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.
James turned to Shawn, "Mr Mendes, please proceed with your statement."
Shawn nodded and pulled out the piece of handwritten paper he'd prepared in his cell the previous night out of his pocket. He stared at it for a moment, before scrunching it up.
"I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what to say." He sighed, not quite making eye contact with any of his audience. "I'm here to plead my innocence, but I'm sure some of you despite seeing the evidence presented to you still believe I had a part in this murder. All I can do is say one more time that I wasn't there."
He took another breath before continuing, "When I was 14, my outlook on life was bleak. I felt that the world was against me and that there was nothing out there for me, so I foolishly joined a gang. I was lucky that my friends decided to keep me around as I ruined my life. No matter how far I'd fall, they'd always tell me that it wasn't too late and I could still turn it around. They never stopped and I'm every bit as appreciative of it as I am for the fact that they never succumbed to the pressure put on them to join."
So maybe that bit was a lie, but this wasn't about the truth anymore, this was about appealing to the jury's sense of humanity and sympathy.
"I know it may seem simple to blame my issues on my parents, but the truth is, if they were still around, I probably still would've gotten myself into a mess because the truth is," he sighed, "I'm headstrong." He made eye contact with Camila. "I rush into things without giving them a proper thought and sometimes that ends up being the worst decision I could have possibly made."
A smile appeared on his face as he kept his gaze on Camila, "And sometimes it can be the best thing I've ever done." He looked away from his girlfriend and back towards the jury.
"But while I know that I may not deserve it, all I can do is ask for the chance to let go of the group that I once relied on and instead begin a life with the person I've been lucky enough to find. She has changed my outlook on life, she's made me see that I have an opportunity with her and I'm not going to put it to waste."
He turned towards the judge, "Thank you." He looked down as he ended his speech before being told by Judge Loi to return to his seat.
"As the prosecution has refused to drop their case, we will now take a break to allow the jury to reach a verdict." He banged the gavel down and noise erupted in the room as members of the jury rose and exited the room, while the bailiff appeared to drag Shawn away back to his holding cell for what was hopefully the last time.
As he reached the doorway to leave the courtroom, he glanced towards Marcus and gave a brief nod, receiving one of recognition in return before he looked back towards Camila, catching her eye. He grinned before turning his head forward and walking out.
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Camila was shaking as she stood outside the courthouse with Marcus and Lucia. "What do you think they're saying?" She panicked as she marched back and forth. "Do you think they're going to agree with the defence?" Marcus and Lucia shared a look as they watched their friend freak out. "What if they don't let him go?"
Marcus lost his patience at that comment and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to cease her march and turn back to face him. "Stop panicking. There's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to be calm and prepare ourselves for either outcome. Besides if he's acquitted, he's not going to hang about, he's already put his plan into action."
Camila tilted her head in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Marcus and Lucia shared another look before facepalming, "Shawn's leaving Canada." Her eyes widened, "So, he's just going to walk out of the country and leave me?!" She exclaimed in both horror and anger. Marcus looked at her in bewilderment, "No."
Confusion appeared on her face once more, "Then what are you talking about?" Lucia spoke up this time instead, "You're both leaving the country, but he's leaving in advance of you."
Her eyes widened once more. "What?" They nodded, "Yep."
She forced herself out of Marcus' grip and started pacing once more, "Are you kidding me? Did he not think, 'Hey, why don't I inform my girlfriend of my plans to uproot her life and leave the country with her?' Is he an idiot?" She seethed in frustration.
"It's not that big of a deal," Marcus muttered.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing! Nothing! Now come on, they're gonna announce the verdict soon." He answered, fearing he may receive even more of Camila's wrath.
Camila looked ready to put up more of a fight to find out more information about the chain of events that her boyfriend had decided to leave out of any of their previous conversations about the future, but upon deciding that it was better to grill him in person rather than his best friend, she shook her head and marched forward back into the courtroom, where people were beginning to reconvene.
Once the jury had all reentered the room, Judge Loi sat back down at his seat and ordered Shawn to be brought back in. A minute later, he was dragged into his seat by the bailiffs and stared up at the Judge, awaiting his fate.
"Has the Jury reached a unanimous verdict?" He asked casting his gaze towards the group of twelve. One of the members nodded and stood up, Camila held her breath. In an ideal world, she'd be full of confidence in the fact that with the evidence presented, Shawn would be presumed not guilty, but as she knew by now, the legal system was never just. Sure, she'd been confident at the beginning of the day, but her own brutal questioning from Patrick had completely thrown her off.
But she stared at the jury, hoping that they would just come out with their verdict already.
"We the jury find the defendant, Shawn Peter Raul Mendes, not guilty on all charges."
A growl of frustration sounded from the prosecution as Shawn bowed his head and cried into his hands, although Camila was pretty sure he was laying it on a bit. Actually completely because she'd seen that arrogant look in his eyes earlier, Shawn had been sure of his release by the time her own questioning was over. Camila herself struggled to hold back her tears at the realisation that her boyfriend really was free to move on from the life he lived in Toronto.
The bailiff reached forward and took the paper from the juror before passing it to Judge Loi. He read over the paper briefly before turning towards Shawn, "Bailiffs, please escort Mr Mendes to his cell where he may change and collect his belongings before he is released."
As Shawn was escorted from the room, the rest of the courtroom began to disperse. Before she even realised what was happening, Marcus was grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room.
"What are we doing?" She asked as she was dragged towards Marcus' car. Marcus ignored her as he continued moving forwards, Camila glanced around and saw that it was only the two of them walking. "Where's Lucia?" Marcus continued to ignore her. "Marcus!" She screeched as they reached the parking lot.
"I promise I'll tell you in the car, but we gotta move. Now."
Sighing, she wrenched her hand from Marcus' grip and jumped into the car. He quickly followed suit and before she knew it, they were off.
"What are we doing?"
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A/N: Hello, I'm aware that I've practically disappeared off the face of the earth.
I had coursework and then mocks and then the whole world shut down!
Anyways I do have time now to finish this story, so I will definitely be ending this story soon!
40 votes before the next chapter!