The final witness
1219 Words
CHAPTER 1
The final witness
Maria’s Pov
I Sat at the back of the courtroom, my hands resting on my laps , quietly watching as witnesses were called to the dock one after the other.
Then the prosecutor stood.
“My Lord, I call on the investigating officer.”
A man stepped forward and took the stand.
“What did you find at the scene?” the prosecutor asked.
“The body of the victim, they were also signs of struggle… and the object believed to have been used in the attack.
“Was there any link to the accused?”
“Yes,Fingerprints found on the object match the accused.”
A soft murmur spread across the room.
“My Lord,” the prosecutor continued, “the State would also like to present a report concerning substances found in the accused’s system.”
“Call the analyst,” the judge said.
Another man stepped forward.
“Can you confirm your findings?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Traces of drugs were found in his system.
“Can you determine when the substance was taken?”
“No, I cannot.”
“No my son is not a d**g addict, he is not guilty, he is a good boy, please let him go, his mother shouted sobbing as she ran to her son.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to them, but a guy stood up and grabbed her back to her sit
“Order!” the judge’s voice rang out.
The room slowly settled.
“This court will take a short recess.”
The sound of the gavel echoed.
And just like that… everyone went out
I followed the crowd out.
Outside, I walked to the end of the corriddor, then fresh tears began to fall off, I wiped it gently
Then a man walked to me and said “Follow me.”
I followed, I knew him.
We walked to where they was no one, then he brought out an envelope.
“Am here to remind you of our agreement, this is half of the pay,” he said and handed me the envelope
I collected it and put it inside my bag.
“You will get what’s remaining, if I see how you do, just stick to your statement your future depends on this.”
I nodded and he left.
I glanced around, no one was there, or so I thought, so I walked back to the court room.
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He just stepped out to cool his head when he noticed a man handing a girl an envelope , they were a bit far from the court room, so he didn’t pay much attention and he went back.
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Then the court room was reopened and everyone came back In.
In the court room…
“My lord I would like to call on the final witness….. the victim’s friend,” the defense lawyer started
It was me.
I stood up and all attention was on me, I walked to the witness stand and introduced my self.
“Where were you on the night of the incident?”
“I was with camila.”
“Doing what?”
“We went out together.”
“Were you with her before her death?”
“Yes.”
“Tell the court exactly what happened.”
“She received a message that night, he asked to see her, so we drove to meet him. She told me to wait in the car and excused her self to go meet him.”
They were standing far away from the car, but as I saw that she safely reached his side…
“Could you see them clearly?”
“Not fully, but it was enough.”
“My Lord, the witness just admitted visibility was unclear.”
“Sit down, counselor,” the prosecutor snapped. “I’m not done.”
“Proceed,” the judge said.
“I started using phone and didn’t pay attention to them, the next time I lifted my head up, she was yelling at him.”
“Did you hear what she was yelling about?”
“No.”
“Okay continue.”
“ I thought they were only arguing…., so I continued using my phone again.
As I lifted my head again, she turned and wanted to leave, but he suddenly grabbed her neck and pushed her to the floor, before I got out of the car , he he he….
“Speak up.”
He had already smashed her head with a stone, got on his bicycle and ran away. Before I got to her, she had already stopped breathing.”
“So you were not sure it was him , because you were far away from them.”
“He had chatted that day that he wanted to have a discussion, and I was with her, so I knew the time and place.”
“So was she the one that told you or you saw it?”
“I saw it.”
“So were you with her phone?”
“No.”
“Can you identify the person?”
“Yes.”
Slowly… I lifted my hand.
And pointed at him.
The courtroom erupted into whispers.
His mother burst into tears again.
It was as if everything was against the accused, even his lawyer didn’t defend him, everyone wanted him to go to prison.
CCTV footage was brought and played, it showed a man standing on the street near an old car, 5 minutes after the murder, he was wearing a grey coat hood. Maria the victim’s friend confirmed it was the same hoodie he wore, but his face was hidden from the camera. Few seconds, he walked away to where there was no camera, in the other direction, then he walked back to where he was first standing, limping.
It was as if he didn’t care whether the camera captured him.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the accused, his face was visible on the footage.
Murmurs spread across the courtroom.
Messages were also read, their planned meeting that night, and everything pointed to him. He wasn’t even given a chance to speak for himself.
No one wanted to hear from him, including the judge.
Then it was time for the judge to give the final verdict.
“This court has carefully considered the evidence presented and it finds the accused guilty of murder, therefore due to the severity of the crime, the accused is hereby sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
Everyone began to murmur, 25years imprisonment, why was he not sentenced to death.
The mother was crying uncontrollably, but the boy still held her tight.
I was still thinking about everything, whether I had done the wrong thing, still thinking about all the time I had spent with camila ,our memories.
When I looked up, everyone has already left, so I stood up and left. At the door, I felt a heavy push and I fell.
“ You witch, how dare you do that to my son ,how dare you testify against him, he was a good boy.”
It was the accused mother.
She cursed and cursed and I sat on the floor, just taking it all in, while a boy stood beside her not doing anything, just glaring at me angrily.
- Writer
