Brawl For Defense ✔

Chapter 49

Chapter 49

I stood in front of a podium. My hands were in front of me in handcuffs, and my hair was down messily on my back. Some papers were scattered on top of the podium, most likely the charges held against me, along with evidence and whatnot. I skimmed through them mindlessly, looking at different pictures of me involved in bad things and pictures of dead bodies. Some of them made me gag.

Everybody in the room talked in hushed whispers among themselves. Most of them were dressed in formal attire, while some were in their casual clothes. I glanced around the room, looking at every face present. The first person I recognized was my mother, who wore a solemn expression and sat next to Sophia, who was comforting her. My eyes then found Chase, who looked restless.

His hair was tousled messily on top of his head, and there was already slight stubble growing on his face. He was back to wearing glasses, which did little to cover up the dark circles under his eyes. He had a stoic face, and his lips were pressed together in a thin line as he stared at nowhere in particular. That was until his eyes flickered to mine.

I wanted to look away instantly, but the sudden pain behind his eyes kept me rooted in place.

We stared at each other for a little under ten seconds, until we were interrupted.

"Alright, the arraignment hearing will commence. Everyone, please settle down and stay in your seats," the judge spoke up. The small chatter that filled the room died down and I turned to face the judge.

He arranged some papers in front of him and adjusted his glasses, before looking me in the eye. "Amelia Elizabeth Clark. You must be aware of the charges being held against you, but it is my duty to read them all to you before proceeding."

"Go ahead then," I said nonchalantly, and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"First, I would like to ask something," he started. "An attorney is very much needed when facing these types of charges, yet you refused to have one more than once. Why is that?"

"It is quite simple, Your Honor. I do not need anyone to defend my position, and I am very aware of my decision. Getting an attorney would just be a waste of money."

"Very well then." He nodded and scribbled down on a piece of paper. "You are being charged with the murder of Tyler Crawford, along with many other deaths—which I won't waste our time listing the names of. From the evidence, it is clear that you were part of the massacre that took place two and a half years ago, which resulted in more than fifty deaths. You were also involved in recent felonies, where one of them ended up with thirty-three deaths.

"With all these charges held against you, and the evidence provided to us, you could be easily fined with twenty-five years in prison and a year of community service. You would also be released under supervision."

Once this statement left his mouth, murmurs spread throughout the entire room. The judge took his mallet and hit the hard surface three times, bringing silence to the room.

"Now, it would've turned out that way if it weren't for some other evidence and the testimony of a couple of witnesses. It was thanks to the Operation Officer of the CIA, Lindsey Hawk, and the CIA's former TIO Technical Analyst, Wesley McClain, who provided us with trustworthy information and evidence. I was informed that thanks to you the CIA managed to catch the state's most wanted gang crew and their leader, Steven Clark, with enough evidence to keep them locked away for a lifetime. So taking that into consideration, your sentence will be lowered significantly to three years in prison and one year of community service."

My eyes flickered to Lindsey and Wes, who were sitting by the sidelines among other professionals and I flashed them a small, grateful smile. They gave me a reassuring smile back and continued to listen to the judge.