“She cut off the footage before Hannah came in later,” Emily mumbled, wiping throw up from her cheek with a tissue.
Valerie stared at Emily and ran her hands through her hair before covering her face with them. “Jesus, Emily. This doesn’t look good, but honestly, I think you’re in a lose-lose situation here. I’m sorry, but none of this is looking good for your character.”
“I know,” Emily admitted. “Just let me try to get my side out. If the jury still can’t agree with me that it wasn’t my fault, then I guess I deserve to be in jail.”
Valerie rubbed at the back of her neck and wrinkled her nose. “Finish those crackers and put some blush on your face,” Valerie directed her as she gathered her things to leave the room. “I’ll see you back in the courtroom in ten minutes.” Emily watched as Valerie grabbed her briefcase and headed toward the door.
A few minutes later, Emily walked back into the courtroom, noticing right away that it smelled like disinfectant mixed with a lingering throw-up scent. She tried to keep her face down as she felt Nate and her mom’s eyes burning a hole in the side of her neck as she meandered past them. She had asked them not to come on the break when she spoke to Valerie because she didn’t want to have to explain herself to anyone. They’ll all find out in court tomorrow; there’s no point in reliving it all twice.
She turned her head toward her lawyer as she stood up and apologized to the court and the jury for the incident. “As we all know,” Valerie explained to the jury, “nerves can make us sick sometimes.” She turned her head toward Tyler Pratt and began her questioning.
“Mr. Pratt, I see that Attorney Rosenbaum had you play the footage from the evening of October 19 going into the morning of the 20th, but had you stop it as soon as we saw Miss Keller and Mr. Thomas enter the Thomases’ house. Can you do me a favor and fast-forward in a setting where we can watch a couple of hours go by?”
“Sure can, ma’am.” Tyler nodded, pressing a button on his remote. Emily watched as the TV fast-forwarded the footage to about 2:35 a.m. and she could see car lights approach on the screen.
“Please stop fast-forwarding and press play now, Mr. Pratt,” Valerie directed him. Tyler pressed play and all eyes in the court stared at the screen as Hannah’s burgundy Kia sedan pulled up to the house and parked. Emily watched as she got out of the car and went to the door, then paused in front of the camera with her phone to her ear.
“Steve, lemme in, you locked the door,” Hannah shouted into her phone and then placed it in her pocket. “Ugh, dumbass,” she muttered under her breath.
The courtroom viewed the screen as the door opened and Mr. Thomas appeared, his arm grabbing Hannah by the waist and pulling her inside. “Ah, hahaha,” Hannah’s voice could be heard as the door shut behind them and the screen went black.
Emily felt a wave of nausea, thinking of the possibility that Hannah might have slept with Mr. Thomas the same night he raped her. “Maybe Hannah Banana would like to join us,” she could hear Mr. Thomas snicker. “Hannah likes to have fun with me too, you know.” Emily felt ill. Could she have slept with him? It was possible, she thought, or did he rape her too?
All eyes shifted back to Valerie. “Thank you, Mr. Pratt. I just wanted the jury to see that yes, Emily Keller did get a ride home after a party from Mr. Thomas, but her friend Hannah slept over as well.” Valerie faced the jury. “I also want to point out to the jury that the events that Attorney Rosenbaum had you watch on the night of October 19 are totally unrelated and have nothing to do with the events that took place the night of November 9. We’re not here to judge what went on during previous nights that had nothing to do with babysitting at all, we’re here to judge one single night.” Valerie turned back toward Tyler. “And so, Mr. Pratt, instead of going back and watching all the tapes of Hannah Patterson sneaking out of the Thomases’ house like I could have you do, I’d like to go back to the footage of the night of November 9. You showed the court two images, one at 9:09 p.m. and one at 12:27 p.m. Can you please get me the image of 9:09 p.m. first?”
Tyler pressed a button on the remote and the image of a blurred figure appeared on both camera screens. “Here ya go.”
“Thank you, Mr. Pratt. I can’t make out a face, though. Is that a person or an animal?”
“It’s too hard to tell, really. It’s really right over the limit of how far the camera can detect. It’s definitely something living and moving, though.”
“Yes, definitely,” Valerie agreed with him. “But could it be a deer?”
“Sure, it could be.”
“A dog?”
“I guess if it was a big dog.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Or I guess it could be a neighbor taking a walk?” she suggested.
“Sure, any of those things.”
“So, there’s no way the camera can show who or what that image is?”
“No, there’s no way. Like I said, it’s just too far away to get a clearer image.”
Valerie nodded. “And can you please get me the image from a few hours later at 12:27 a.m.?”
“Sure, can do.” Tyler pressed the remote and the same image reappeared on the screen.
“Thanks, Mr. Pratt. Could this image be a deer?”
“Yes, it could, ma’am.”
“A dog?”
“A big dog.”
“A neighbor taking a walk?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll ask you again. There’s no way the camera can show who or what that image is?”
“No, there’s no way. Like I said, it’s just too far away to get a clearer image.”
“Thank you, Mr. Pratt. No further questions.”
“The witness is excused.”
Mindy cleared her throat and stood up. “Your Honor, the People rest their case,” Mindy announced and sat back down.
“Is the defense ready with its case?” Judge Wilson asked Valerie.
Valerie cleared her throat and stood up. “Your Honor, due to recent events, in addition to my two character witnesses for this afternoon, the defendant has requested to take the stand as well. I would like the rest of the afternoon to prepare for this, so I’m requesting that the defense be postponed until tomorrow.”
Emily’s eyes widened at this surprise and relief washed over her like waves on the sand. Thank you, Valerie, she thought to herself, making a mental note to give her lawyer a hug later.
“Is the defendant aware that the fifth amendment guarantees any person accused of a crime the right to not take the witness stand in their own trial and that if she should choose to exercise that right, not taking the stand is not an admission of guilt?” he asked Valerie, eyebrows raised.
“She’s aware, Your Honor, and she would still like to take the stand.”
“Okay, then let’s convene for the day and reconvene tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. sharp for the character witnesses to take the stand, followed by the defendant.” Judge Wilson hit his gavel on the table just before Emily began to dry heave into her purse.