Tangled in Love

Chapter 19

"No!" Maya yelled out, causing the focus of everyone in the room to be on her. Normally, she would have blushed, embarrassed by the attention, but she was on a different mission today.

"Nolan is not guilty!" she stated, her voice radiating to ever corner of the room. All conversation stopped, and when the guard opened his mouth to say something, the judge stopped him. "I can prove it!"

"And why should I allow you to prove Mr. Knäblein-Greene to be innocent when I have already reached the jurisdiction with the jurors that he is, indeed, guilty of the murder of Samad Chowdhury?" the judge's booming voice bounced back.

Maya turned her attention to him, organizing her thoughts. "Because you have reached a conclusion that is not right and just. Allow me to provide better evidence than the current defendant and I will prove to you why I am right."

A voice from the jurors perked up. "Why are you doing this?"

Maya turned to the group of seated people, and replied proudly. "I rightfully believe he is innocent." She paused, before starting again. "I can have a whole trial again as his lawyer. Just give me a week."

Judge Barr's voice sounded again. "We'll have a recession while I and the jurors talk about it." Heart pounding, Maya followed the trail of people leaving the room, hopeful that she'll get a chance to get a shot a proving her boyfriend innocent.

Murmurs of the crowd of people watching the trial were cast toward her, some even pointing. Squirming at their glances and conversation, she focused her attention on Nolan, who was flanked by guards on both sides.

"Thanks so much!" Nolan's grateful voice rung out, his eyes glaring sideways at the guards around him. "I'd give you a hug and a kiss but you know I can't."

Maya smiled cheerfully, dread finally settling in as she realized that she didn't even have a plan. "Don't count on me to prove you innocent. I'm only giving my best shot here," she warned, not wanting his hopes to be lifted and then dropped because of her poor debating skills.

"But you were amazing back there!" Nolan complimented, his eyes searching hers. "There's no doubt I'd be able to walk home next week."

Before Maya could warn him to not be as confident in her skills as he currently was, the guard at the door yelled out, "The judge has reached a conclusion. Recession is over."

People began to file back into the room, standing behind the seat they were in before, their attention focused on the judge. "There is currently no law that says an adult, such as Ms. Rader here, cannot be a lawyer, so she can be the defendant lawyer, but only if the suspect chooses to do so." He paused, turning to look at Nolan. "Mr. Knäblein-Greene, would you like a retrial with Maya Rader as your lawyer?"

"Absolutely," he answered right away.

"Then it is settled." Pounding the gravel on is desk the judge stated, "On April 4th, a week from this date, Ms. Rader will come to court at 12 P.M. as Mr. Knäblein-Greene's lawyer. You are all dismissed, but for now, Nolan will remain in custody. Remand."

Mumbles started once again, but Maya paid it no attention, weaving through the crowd at an extremely high pace. Her first goal was to go home and organize her thoughts and her notes.

Minutes later, at her house, Maya's messy spread of paper were laid out in front of her. Her eyes gazed over as her thoughts absorbed all her attention. There would be three main points that the opponent would make and she would have to rebuttal them.

1) There was a large transfer of $1 million dollars to his savings account an hour after Samad was killed.
2) Nolan had sent a text to Samad telling him to meet him at the shadiest area of Central Park right before Samad got killed.
3) They had discovered a knife with blood in Nolan's room.