Corrupt

30. Verdict

Shawn fought with himself to hide the rising arrogance building up inside him as he walked to the stand. He'd been through this before enough times to know that this was his chance to lay it on and provide a moving final statement.

He refrained from rolling his eyes as James began to speak. "Mr Mendes, I'm sure you are aware that your presence in the stand is now required for basic questions before a final statement?" Shawn nodded, the process had yet to change.

The bailiff appeared in front of him and held out the usual book, he reluctantly placed his hand down as he waited to once again spill as many lies as he possibly could. "Do you, Shawn Peter Raul Mendes, swear to tell the truth and only the truth?"

Shawn nodded, "I do," before lowering his hand and awaiting the questions from the prosecution.

Maria stepped forward and Shawn couldn't help but wish that Patrick had also forced his way into this attempt at questioning too, but alas, after his previous excursion, Shawn highly doubted they'd ever let him make such a claim again.

"Mr Mendes? Where were you on the evening of the murder?" She asked. Shawn had to wonder - and he was pretty sure everyone else in the room was too - why she asked a question that had already been answered.

"I was with Marcus and Lucia at their house, playing Xbox."

"How long have you been considering abandoning the gang that you are involved with?"

"A few years, as I saw Marcus and Lucia begin to make a life for themselves, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would be like if I could take a step away from that group and try to fix my life, but it was only in the past six months that I've really set my mind on this idea." He answered with some sincerity, but obviously most of the line was a complete lie.

"And was this decision spurred on, as Mr Rashford suggested, by your new romance?"

Shawn inwardly cursed Marcus for mentioning his relationship. "Partly, I think after I turned twenty-one, I began to realise that I wasn't really doing anything worthwhile with my life, but I was staying there because it's all I've ever known since I was fourteen."

Ignoring his claims, Maria moved forth with the damning question.

"And who is this romantic flame?" Shawn bowed his head in frustration. What could he say? Oh, it's one of your lawyers, specifically the one who denied having anything to do with me. That would go down great. But who else could he say?

"Objection!" Jerome cried as he stood up, "How is this relevant to the case at hand? We are supposed to be solving the murder of a young man, not attempting to discover the details of my client's personal relationships!"

Maria turned to the judge, "Why should we not be made of aware of Mr Mendes' relationship? It could be relevant to the case."

James looked down at her with complete confusion, "How?"

"Well- uh- the girlfriend could be involved with the gang!" She cried, looking desperately towards the prosecution desk, but found each of them looking just as bewildered and unsure of what to say.

"Even if that were to be true, Miss Russo, it's a proven fact that Mr Mendes was at the house of Mr Rashford and Miss Loi, therefore move on to a different question or sit down for the final statement."

Maria quickly glanced at the table before she turned and stared back at Shawn, who while not smirking physically, he was sure it was present in his gaze as she glared fiercely at him with his piercing eyes before looking up to James, "No more questions, your honour," and sat back down.