A/N: Realized that I probably should've done this first... oops.
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Walking into the Court Room, you steadied your breathing. It was your first case since becoming a forensic psychologist and frankly you did not want to mess it up. Especially considering that 1) it was a hard case, and 2) you were going to be going up against equally hard opposition.
Settling down in your seat, you shuffled you papers around and waited patiently for the hearing to start.
Mitchell Turner, 25 years old, convinced of kidnapping, raping, and then murdering a 10 year old girl. It sucked that you were defending such an atrocious human being, but a job was a job, and at the end of the day it came down to whether you could pay the bills.
While you waited, you observed the people coming in, paying particular attention to those on the victims side of the case. When doing so, you accidentally caught the eye of the opposing psychologist, Dr. Jonathan Crane. He was known to be ruthless in all the cases he was in, always using the same excuse for every case; that the defendant was criminally insane and should be put in Arkham Asylum for rehabilitation for which he presided over. The reasons why varied from case to case, but always the same result, he usually won them too.
You gave him a polite nod before looking down at your papers. You were fully prepared to go against everything he said. Someone like Turner didn't deserve to be put in an Asylum, he deserved much worse. You couldn't be bias though, but enough evidence pointed towards it anyways.
"All rise."
You stood up as the judge entered the room, and in the corner of your eye you could see Crane smirking at you.
You knew exactly what he was thinking, it was what everyone thought when someone new entered the game, easy. Determination flooded through you. You'd win this case, no matter what. You had all the facts laid out in your mind, and had practiced saying your speech in a way that would be understood by all those present.
Sitting back down, you give Turner a disgusted look as he attempted to wink at you. His lawyer, the one that hired you, scowled and directed Turners eyes forward.
The case started off without a hitch, and when it came to your part of the argument, you gave it flawlessly. Relieved you sat back down and let out a breath. You had specifically left out the part of the insanity plea in attempts to bait Dr. Crane, as it was his favorite thing to stake his claims on. Just because he wasn't on the defendants side didn't mean he couldn't push it on you. This was particularly dangerous, as if he succeeded, you'd lose your credibility before you even got yourself off the ground.
"I have a question for Dr. (l/n), your Honor," Crane said, standing up.
"Go ahead," the judge said with a nod.
Crane turned to you with a devilish look in his eye, "Have you considered the defendant might be insane?"
There it was, what you'd been expecting.
Standing up you clear your throat, "I had considered it, but no evidence ever supported the claim."
"So you believe that killing someone is not a show of insanity?"
Oh this clever snake, cutting right to the chase. No flowered words, nothing silver tongued, just straight forward and blunt.
"I never said such a thing," you said, raising your chin slightly.
"You client recently lost his own daughter," Crane said.
"You don't need to remind me of my own client, Dr. Crane," you reply.
"Then please, enlighten us."
You could see what he was doing, or at least trying to do; undermine your credibility to undermine the defendants. If he could prove that you were wrong, or messed up, he'd gain the upper hand.
"I will if your Honor will allow it," you look at the judge for permission.
The judge nodded and you sighed internally, this was great. Not that you didn't want to prove Crane wrong, you did, it was just a lot to go over the things you'd already talked about.
"Mitchell Turner, 25 years old, father of one and husband," you began. "True he is an alcoholic, but there was only one case of domestic violence from 2 years ago that was reported to the police by his wife, Astrid. Since then Turner has gone through rehabilitation and has been clean since. During this, he devoted his time to his one daughter, Grace.
Two weeks ago, Grace was murdered, a week after that, Turner committed his crime for which we stand trial for here today."
"You mentioned that he was an alcoholic," Crane said.
"Yes, I did," you reply, "I also said that he'd been clean for two years."
"His daughter died two weeks ago? A murder?"
"Yes," you said, getting impatient. You tried to not let it show.
"Do you believe the murder of his daughter drove him to commit a murder himself?"
"It's not what I believe," you said, "it's what facts are placed in front of me."
"Then what facts are placed in front of you?" Crane asked. He was trying to box you in, make you backtrack, go over things until you slipped up; but you wouldn't. You knew this case inside and out. You would beat him at his own game.
"The same facts I just went over," you said, "they're also the ones you have in front of yourself."
A few mutters could be heard behind you, but you ignored them.
"Do you think, with the facts presented, Turner committed his crime out of revenge?"
"Why would he wish to have revenge on a girl he didn't know?" You ask. "Grace Turners killer is still at large, you'd think he'd go after them if anything."
"So you admit that Turner might be insane with your comment," Crane's lips curled into a smirk.
"I'm merely presenting one of the possibilities," you said. "Just because a man is an alcoholic and lost his child does not suddenly make him insane. If that were the case, half this city would be under suspicion of first degree murder."
A few chuckles here and there, and Crane's eye twitched. Oh, he didn't like that, the snide remark at his expense.
"You Honor," Crane said, turning to the judge, "I'd like to impose an insanity plea on Turner."
"You sure like doing that a lot," you said, narrowing your eyes, "What is this now? The 12th time?"
"You keep track?" Crane gave you a surprised look.
"I just find it odd," you said, "the insanity plea is a very rare occurrence and only is successful a few times when it is brought up. Only with you, it's been successful each time you use it."
"Do you have a problem with that?" Crane tilted his head slightly, eyes glinting behind his glasses.
"I only deal with facts," you said, "what you do doesn't concern me unless it falls outside the range of normality.
I ask you this, your Honor: how can Dr. Crane's 12 consecutive claims of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity go through in less than 6 months if the chance of it even showing up in court is less than 1%, and the chance of them going through is even less than that?"
You gave Crane and challenging look which he met head on.
The judge sighed and pinched their nose, "We'll take a 15 minute so we can think over this statement. We will commence on the hour."
Satisfied that you'd gotten at least somewhat farther along than you'd anticipated, you leave your stuff before leaving the court room. Heading into the bathroom you take a chance to freshen up a bit. Running a hand through your hair, you purse your lips in thought. You hoped you'd be able to continue as strongly as you had before, but only time would tell.
Exiting the bathroom, you hear someone call your name behind you. Turning around you are not at all surprised to see it's Crane.
"I admire your determination," he said, walking up to you. It's only then do you realize how tall he is. You tilt you head up slightly to glare at him. Odd how being on the stand makes you feel bigger than life.
"However," he continued, "you have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Is that a threat, Dr. Crane?" You ask mildly with an undertone of warning. "I don't take kindly to those."
"It's a warning," Crane said, "nothing more. You're playing with fire."
"If it means I win this case, I'll happily burn myself in the process," you reply.
A spark of surprise and admiration flickered in his eyes at your response.
"I'm going to offer you a deal, Dr. (l/n). If I win this case, you'll have to pay for a dinner. If you win it, I'll pay."
"Is that your crappy way of asking me out?" You raise and eyebrow.
"What do you say?" Crane crosses his arms. "You know I usually take the defendants side of a case, but this time... Well, you interest me."
"What a stalkerish thing to say," you said.
"Do accept my offer?"
"I'll think about it," you said, checking your watch. "We better head inside, we have 2 minutes."
"Lead the way," Crane said with a mysterious smile.
An unsettling feeling went through you. Just what type of game was he playing?