Chapter Twenty-Nine

Days passed after the initial appearance. In order to establish the crime committed by James Brin and his gangs and to begin the preliminary hearing, Bianca was required to appear in court. She had never before appeared in a courtroom. She had been observing court proceedings on television, but today was distinct.

While James Brin called his own personal attorney, the police offered her legal representation. The court was the biggest in the vicinity. Huge crowds gathered around the court in anticipation of each scene, listening and watching intently. The court hearing began by 10 a.m. in the morning, when the judge was about to enter. The bailiff summoned everybody to rise in order for the judge to pass to his seat. When he sat down, everybody sat down again. Then the clerk who was sitting beside the judge stood up with a paper in his hand and then commenced the case.

"Today we have a complaint based on kidnapping with the case number '1r#o93gt' and who do we have here?"

James Brin was being defended by "Kazim," the defendant's lawyer, who made his introduction.

"And who?" questioned the judge.

"My name is Abigail Cynthia, and I am here today to represent Miss Bianca."

"All right, Mr. Kazim, would you ask your client to state and spell his name?"

James Brin boldly and slowly spelled his name.

"Fine, I'll have the judicial courtroom assistant administer the oath to the parties."

A clerk sitting at the front of the judge stood up and said, "You stand, and you swear the testimony you're about to give shall be nothing but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God."

Both parties agreed.

"Mrs. Abigail, do you have any witnesses?"

She answered in the affirmative.

"May I have your first witness?"

"Miss Ezla Bianca."

Bianca was then ushered by the security officer to stand near the prosecutor's attorney.

"Do you want her to stand by you or on the witness stand?"

"On the witness stand."

"The judicial courtroom assistant would place you on oath."

The clerk stood up again and instructed her to raise her hand as she recited the oath that Bianca had agreed to, after which she escorted Bianca to her seat on the witness stand.

The judge then looked at Bianca as she sat down on the witness stand.

"Miss Bianca, can you tell the court how you were kidnapped while on your way to the university?" said the prosecutor's attorney.

She started her narration as the defendant's attorney started taking notes on his book. Then the prosecutor attorney stopped her and asked her a key question.

"Do you know the name of the spray used?"

"No, but people said it was very dangerous, and..."

"Objections to hearsay," the defendant attorney said, standing up in response to her statement.

"Sustained," said the Judge, "Miss Bianca, you can't say what was said outside the court; you must have really had an experience with how it was produced." So, Mrs. Abigail, go on with another question."

"So, you slept off, and when you woke up, you saw yourself somewhere. Can you describe how that place was?"

"Objection, vague as to time." The defendant's attorney objected,

"Objection overruled," uttered the judge, "Miss Bianca, who was the victim of it, was fast asleep so she could not tell exactly the time when she got to the place, but I am very much aware by the police that it happened just a week ago. So, Miss Bianca, answer the question."

Bianca gave the description of how it looked, and also explained how she had been clipped with chains, like a deadly criminal.

"My lord," the prosecutor attorney began, "I have an exhibit."

"Does Mr. Kazim have an exhibit of what you want to show?"

"No, my lord," said the prosecutor attorney, "but I have five extra copies with me."

"Would you hand it over to the Bailiff so it would be marked and shared across to everyone?" the Judge summoned.

The prosecutor attorney handed the five copies to the bailiff, while the bailiff distributed them to the defendant attorney, the court clerk, and Bianca.

"Miss Bianca, can you remember this place?" said the prosecutor attorney.

"Very well. This is how the place is."

"My lord, may I introduce this picture into evidence?" the prosecutor's attorney suggested.

"Mr. Kazim, do you have anything to say?"

"No, lord," answered the defendant's attorney.

"The inclusion of Bianca on the exhibit is critical in assisting me in deciding the case of how she was kidnapped into an unknown room. May I have the evidence? Mrs. Abigail, can you move on with the questions."

"Okay, my lord, were you given food while you were there?" the prosecutor attorney asked, turning to face Bianca.

"No," answered Bianca.

"Who came to you first, when you woke up?"

"A tall man."

"Have you come across someone like that?"

"Never."

The audience laughed at her response and then kept calm for the hearing to continue.

"Who approached you next?"

"James Brin, in a hooded appearance."

"Do you know James Brin?"

"Very much at the university."

"Did he ever threaten you in school?"

"Hmm, something like that."

"Objection my lord, she is not sure of what she is about to say, so it can't be credible to be believed."

"Overruled," said the judge, "have you heard what she is about to say? There is something that might be related to the case."

"James Brin told me that if I didn't agree to marry him in the future, I would regret it throughout the rest of my life."

"Objection irrelevant," the defendant's attorney objected.

"How is this related to the case, Miss Bianca?"

"My Lord, it is related because he was the one I saw in the abduction camp after I refused his marriage proposal, which he later forced me to sign—a sham marriage certificate, right there in the cubicle," she said.

"Objection, she's saying something she doesn't have proof of."

Everywhere became silent due to the rising tension in the courtroom and how vibrant the defendant's attorney was in tackling every single word Bianca made.

"Do you have proof of it?" queried the judge.

"The marriage certificates?" She pondered, "I leave the question for my attorney to answer."

The prosecutor attorney squinted and then readjusted her sitting position, "We have a physical exhibit, which is a pen with his name on it. That she used in signing the certificates."

"Objection my lord. That can't serve as an exhibit. Because a pen can be gotten from the supermarket, and someone can inscribe his name to just implicate my innocent client."

"Sustained, that evidence can't be used in court. So, it is believed that you don't have any evidence for that. Go on with another question."

"Alright, were you physically harassed by them?"

"Yes, they tied my legs and hands, to a chain."

"My lord, we have another exhibit, which would be exhibit B."

"Give it to the bailiff to pass it around." the judge summoned.

Then the bailiff went forward and collected it from her hands and then gave it to the clerk for it to be marked, and then he shared it with the defendant's attorney and Bianca, who was sitting at the witness stand.

"Objection, my lord," the defendant's attorney stood up, while James Brin smiled, "We can only see chains in a small cubicle, but no human was tied to them." And we can't believe something unrelated to the case unless my learned colleague provides more evidence to back it up. More than the testimony being given now."

"Can I have a copy?" the judge requested as the court clerk gave him the exhibit. He collected it, stared cautiously at it, and then raised his head, saying, "Objection sustained, Mrs. Abigail, do you have a testimony to back it up."

"Yes, may I introduce him?"

"Go on," the judge gave a go ahead.

"Sergeant John M Madukwo rescued Bianca from that perilous situation."

The sergeant emerged from the audience and approached the prosecutor attorney.

"The judicial assistant should go ahead and place him under oath."

The court clerk stood up and placed him under oath, to which he agreed. Then the prosecutor's attorney started with her question.

"As a police officer, can you tell the court beyond a reasonable doubt that she was physically assaulted based on the evidence you have?"

"Yes, when I and my fellow colleagues stepped into the small cubicle, we sighted her totally naked. Her two legs were widely opened and placed on a chain, so she couldn't move. She had lost consciousness at that point because she was so frazzled. When we took her to the station where she fully recovered, we asked her if she had been sexually harassed, and she said 'yes'. Then we asked why she said so. Then her response was that they manhandled her crucial private parts, such as her breast and nipple."

The audience was irked by his statement, so he stopped narrating the story.

"My lord, I think I have been able to satisfy my fellow learned colleague and clear the air with this vital point of his."

"The officer's second testimony would be extremely helpful to me in making a decision in this case," the judge voiced out, "So, Mr. Kazim, do you have anything to say?"

"My lord, I have nothing to say."

"Mrs. Abigail, do you have more questions?" the judge asked.

"That is all, My Lord."

The judge then focused his attention on the defendant's attorney, "Mr. Kazim, cross examinations?"

Mr. Kazim answered in the affirmative, stood up, did his suit very well, and then turned the microphone to his mouth while facing Bianca in the witness room.

"Miss Bianca, you know James Brin for about two years, right?"

"Yes," Bianca said, nodding her head.

"In those two years, you've not really gotten to know his character, right?"

"Yes, but I...." She was interrupted.

"Alright, thank you," he abruptly interrupted, "I don't think you know his residence unless you both go to the same university."

"Yes."

"Okay, so, you accepted James Brin as a friend before."

"Objection irrelevant," the prosecutor's attorney countered.

"Mr. Kazim, where are you going with this question?" the judge asked.

"My lord, I am trying to recognise bias against my client, Mr. James Brin."

"Overruled," the judge said, directing Miss Bianca to continue answering the question.

"Yes. It has been a long time since we were in our first year of school."

"Did he give you a gift, while you were in school, and you accepted it, right?" the defendant queried.

"Yes," she responded.

The defendant attorney then looked at the judge.

"My lord, my client is a generous person and doesn't have an evil mind against Bianca. When she was in the so-called dangerous room, she wasn't raped or slaughtered."

"Objection, my fellow learned colleague is insinuating here. Why would he call the room, 'so-called' dangerous room, where there is evidence to show that it was a dangerous room?"

"Objection overruled."

The prosecutor attorney sat down fast showing how frustrated she was with the judge's words in the way she sat down. She knew something was hidden in the cupboard.

After the argument, the judge began echoing laws written in the constitution and then issued a verdict on James Brin. He tried to make it clear to the court that Bianca wasn't raped and there wasn't enough proof to show that she was sexually or physically assaulted. James will either spend two years in prison or he promises to pay heavily for the damages.

James Brin's attorney requested for bail and it was granted.