Capital Punishment Read Online Free Page B

the bench. Actually sitting up on the bench, waiting for me. Usually judges waited back in chambers until the attorneys arrived. But he was right up there, court in session. Waiting.
    I was in a lot of trouble.
    But the worst part was my clients. They were sitting at the counsel table. All alone, without me.
    Everyone looked up and over at me when the door opened.
    "Mr. Mitchell," Judge Prescott growled. "How nice of you to join us."
    I could see the smug expression on the opposing attorneys' faces. I really hated lawyers from big corporate firms. But that's what the school district had hired. The parents of the little girl who got assaulted by the gym teacher, they could only afford me.
    I slunk to my table. "My apologies, Your Honor. My car was broken into."
    The judge raised an eyebrow at me. "Your legal assistant said your office hadn't calendared the motion."
    "That too," I admitted nervously. "I was unaware this was docketed until she called me."
    The eyebrow didn't move, but the frown Prescott already wore seemed to deepen a bit.
    "What is the motion exactly?" I was compelled to ask.
    "It's a motion to dismiss," one of the school district's attorneys chimed gleefully. She stood up to hand me a copy of her motion. I ignored her.
    "I'm sorry, Your Honor," I shrugged at the bench. "I'll need a continuance. I'm not prepared."
    Judge Prescott leaned forward and stared right through me. "It's your job to be prepared. You were hired by this family to be prepared. The defendant's attorneys are prepared. I am prepared. Why are you not prepared?"
    "I just received the motion this morning," I explained. "Honestly, Your Honor, I never got notice of this hearing."
    My opponent waved her paperwork. "It was delivered two weeks ago, Your Honor! I have a 'copy received' stamp from Mr. Mitchell's firm."
    "Let me see that." I snatched the papers out of her hand. Sure enough, her copies showed that the motion to dismiss had been delivered to the office two weeks earlier. More than enough time to be prepared.
    So why didn't it make my calendar?
    "I— I can't really explain, Your Honor," I tried. "Obviously there's been a communication breakdown. If we could just set this over one week."
    "We object!" Again, my worthy opponent. "We're prepared. We properly filed our motion. We properly noted it for a hearing. The plaintiff has failed to file any response because they know the case should be dismissed. You should grant our motion to dismiss, Your Honor!"
    It was one thing to make me look stupid, it was another to try to use it to get a case dismissed on a technicality. "That's not why we didn't file a response. I already explained—"
    "Yes," Judge Prescott interrupted. "You explained."
    He sighed and set down the pleadings. "What would you have me do, Mr. Mitchell? The defendant filed a timely motion. They noted it for hearing according to the court rules. We are all here today. If the rules are to have any meaning, they must also have consequences."
    He leaned forward and looked down at me over his large glasses. "I have been a judge for thirty-seven years, Mr. Mitchell. Thirty-seven years. And in those thirty-seven years, I have heard arguments from far greater lawyers than you. But all of those lawyers, great as they were, had to abide by my rulings, because I am the judge. You see, Mr. Mitchell, when you've been a judge as long as I have, you don't need to look up the law anymore. You know the law. You are the law."
    He banged his gavel. "The motion to dismiss is granted. Court is at recess."
    "Your Honor!" I tried, but he was already stepping off the bench. He strode into his chambers and slammed the door.
    The other attorneys were handshaking and high-fiving. I know because I was watching them. I was watching them because I couldn't bear to look at my clients.
    I finally turned around.
    "I'm sorry," I started. "I'll file a motion to reconsider. We can appeal—"
    I didn't say any more because the girl's mother slapped me across the