The room was silent. The only noise being heard was the faint ticking of the clock. 'Tick, tick'
I was in my seat, quietly observing the judges scribble something on a piece of paper. Suddenly, one of them stood up and stated, "I have looked at the allegation from Ryder Wyatt, written by Naomi Reed. So far, most evidence points at the suspect being guilty. But there are certain fields that say otherwise. Personally, I am stuck for a fair conclusion. Therefore, I am allowing the judges to hear the opinions of others here today." The room's silence was immediately interrupted by several murmurs. A few moments passed, until a man- most likely in his late thirties, stood up. "Your honour, may you hear what I have to say?" The jury nodded. "Thank you, your honour. My name is Thomas Eddison and I am here today to make sure that Ryder Wyatt gets a verdict of guilty."
The room was suddenly filled with many objections.
"Excuse me, let the man speak!" The jury commanded, his hammer letting his voice be heard.
"Thank you- As I was saying, I want Ryder Wyatt to be behind bars, as there is no excuse for murdering a man. He had the choice to just leave David Wyatt stabbed, yet he still strangled him. Doesn't that say something?"
"OBJECTION!" A woman called out, "Your honour, I'm Mia Alva. He was abused! What was he supposed to do?!"
"NO!" Another woman yelled, "My name is Leah Courtsey and that's no excuse for murder! Let alone strangling somebody!"
Hannah stood up again, "It was self-defence!"
"If it was self-defence, why did he have to kill him?!" Leah bellowed
"He's only a child! How is he supposed to know?"
"Nonsense! The boy is 12! He is not a chil-"
'BANG, BANG'
The jury slammed the hammer on the table. "ENOUGH!" he yelled, "I think we have heard enough." The room was silent again, as the 2 jurys discussed the issues silently. I sat in my seat, my fists clenched.
I was deprived my whole life! I was abused. Tortured. If I'm guilty, what does that make my Father? I groaned in exasperation.
For what seemed like an eternity, the jury had finally reached a decision. "RIGHT." he stated, "Due to the lack of evidence and agreement, we must admit that this decision may agitate many sitting here today. We have decided that..."
I held my breath. This was it. My life was about to be destroyed, or saved by a single word.
"We have decided that Ryder Wyatt is innocent. The file reported by Marius Irene, has been labelled as 'self defence'. End of court. Thank you for being here today." Pandemonium erupted in the courtroom once the verdict was announced. I let out a stifled gasp and couldn't help but laugh. I had done it. I got away with murder.
Just like my Father.