Brianna had what she called a plan, but it wasn't much. Even so, it just might work. Joe had no idea what was coming. It took all my strength not to tell him what was going to happen in the courtroom today.
Since Brianna was now staying at Rikers, she had to appear in court in the orange jumpsuit. I never thought that gave the defendents a fair trial. It is human nature that we judge first based on appearances. The jury is made of humans, so seeing someone in a jumpsuit, it is automatic to assume they're guilty.
So out she appeared in the handcuffs and jumpsuit. We went through the whole "all rise" thing and it was now Brianna's turn to question her witnesses.
"I call Detective Erika Smith to the stand," Brianna proclaimed. I was so nervous.
"Yesterday, when aquestioned about me by Mr. Hernandez, he asked you if you thought I was cold-blooded. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"And what did you answer, yes or no?"
"Yes."
"Were you telling the truth when answering Mr. Hernadez's question?" I was about to look over to Joe to see what he was thinking. Brianna stepped in front of him. I took a deep breath.
"No." There was no huge gasp from the people in the courtroom like you hear in the movies, but you could definately feel the tension.
"Then why did you tell Mr. Hernandez this?"
I wished I could've made a distraction so I could run away. But none of the distractions I could think of were legal. Then again, denying Brianna a lawyer wasn't exactly legal, either.
"Because... my captain told me to."
"Why would you captain - a sworn officer of the law - tell you to lie in court?" Brianna still stayed between me and Joe. Which was probably for the better, considering I'm barely functional under pressure as it is. The force has almost had to take away my gun.
"To make you look guilty," I admitted.
"Why would you need to make me look guilty? I'm the only suspect, I confessed in the interrogation room, and you have a witness who says they saw a teenager my height with a sweatshirt I happen to own and wear frequently entering and leaving the scene."
"Because the confession was illegal." Now there was a gasp. It was so long and so dramatic that all of the oxygen was sucked out of the courthouse for a split second.
"Explain. How was the confession illegal?"
"Objection, Your Honor! Miss Anderson is manipulating the witness!" Marcus cried out in a desparate attempt to save his case.
"Overruled. Detective Smith is under her own will here," Judge Roberts stated.
"We had no other suspects, and we were running out of time for questioning. If she didn't have a lawyer, she'd be more likely to crack.
"Our captain found out, though. So we were supposed to make sure no found out."
"You little-" Joe stood up, outraged. In turn, everyone started yelling at each other. Brianna was so scared, she tossed her hands above her head like she was about to get shot.
"Order, ORDER!" The Honorable shouted, "I will not have this in my courtroom!" Everyone sat down instantly in unison. Now there was dead silence.
"You're lucky I don't find you all in contempt of court!" The Honorable loved to threaten contempt of court, but she never carried through, which made her hard to respect. Well, she did charge once, but someone had to get shot first.
"Especially you, Detective Riker. I expect better from you." The Honorable was being particuraly suggestive. She had a schoolgirl-like crush on Joe. I rolled my eyes.
"Please continue, Miss Anderson."
"No further questions, Your Honor."