Chapter 77: A Good Man

 The whole courthouse was a buzz of activities when the was the announcement that the hearing was just about to begin. It was to be held in the biggest room in the whole building to accommodate for the large number of attendees.

First to be allowed into the courtroom were the reporters who were in their masses hurriedly trying to get in first so that they could find the best spot to set up their cameras. Next to be allowed in was the group of some high ranking officials, some civilians, invited members etc. It was with this group that Jason entered with and went to the back of the room where he could oversee the whole thing from far. After them, the next were the five heads of state including the president of Serbia and Loki, the president of Panem. They entered with a high security presence who came in and assessed the room after making sure that the outside environment was safe enough to avoid another attack.

Jason watched as they were on high alert ready for anything, he felt like shouting to them that there wouldn't be any attack. After they had settled down, the room became silent and all that could be heard were the sounds of the cameras as the photographers took dozens of photos. In a short while, the ten-man jury walked in from the judge's chambers and took their seats. They were followed by the brothers and Maurice who both took their seats on opposite sides of the courthouse. Alpha was seated immediately behind the brothers and they all eagerly waited for Magraff to be brought out.

What seemed to be endless minutes of wait finally came to an end when the chamber doors opened and Magraff was brought out in the prison wear. On his hands he had on cuffs that were chained to the cuffs on his feet.

Silence overrun the courtroom as the only things daring to make a sound were the camera shutters and the clicking of chains as Magraff was escorted to his stand by two guards armed to the teeth. Last to enter the room were the five judges who took their seats with the Chief Justice, who was the senior most judge, seated at the middle.

After a few formalities, the court was in session.

Magraff took his oath and everything was underway

Everything that both teams had been working on was now to come to use and every single bit of information was going to play a crucial role in this case no matter how small it may seem

Alpha turned around from his seat and searched for Jason in the crowd. It took him a while to find Jason in the far back watching on without any sort of expression on his face . With an assuring nod, Alpha was sure that Jason had done his part and they were going to win this case hands down. 

At first, the case started slow with both teams arguing their points and trying to win the hearts of both the jury and the judges. This went on for about an hour before things slowly started to get heated up.

At one point, Djokovic was the one speaking and wanted to ask Magraff some questions. He walked up to where Magraff was and started of with a hello:

"Mr Magraff, have you ever been to Europe?" He asked

" Yes, but only once"

" Do you mind telling us when and why you were there? "

" It was around seven years ago and I went there on a business trip "

" Seven years ago. Only once, you say"

"Yes, only once"

" For how long were you on this business trip? "

" Around two days"

" So you have only stepped foot in Europe only once in your lifetime for only two days? Interesting. Do you have any colleagues who can vouch for you if they're called upon? "

" Sure, but I might have to track them down first since the company that I worked for collapsed and that's why I've been struggling to make ends meet since then"

" Intriguing. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I wonder how a man who visited a continent that was new to him on a business trip manage to commit the charges that are laid out in front of him"

With that, Djokovic turned and went and took his seat.

This went on for quite some time as both teams trying to validate their arguments

At one point, Mikhail summoned Mrs Magraff as a witness and questioned her:

"I hope you're doing fine Mrs Magraff" 

"Not so much, once this case is closed and my husband declared innocent then I'll be good"

" And that's where you come in Mrs, we need you help to prove that your husband is innocent "

" Objection!!! " Maurice said out loud" unnecessary conversation with the witness and leading her on"

" I'm only getting her to feel comfortable your honor " Mikhail defended himself

" Sustained. Kindly focus on the questions that you have for Mrs Magraff " the chief justice said

" As you wish your honor. So back to you Mrs Magraff, do you mind telling us about your husband's character? "

" Objection!!! " Maurice said again

" Your honor I'm just trying to get a back story on the defendant so that we can all know what type of person he is " Mikhail said

" Overruled. Mrs Magraff, you may proceed to answer the question "

" Thank you your honor. So my husband is one of the most hard working men I've ever come across and that's one of the reasons that I fell in love with him. He cares about everything and everyone around him. He was the best father to my late daughter that I could ask for "

" Was he ever violent in all your years of marriage? "

" Never"

" Has he ever raised his voice to you or your late daughter "

" He has never"

" How did he approach matters that came up in the house? "

" He would sit me and my daughter down and talk to us about the issue. He was always ready to listen to us and work with us to resolve the problem "

" If you don't mind, can you tell us one of the biggest disagreements or conflicts that has ever ensued in your house and how your husband responded to it "

" Give me a second...... Ok so there was this one time when he thought that I had an affair and that our daughter wasn't actually his. This really pissed him off as a husband and a dad. I can't blame him though since I knew that he felt like I had betrayed him and betrayed everything that we had built together "

" What was his reaction to such devastating news? "

" When one of his friends broke the news to him, he was irate but he didn't lay a finger on me. He simply walked out of the house and came back hours later ready to talk about it with him. "

" When was this? " 

" Around four years ago. Not that long ago"

Djokovic joined his brother and walked up to Mr Magraff,

"Mr Magraff, do you remember such an incident?" Djokovic asked him

" Yes I do"

" Can you tell the courthouse where you had disappeared to and why? "

" Yes I can, I went to a nearby church where me and my family attend Sunday services and had a talk with my pastor on what I should do. I did this because I loved my wife and daughter so much that the thought of losing them was unbearable. I also wanted to seek some spiritual guidance in order to prevent me from doing something regrettable "

" And did you get that spiritual guidance? " 

" Yes I did and it helped a lot "

" What did you do next? "

" Well, I went home ready to listen to my wife so that I could fully grasp the situation "

" And in the end, what was the situation? "

" It turned out that one of my close friends had developed an envious eye and was keen on trying to break my marriage by feeding me with lies"

" So you resolved the issue with your wife? "

" Yes"

" And what did you do about that friend of yours? "

" I cut all connections to him and till date I haven't talked to him"

" Is this true? "Mikhail asked Belinda

"That's true"

" Your honours, with us here is an entry by the pastor of the church who agreed to sign down as an alibi to that fateful day when Mr Magraff visited him. He couldn't make it today but here is his statement " Djokovic said as he picked up an envelope from their table and handed it to the judges 

"Members of the jury, doesn't it seem kind of absurd that a man who went on a rampage killing countless of women and children to be the same man who handled such a scenario in the way that we have just heard?" Mikhail asked the jury

" And we all know that people tend to show patterns and that is what makes the behavior of an individual. In this particular case, when Mr Magraff was presented with the devastating possibility that he had been cheated on and worse, the child that he had sired might not be his, his first thought was to go to a peaceful place. Seek help from the Lord and from his messengers. Does this sound like it's the same person that the state is painting him out to be" Djokovic added on before he took his seat