21- Court Hearings

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My dad gets a ride to work from a friend so that I can take the car to drive up two towns where Robby is having his hearing. Sage helped me this morning on what to wear, so I'm wearing a pair of black dress pants, a white tank top, and a light blue blazer. It took her a long time, but she finally convinced me to wear heels as well.

I'm excited to see my brother again but I know that this day is going to be rough. I don't even know what the hearing is for, I just know that I'm allowed to be there and to see Robby. I know that it's not the actual trial with the jury and judge and everything, and I'm sure that it's going to be totally boring. Sage wants to go out to the bars tonight too, so I know that it's going to be a long day for me.

It's a long drive up to the courthouse but when I get there, I park and head inside to find the right room. I'm right on time, so when I get into the room, it's filling with people interested in the case. I look around for the victim and his wife but I don't see them anywhere. I take a seat in one of the wooden benches behind where the lawyers, the judge, and my brother will sit.

A few minutes later, the prosecutor and Gabby come in and sit at the table to the left of the room as Robby and his lawyer sit at the right side table. Robby is wearing nice clothes and not his prisoner uniform. He looks like he has everything together, like his life isn't falling apart right now. The last time that he looked so nice was when he was for our mother's funeral five years ago.

Just before the hearing is about to start, I notice a familiar blond guy walking into the room. For some reason, Dex is here and he sits down on a bench near Gabby. The last time that I saw him, he was running from her house wearing only his underwear. Just thinking about that memory makes my face flush a deep red.

I keep my gaze away from Dex and just hope that he doesn't see me. I notice Robby looking around the audience, probably looking for me, and we quickly make eye contact. He smiles at me and I offer him a 'good luck' wave and an encouraging smile. I'm not sure if he even has to talk today, but I bet that he's nervous anyway.

When the judge enters the room, everybody stands up and something happens as the judge speaks and then we all sit back down. I guess that I should have read up on courtroom etiquette before showing up today.

"We are here today to discuss the validity of some evidence, and to go over some new witnesses," The judge announces. "Defendant, you may start."

"We move that Mr. Clarke's confession be thrown out," Robby's lawyer claims, standing up from the table that he's sitting at with Robby.

"On what grounds?" The prosecutor seems bewildered at this statement.

"On the grounds that Mr. Clarke was denied access to a lawyer, even after he asked for one, and they frightened him and coerced him into confessing," He defends himself. Maybe he really does know what he's talking about. I'm suddenly feeling hopeful that he'll get Robby a better sentence than what I'm expecting.

"Motion granted," The judge decides. They continue going through the evidence that they have against Robby as his lawyer tries to get as much of it as possible thrown out so that they can't use it in court.

They've got the knife that he claims was attained without a warrant but then the prosecutor says that it should be considered due to inevitable discovery. I don't know half of the terms that they use but I think that I can gather mostly what's happening. It seems like their biggest issue is going to be the security footage that clearly shows Robby stabbing the man.

I think that their biggest defense is going to be that he wasn't in his right mind though. I'm worried that it won't hold up though, because even if he was drunk or high, I think that the prosecution could easily remind a jury that a drunk driver is still held accountable for their actions.

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