister had paid off. "Look Sweetie, I know you are apprehensive but Sapphire Flower is a great mare and an even better lawyer," He said, emphasizing the really.
"D-does she knows my sister?" Sweetie Belle finally mustered the courage to speak. The two detectives were caught slightly off guard by Sweetie Belle's words, all they could do was shake their heads no. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just scared that she might have paid them off to lose the case on purpose for me," Sweetie Belle rambled.
"Sweetie Belle, this is your case with Walker, I assure you that your sister has no hand in this case," Night Shade comforted. Of course, that statement was false, as he was pretty confident that Rarity had some sort of hand in this case but he couldn't prove that. Sweetie Belle wasn't completely sold but knew it had to be done. "I'm gonna go get her now, Okay?" Night Shade asked. Sweetie Belle gave a weak nod. Night Shade walked to the door, opened it, and looked out into the waiting room, his eyes scanned before eventually falling on the blue unicorn mare that sat in the corner, he nodded at her and she gathered herself before following him in.
Sapphire Flower stopped in the doorway, her eyes falling on Sweetie Belle, she had heard a lot about this case, she had heard about Sweetie Belle and heard about Walker, and in all the madness she had lost herself in researching every little bit of evidence that she could, but in all of this she had forgotten about the little filly at the heart of this case. And now she was staring at her, the hurt in Sweetie Belle's eyes was all too evident.
Collecting herself, Sapphire Flower entered the room and took a seat across from Sweetie Belle. "Hello Sweetie Belle, nice to meet you," She said reassuringly. Sapphire Flower felt a sudden discomfort, sensing the stares that the officers were giving her, she wanted to ask them to leave but it would probably be useless.
"H-hi," Sweetie Belle said meekly. Sapphire Flower retained her reassuring smile as she sorted through some of the papers she had brought. As she sorted the various files her eyes fell on one she had forgotten about, one that she had just been given earlier that day. She had to tell Night Shade and Blue Streak and she suspected that it wouldn't go over all too well. She shook these thoughts from her head, she had more important things to attend to.
"So Sweetie Belle, we have a few things to discuss," Sapphire Flower said. Sweetie Belle looked down at the table, she was seriously having second thoughts about doing this. "Hey," Sapphire Flower said softly, reaching across the table and putting her hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. Sweetie Belle flinched at the sudden contact, causing Sapphire Flower to recoil in surprise at the sudden movement. "S-sorry," The filly stammered. Sapphire Flower took a second to collect herself, Sweetie Belle was in worse condition than she had originally thought, giving her reservations about putting this young filly and terrified filly on the stand. But she didn't have a choice they had to bring Walker to justice.
"You alright?" The sudden whisper in her ear caused Sapphire Flower to jump, she looked over her shoulder to see Blue Streak giving her a concerned look she smiled and nodded.
"Right so Sweetie Belle," She started, turning her attention to the young filly. "All I need you to do is tell the truth and let me handle the rest. Can you do that?" She asked with a warm smile. Sweetie Belle nodded, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to stop thinking about taking the stand in front of all those people. "But I do need to warn you, They will try to pry, they will try to frustrate you, they will try to confuse you and they will try to misconstrue things you have done, but I need you to try and stay calm and tell the truth no matter what, Okay?" She instructed. Sweetie Belle nodded, she didn't want to come under the scrutinized sleazy lawyer that Walker had produced. "Alright Sweetie Belle, you can go see your friends now," She said, Sweetie Belle got up and practically galloped out of the room.
The two officers went to follow her but they were stopped by Sapphire Flower. "I need to talk to you guys," The duo turned to face her, eyebrows raised. She pushed a piece of paper across the table to them. "I have just been informed that Fleetline is being used as a witness for the defense," She informed. Night Shade raised an eyebrow. "Why would be using Fleetline?" He asked. "We aren't using him," Sapphire Flower sighed.
"WHAT!" Night Shade roared. "Sorry, but you mean to tell me that the bastard is going to testify against here Flowers gave a solemn nod. "I thought Walker was just fucking with me," Night Shade thought aloud.
"Look I know the case is in five hours but I brought this up because I have a suspicion that there was tampering involved in this and if you guys could scrounge up anything I could get their defense thrown out," She explained. The two detectives looked at each other, it was a hail mary but somehow it didn't seem impossible.
"We will look into it," Night Shade said.
Sweetie Belle stood in a hallway, staring at the door that stood before her idly shuffling on her hooves, she couldn't believe what was about to happen. She was about to appear in court, and it was only the first out of two times. She was jolted from her train of thought by the Bailiff telling her to follow him. Sweetie Belle reluctantly followed the stallion, with Sapphire Flower close behind, as they emerged into the courtroom Sweetie Belle froze, staring at the Lawyer that sat with Walker, It was Flawless Contract one of Rarity's old lawyer friends. Now, usually, this wouldn't seem like that much of a problem. Still, Sweetie Belle had a lousy history with Flawless Contract, had been especially nasty in their few meetings, and Sweetie Belle wasn't very comfortable around her.
Sapphire Flower, noticing her unease kneeled and whispered in her ear. "It's alright Sweetie, I promise you it will be okay," She reassured. Sweetie Belle looked back up at Sapphire Flower and flashed her an uneasy expression, Sapphire Flower gave her a reassuring smile. It seemed to work as Sweetie Belle continued. She took her seat, trying to ignore not only the two ponies at the table next to her but also the large crowd that had gathered to watch the case.
She was jolted from her train of thought when the bailiff shouted "All Rise!". She stood up as the judge entered and took a seat in his chair. They sat back down as the judge began speaking, Sweetie Belle didn't pay much attention though as she was lost in her thoughts.
Sweetie Belle let her thoughander, not wanting to return to reality. But her attention was grabbed when Blue Streak was called to the stand. She looked up at him, despite how much she wanted to hate him, and Night Shade succeeded for some reason, they were inconsiderate sure, and probably only wanted glory and fame but she had a feeling that deep down they did care about her.
It wasn't long before Flawless Contract began questioning him. "Now, Blue Streak it seems as though you are pretty new to this whole 'Ebi' thing right?" She asked. Blue Streak nodded and she continued. "Now, I find that rather suspicious, Because you aren't an official agent, and in my research, there is no such thing as an 'honorary' detective. Which kind of makes it seem like this case wasn't completely handled lawfully, right?" She Said.
"Well that is incorrect, we weren't honorary agents we were shadowing Agent Brisk Chaser under the Senior advising program that is offered by the EBI," Blue Streak explained.
"Well that may be so but Agent Brisk Chaser seemingly had nothing to do with this case, his name isn't on any of the files, or any of the warrants, how could that be?" She questioned.
"He doesn't have to, as long as he oversees everything," Blue Streak lied, it wasn't completely a lie of course, that part was true but the lie was that Brisk Chaser had never even looked at a single evidence, but that couldn't be proven. Flawless Contract had a hunch that he was lying but she had nothing else she could without SaFlower objecting.
"Well that may be, but It seems that you shouldn't even be here in the first place," She paused, letting her crazy accusation sink in. "You see, I happened to take a look at the public records for the Ponyville police department, and I happened to find your score from the academy's final exam, and it just so happened that you failed, Now that's pretty damming, seems like there was some bribing there huh?" She asked, Judging by his uncomfortable expression, Sweetie Belle didn't have much hope.
"I was hoping you would bring that up," Sapphire Flower stood up with confidence, Flawless Contract began to speak again but was interrupted. "Objection by the way, Now your statement is correct, you are wrong. Blue Streak did fail his academy test, Now, his partner, Night Shade happened to score the second-highest score ever recorded, not only for Ponyville but all of Equestria. You might wonder what that has to do with Blue Streak, Well they happened to be partners, and there happens to be a rule buried in the book that states If one cadet fails the test within a certain percentage and their partner passes within a certain percentage then they failed cadent can continue through with his partner and shadow him, without handling any evidence and at months end the cadet is given another test and if he fails that one, he is barred from entering the police academy ever again, but it just so happens," She paused to pull a paper out of the briefcase and held it up. "That Blue Streak here passed that test meaning he has earned his spot to be here," She finished.
Flawless Contract glared at Sapphire Flower. "No further questions," She muttered before taking her seat. Sapphire Flower returned to her seat with a smug smile. Blue Streak returned to the crowd. Sapphire Flower's victory didn't last long as she knew that Fleetline would be called to the stand, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't worried about it.
She leaned over to Sweetie Belle. "Okay, Sweetie Belle, they are going to call Fleetline to the stand, They are going to try and make you mad and frustrate you but I need you to be strong okay? I need you to keep calm and be confident," She whispered. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure what to think and, quite honestly she wasn't ever really sure who Fleetline was, to her it was just another piece to what seemed like an endless puzzle.
Fleetline was called to the stand Sweetie Belle looked at him but he wouldn't look at her, he felt too guilty. Flawless Contract stood up. "So Mr. Fleetline, Could you tell me, Have you ever had an interaction with Sweetie Belle?" She asked. He nodded "Would you care to detail that experience?" She continued.
"W-well it was a little over a week ago when she and Walker bumped into me," He said.
"And then what happened?" Flawless Contract asked.
Fleetline was about to speak but was interrupted by the judge. "You can't be serious, there is no way you walked in here and thought that was going to be a good defense, you just contradicted the entire defense," He paused. "I mean really, you say that he was just a bystander in this and then you bring Mr. Fleetline in just for him to say that he was already with her? Not to mention that you can't seriously think that we were going to believe that the same thing that happened to Fleetline happened to Walker I mean come on you are better than that," He scolded. "You are dismissed Mr. Fleetline," Fleetline couldn't have got up and walked away faster.
The courtroom sat in shocked silence for a few moments before the judge spoke again. "Will there be any more witnesses?" After quick shakes of both lawyer's heads, the jury was dismissed to deliberate.
The deliberation would last thirty minutes before they came back with the verdict. Everyone stood up as the jury read their verdict.
A mare at the end of the row stood up and spoke. "We the jury find the defendant guilty on all charges," Sapphire Flower breathed a sigh of relief as Sweetie Belle fell into her arms, she was glad that they had won.
Their moment was interrupted by the judge. "I hereby sentence you to life in prison without the possibility of parole," Walker hung his head as he was escorted away by the police. Sweetie Belle wanted to be happy but she knew that she was going to have to do it all over again, against her sister no less.
Blue Streak made an attempt to catch Fleetline after but he wasn't fast enough (Night Shade also held him back) as he wasn't worth losing their job over.
Sweetie Belle, who was quite scared of Flawless Contract would refuse to leave, that was until Night Shade picked her up and carried her out of the courtroom, despite her disputes with him, she didn't mind as it gave her a sense of security that she had not had in months.
Night Shade and Blue Streak walked her back to Minuette's dentistry. "you did good kid," Night Shade said. Sweetie Belle muttered a quiet thanks before wandering into her temporary home, already mentally preparing for her next court appearance.
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Is this a typo or was something cut from here?
Also, if you want a little more "trial" things, I may suggest you the Manga "This is the law"
11721037
Thanks for pointing those out. I'll be honest this chapter was a little rushed.
It's pretty clear this chapter was a little rushed. I see what you're trying to do, but I think it would have been done better as multiple chapters. Perhaps the first chapter would have been the night and morning before the trial, and we would have been able to see quite a lot of the final preparations of every party involved, and you could have ended the chapter by entering the courtroom. It would have created a cliffhanger, but that would have made a really nice transition to the actual trial.
As for the court proceedings, some of it does seem weird from the standpoint of an American court, but this isn't an American court. You could easily change proceedings to be whatever you want, and explain it to Sweetie or something and it would make sense. But I think having an entire chapter that is the trial of Walker would be really interesting. You could start by introducing the courtroom, having each side bring a witness or two, engage in a direct examination, and then a cross examination.
I have fairly limited knowledge of courtroom proceedings, but I do know that theatrics do play a significant role. A coworker of mine has had some firearms stolen from him. Well, the police and district attorney have one of his handguns, but the trial is still pending. They won't release it to him until after the trial, even though there is evidence confirming the suspect in question did steal the firearm from my coworker. Apparently, reading a police report isn't as dramatic as pulling out the pistol.
But yeah, I would recommend having split the chapter into a pre-trial chapter and then one dealing with the trial itself.