Atty. Christine Villeza
"Prosecution, do you still have something to present?"
Katatapos lang ng presentasyon namin kanina kaya ang prosecution na ulit ang magpapakita ng mga ebidensya nila. I was waiting for their ace and I think this is it. Bright stood up and confidently spoke on their side. Hindi ito nagpunta sa gitna kagaya ng ginawa ko kanina habang nagpe-present ng mga ebidensya.
I guess, he'll invite a new witness.
"Your Honor, we made a mistake about a thing from our first trial."
Halos lahat ng tao sa loob ng courtroom ay nagbulong-bulungan samantalang si Judge Magnaye ay napakunot ang noo. Lahat din ng mga reporter na tahimik na nakaupo ay biglang napatitig kay Bright dahil sa gulat. Yung iba'y pandalas ang type sa kanilang mga laptop samantalang si Jeffrey ay nanatiling natingin kay Bright. Jelsey, Sandoval, and I were just sitting pretty and observing the reactions of all the people in the court.
Alam na naming mangyayari ito. Isasakripisyo nila si Maria Baraña para isalang ang bagong tetestigo.
"The supposed key witness that we presented, Maria Baraña, had said a false testimony. Hindi siya naging parte ng mga krimeng ipinararatang sa inakusahan. Nagsinungaling siya sa harap ng korte!"
As if on cue, the huge door of the courtroom swung open. Pagkalipas ng ilang segundo ay isang pamilyar na mukha ang pumasok sa loob.
Mario "a.k.a. Maria" Baraña is here.
"WE WOULD LIKE TO SUE HER OF PERJURY!"
"Your Honor, it is not acceptable to charge her with anything!" sabat ko't napatayo nang sabihin 'yon ni Bright. I know that we're expecting this pero napaka-kapal talaga ng mukha nito eh!
Nanatiling nakatayo si Maria sa may harap ng pintuan dahil siguro nagulat siya sa biglaang sagutan namin ni Bright. I looked at Judge Magnaye and composed my features. "Hindi niyo siya pwedeng kasuhan, Your Honor."
"But she lied to the court even though she took the oath! Ang pagsisinungaling sa korte ay dapat masampahan ng kaso't maparusahan!" Bright argued, pointing the papers that he was holding to me.
Kahit gusto kong sabihin na napaka-hipokrito niya para sabihin 'yon ay hindi ko magawa. Kailangan kong mag-focus para ipagtanggol din ang karapatan ni Maria Baraña. "She was forced to lie to the court, Bright. She's intimidated and traumatized, thus, she was not in the right state of her mind to testify back then!"
I stared at Judge Magnaye with determination and spoke, "WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING HER AS OUR WITNESS."
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Alam ng lahat na tapos na ang oras namin, defense counsel, para magsalita pero hinayaan kami ni Judge Magnaye na gawing testigo si Maria at i-presenta siya ngayon. We need to hit two birds with one stone here. Malilinis namin ang mga kasinungalingang sinabi niya laban kay Sandoval, malilinis rin namin ang nadungisang pangalan niya.
It's now Jelsey's turn to shine again. She's the one who will examine Maria Baraña.
"State your name." Judge Magnaye ordered.
"Mario Baraña." Bahagya itong lumunok para linisin ang lalamunan niya at nagsalitang muli. "You can call me Maria."
Nagpatuloy lang sila sa pag-uusap habang ako ay napakapit sa aming lamesa dahil bahagya akong nahilo. Ilang segundo lang naman ang itinagal no'n kaya nanumbalik na muli ang paningin at pakiramdam ko. Mabuti na nga lang at hindi napansin ni Sandoval, na katabi ko lang dito sa pwesto namin, dahil ayoko nang mag-alala siya.
"I swear by Almighty God that I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Maria finally said. Pinaupo na rin ito ni Judge Magnaye pagtapos niyang magsalita. After a few seconds, the judge gave Jelsey a go-signal to examine Maria.
"Let's go straight to the point. Why did you lie to the court?" Jelsey asked Maria. Unlike before, kalmado ang hitsura ni Maria at hindi siya kinakabahan. Well, it must be expected.
We rehearsed this before.
"Maria, are you really up for this? Sigurado ka na talagang makikipagtulungan ka sa'min?" I asked while holding her hands. Nasa bahay niya kaming tatlo nina Jelsey at Severina ngayon para sabihin na balak na siyang ilaglag ni Bright. Imagine how shock was she when she knew that.
"Wala naman siyang choice. Kailangan niya makipagtulungan." Jelsey butted in and rolled her eyes. Siniko ito ni Severina at sinabing dahan-dahanin ang pananalita nito. "What? I'm just stating facts."
Tumingin naman ako kay Maria at bahaguang ngumiti. "I know you're afraid, Maria. We already told you the drill. Hindi ako ang mag-tatanong sayo ng mga bagay-bagay kung hindi si Jelsey."
"H-Hindi ba pwedeng ikaw na lang?" tanong ni Maria na nautal pa. Ilang itong tumingin kay Jelsey at ngumiti. "Masungit ka kasi, Mamsh."
"Gusto mo bang bunutin ko isa-isa 'yang kilay mo?" panakot ni Jelsey at ngumisi. "Better be ready, Maria. Shall we start the rehearsal?"
Maria chuckled and gave us a reassuring nod. At this moment in time, I know that she's ready, to tell the truth, and face the law no matter what.
"Let's go straight to the point. Why did you lie to the court?" Jelsey asked Maria.
"I did not do it in my own will." Tumangala ng tingin si Maria kay Jelsey at matapang na sumagot. "I was blackmailed to lie in this court."
Lalong lumakas ang mga bulong-bulungan ng mga manonood at kahit mga reporter ay nagulat din sa kaniyang sinabi. Sandoval looked at me and asked me by his eyes if I know something. I just tapped his shoulders and smiled. "Trust us, Sandoval. We'll get through this."
Bahagya itong tumango at bumalik sa panonood kay Maria.
"Who blackmailed you to lie, Witness?" Jelsey asked again.
"I'm not sure if I remembered his name correctly—!"
"Your Honor, the witness is not sure about what he was saying and what he will say! Hindi natin siya mapagkakatiwalaan!" Bright stood up and pointed that to the judge.
Agad din akong napatayo para depensahan si Maria. "Let's hear what Maria will say first." Tumingin ako kay Bright at ngumiti nang mapang-asar. "Besides, we have evidence against the person who Maria was referring to."
Napatingin sa akin si Bright at umiling-iling na animo'y sinasabi na puro lang ako salita. Well, we really have the evidence that I mentioned.
"Witness, please continue what you're about to say." Judge Magnaye told Maria.
The latter smiled and looked at the crowd. "I cannot remember his name, but I know what's his job." Maria confidently looked at Dark and smiled wickedly. "HE IS A PROSECUTOR."
"Objection, Your Honor! This is all bullshit unless they provide evidence that will prove what she was saying!" Dark instinctively stood up but still kept his cool. "Besides, ang defense na mismo ang sumira ng kredibilidad niya noong unang trial pa lang. What a hypocrite, eh?"
Napakuyom ang kamao ko at padabog na dapat akong sasagot, kaso hinawakan ni Sandoval ang kamay ko't umiling. Later did I realize, Jelsey signaled Sandoval to stop me from bursting out. Huminga ako ng malalim at bahagyang kumalma.
Really? It's not for him to say the word 'hypocrite'! Among all of us, Bright and Dark are really the most hypocritical son of a bitch. Imagine, the followers of the law are also the one who breaks it.
Gago 'di ba?
"Yes, we have destroyed Maria's credibility from the first trial only because we have to defend Mr. Sandoval. But the key issue here is different now." Jelsey answered that made Dark sit again. "The witness was blackmailed and we have evidence to prove that. Thus, she was not in the right mind when she was brought to the court by the prosecution."
"Don't bring the insanity-card here, Public Defender Santos. Despite being blackmailed, he can still say what's right or wrong, but he chose to lie! He doesn't have any mental illness, to begin with." Bright spoke on the mic while sitting on his chair. He's still confident that we can prove nothing.
Hindi na pinansin ni Jelsey ang sinabi ni Bright at tumingin na lang kay Judge Magnaye. "Your Honor, let me continue questioning the witness."
The judge nodded. Jelsey looked at me and smiled.
ILANG MINUTO PA ang lumipas dahil sa mga tanong at sagot nina Jelsey at Maria. Hindi na muling sumabat sina Bright at Dark at hinayaan na lang si Jelsey na tapusin ang pagtatanong. Jelsey managed to ask questions that will support Sandoval, and Maria answered according to the plan. Marami sa mga statement niya ang nakatulong para maipagtanggol at mailigtas si Sandoval mula sa kasong ito.
However, Prosecutor Dark stood up earlier to cross-examine Maria and even copied Jelsey's tactics earlier! He provided a reasonable doubt by showing that Maria has her other reasons to be angry with Sandoval.
Because of that, Judge Magnaye was convinced by the prosecution and agreed to charge her with perjury, so Maria will be taken to another court as a defendant. At the very least, not now. Pagkatapos ng trial na ito ay tsaka aasikasuhin ang kaso ni Maria. I'm also sure that Jelsey will do everything that her law firm can do to defend Maria.
Maria Baraña is innocent. We must defend every innocent individual. Right now, we need to focus on defending Sandoval.
Umupo na si Jelsey sa aming pwesto. I smiled at her and tapped her hand. "You did well, bitch. 50-50 naman talaga ang tsansang makasuhan si Maria." I said.
She chuckled maybe because I called her 'bitch' while we were in the courtroom. Nakalimutan kong tawagin siyang 'Public Defender Santos' dahil na rin siguro sa dami ng aking iniisip.
She rested her arms on the table and looked at me. "Bitch, what's our next move?" Jelsey scoffed and rolled her eyes. Talagang hindi niya pinalagpas ang pagkakataon na makaganti kaya bahagya kaming nagtawanan. Maging si Sandoval na kanina pa seryoso ay bahagya ring natawa.
I drifted my attention to Prosecutor Bright who now stood up and went in front to present their ace. Natuon na rin doon ang atensyon ng lahat dahil sa ingay ng tunog ng sapatos ni Bright. The latter glanced at me and smirked.
I just rolled my eyes and acted like an unbothered queen.
Why would I be bothered? I'm confident with my skills and I'm sure that we will be successful in defending Sandoval.
"Our key witness from the first trial, Maria Baraña, has lied to us. She didn't really saw the crime nor have been involved, so we have to exclude her statements from our side." Bright looked at Judge Magnaye and smiled. "We're glad to present a new key witness who really saw the crime scene."
Napatingin kaming lahat sa malaking pinto ng courtroom nang tumunog ito pagkabukas. My hands balled into fists as I saw who entered the courtroom. I glanced at Jelsey and saw her lips pursed in displeasure, while Sandoval was clueless about the involvement of this man in his case. Si Jeffrey naman ay saglit lang tumingin sa lalaking pumasok sa loob.
I gazed at Bright and saw his mischievous smirk.
"NOEL SERAFICA." I uttered under my breath and instinctively rolled my eyes.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the late update hehe. I was busy finishing some school paperwork and other activities so this update was postponed. But nevertheless, here's your update! Happy reading!