Disclaimer: This story contains love between two teenage males. If it is illegal to read this in your community, or if you are below the legal age, leave now. No responsibility is accepted by the author for any effects of this story , directly or indirectly. By continuing to read this, you accept that you are accessing this of your own free will, and indemnify the author against all cases.
Love On Campus by theHaydster Copyright 2006, theHaydster. All rights reserved PLEASE email me at thehaydster@yahoo.com.au I run off feedback!
THANKS FOR READING! Sorry about the delay, I intend to have the next chapter out soon. Any ideas about the case for the defence, I don't have many ideas. The more ideas, the sooner the next chapter will come out (no pun intended).
Thanks goes to Don Hanratty and TimTheStoryGUy for their advice.
Chapter 14
Note: Literary license is taken with regard to the court case.
The ball had an excellent three course meal, surprisingly enough. Most formal dinners I've been to, the food is there mostly for looks. After the dessert had been cleared away people started to get up and dance. The people that weren't dancing started chatting with their friends as the night wore on. Alex and I did a fair amount of dancing together, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Josh and Tim still took the ball by storm, as no one (except us) had any inkling that they were gay, and a couple. I slipped away from Alex from time to time and took some great photos. Regardless of the precautions, people got drunk, and that made for very funny photos. By chance, the ball was the last Friday of the term, so we had our mid-semester break starting. This put everyone into a mood to celebrate (hence the drunkenness).
At midnight the ball broke up and there were buses to the kick-on. Alex and I decided not to go, as did everyone else at our table. The limo turned up on time and we gave Tim and Josh a lift back too. Once we arrived at our room we were too knackered to do anything but undress and climb into bed.
The Saturday morning we slept in, as did everyone who had been to the ball. We eventually staggered out of bed and went to breakfast. Tiny turned up half way through our breakfast and asked us if we had remembered that we had to pack today. We both swore simultaneously with that comment. On Sunday we had to fly down to Canberra for the trial. Our flight was an early morning one, so we had to pack today.
After breakfast we dug our good suits out and ironed them. I hate ironing with a passion; I don't know how Alex can stand it. Eventually we had everything packed up and stored it all in our cupboards. We spent the rest of the day finishing up our assignments, so we wouldn't have any more pressure while we were in Canberra.
Our work took us all the way through to dinner time, and we got ready for bed afterwards so we would have a good nights sleep. I was jumpy about the case and eventually I blurted out "Alex, I'm so nervous about this trial". "I know Davey, I'm nervous too, but it will work out" "But they must have some sort of case; otherwise we wouldn't need to testify" "They can demand a full trial, but there is nothing which can go for them." "I know, but I'm still scared" "Turn over babe" "What?" "Turn over so your on your stomach" I did as Alex said and he started to give me a massage. He was incredibly good at it. The next thing I remember was being woken with a kiss while it was pitch dark.
"Davey, time to get up?" "Wha... It's only 2 in the morning Alex. What's going on?" Ok. I'm not exactly at my brightest at 2 am, who is (except nocturnal animals)? "Dave, plane flight, Canberra, trial" "Hell! I forgot! When do we need to be at the airport? We haven't arranged how to get there!" Alex started chuckling at my confusion "Kate is taking us there, and we need to be out of here in about 20 minutes"
We dressed quickly and were out the front just as Kate pulled up. She greeted us with "I must be insane to get up at this our so you two can catch your flight. You owe me for this one." "And a good morning to you two Kate" I replied. We lugged our ports (suitcases) into the boot of her car and took off for the airport (no pun intended), Alex drove.
We took the Inner City Bypass to the airport and got there at about 3. Kate parked in the short term parking when we told her that she wasn't driving back until she'd had a cup of coffee. I felt bad about getting her up, but she told me it all comes with having crazy friends (Alex and I). We all smiled at that. We always joke about being crazy, just thought you should know, so it's not an insult or anything.
We checked in with QANTAS, at least there was no queue. Security were a bit more rigorous, because there was no one else about. They used the explosives swab thing on Kate. I swear they are paranoid here, but not as much as the US is. Once we had bought Kate a cup of coffee and had one ourselves (I had tea, what is it with coffee?), Kate left to go back to college. At 5:30 we heard "Cityflyer QF214 to Canberra is now boarding at gate 14". Cityflyer is the QANTAS service running about every hour between all the capitals on the east coast (flights run less often to Perth, Adelaide and Darwin).
Once we arrived at the gate we were approached by a gentleman who looked about 55. He was wearing a formal suit and tie. "Mr. Andrews and Mr. Scott?" he inquired, once we assured him that we were he introduced himself. "I am James Smith, the prosecutor for your case. We may have a problem regarding the character of the judge and the tactics we expect of the defence lawyer."
We were flying business class (courtesy of the government), so we boarded the plane last. There was no one else flying business class this early in the morning (they would be crazy to do so). As soon as we were at cruising altitude we all had soft drinks and Mr. Smith started talking to us. First he asked for identification, as the case was becoming very high profile.
"Mr. Andrews, Mr. Scott" "Please call us David and Alex, sir" "Very well, then please call me James" "David, Alex, I'm going to put my cards on the table about your case. All the evidence is in your favour, and under normal circumstances we should have no trouble gaining a conviction. As the prosecution, we have a more difficult task than the defence. The defence just needs to poke enough holes in our case. They don't have to prove anything, we have to prove that they are guilty `beyond all reasonable doubt' to quote the law books" "James, what are the problems then?" "Our major problem is the judge. At the end of a case the judge sums up and if his summing up is biased it can have a great effect on the juries decision. The judge they have chosen is homophobic, and if they are acquitted we can't re-try them with another judge. Or that's not entirely true, we can appeal the decision, but if we do it will need to go to the High Court, and I don't think that they will accept our appeal." "That's a pretty major problem James, what's our other one?" "The other problem is the barrister. He is going to try and make your sexuality the reason for the attack. I don't know what else he may try, but he will try to prejudice the jury. I don't know what else he may try, but he is going to stoop to foul means for this case."
We discussed tactics that the defence would be likely to use and ways to avoid them for the rest of the flight. Once we had collected our baggage we hailed a taxi that took Alex and I to the Rydges, where we had a double room reserved (courtesy of the govt.) James got into a different cab that took him home.
Once Alex and I had hung up our suits we decided to go for a walk and have some lunch. We saw Parliament House and had lunch not far from it. Not much of interest happened that day. We had dinner at the cafe in the hotel and then went to bed holding each other. The trial started the next day.
At 6:30 the next morning the alarm clock went off. Alex and I got showered (together) and dressed in our suits while trying to keep calm. We had breakfast in the cafe and then finished getting ready to leave. Just as we were ready James knocked on our door. He was dressed in full court attire, and looked very lawyer-like. A taxi took us to the court where he went over everything once more, so we knew what to expect and how to act.
At 8:30 we walked into the courtroom, scared about what to expect. "All rise. The honourable Judge Wilson presiding" Everyone in the courtroom stood as an elderly gentleman entered and sat at the bench. "Be seated" he said in a commanding voice. With that everyone sat except the baliff. "The Crown versus Jones, Daniels, Redland, Tanner, Flint and Goodman. All defendants are charged with 2 counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of assault upon a police officer and 2 counts of intimidation of a witness. Jones and Daniels are also charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The court now asks the prosecution to open the case"
With that remark James stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution intends to prove these charges beyond all reasonable doubt. Mr. David Andrews and Mr. Alex Scott received death threats regarding their testimony regarding an assault upon Mr. Andrews. Later on these 2 men were attacked by six unidentified men, who put both Mr. Scott and Mr. Andrews in hospital. From that time on they received protection from the federal police. A second attempt was made upon their lives, but this time armed police were ready, and these 6 men were arrested. I intend to call Mr. Scott, Mr. Andrews and Officer Casey to the stand to prove this case." He then sat down.
"The court now asks the defence for their opening remarks." The barrister stood up and opened his case with "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defence intends to prove reasonable doubt in the case for the prosecution. We intend to disprove the charges of intimidation by lack of evidence, and the other charges due to the fact that the witnesses were provoked. We intend to call Mr. Jones, Mr. Daniels, Mr. Gavens and Officer Leeland to prove the case." Both our jaws dropped at that speech. Mr. Gaven's was the president of the St. Mark's College Council!
Please email me with comments and ideas. Flames will be ignored. thehaydster@yahoo.com.au