Chapter 16: Court Proceedings II

Emily watched as Charlton strode inside the courtroom like he owned the god-damned place. She noticed Hugo looking at him venomously from his seat at the dock, but if Charlton noticed, he gave no indication.

Behind the dock of the courtroom was the public gallery where they can watch the court proceeding. It has 3 rows of benches where people could seat.

Emily was already sitting there at the last seat on the right corner at the back. Meanwhile, Charlton took the forefront on the left side which was beside Hugo's family who were in the middle, right behind the dock.

Emily noticed the Duchess dowager turned to face Charlton and mouthed something then Charlton nodded his head before facing front. After, the duchess posture seemed to relax a little.

Emily can only assume that the duchess must have thanked him or something similar. To which, Emily can only give an eyeroll.

Thanking him for what? If not because of that traitorous snake, her son wouldn't even be facing whatever charges he would be facing.

Anyhow, as the court proceeded with the Hearing, she noticed that there was a definite change in atmosphere.

The Judge cleared his throat, then began. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Judge Aurelius Smith, and I will be the administrative law judge for this pre-trial proceeding. If counsels can please introduce themselves."

In front of the clerk station was the well of Court which has two sides facing each other and the judge. The prosecutor was on the right of the bailiff, while the defence lawyer on the left.

Emily has no idea about who's who but only learned by watching.

"Good morning, your Honor. Respectfully representing the plaintiff, people of the kingdom of Windsor, I am attorney Liam Cedric."

"Good morning, your Honor. I am attorney Henry Roberts appearing as counsel for the defendant. With me is the defendant himself, and we are ready for the preliminary Hearing."

The judge nodded his head then said, "All right, let us proceed. Will counsel for the plaintiff state his case?"

"Your honor, this is a complaint against the ex-vice minister of defence, current Duke Hugo Cobalt, in the matter of Dereliction of Duty by insubordination and Desertion resulting to multiple deaths and grave injury…"

Before the prosecutor could finish, Hugo Cobalt ever hot-headed stood up and shouted in response. "What!? You expect me to be on stand-by and let those traitorous snakes…"

The Judge struck the gavel then said, "order in court." Before looking at Charlton then back to the prosecutor. "Please continue."

Emily swallowed. What was Hugo doing? Even before the case began, he's already admitting to his crime. She was sure that if Charlton wasn't there, not that she thought that he's a hero because she still hated him a LOT, the case would already be over and it's just the preliminary Hearing.

The prosecutor cleared his throat, "…Plaintiff prays that ex-vice minister Cobalt be held accountable for his crime, as pleaded in the complaint."

After that, the judge looked at the Defence lawyer who, even with Hugo's blunder, kept a straight face. "Please state the defense of the defendant."

"Your Honor, while it is true that there was direct order to the defendant to mobilize his troop to Torton, it was also his duty as vice minister of defence to immediately respond to the sudden invasion of the capital. With regards on the other evidence attached to the court summon, we also have prepared counter evidence. Thus, on this score, the defendant is not and should not be held liable."

"Alright, counsels, are there any offers for stipulation?" The judge asked.

 --

The Hearing proceeded and Emily got lost in translation. She did not understand some of the terms used, but she somewhat understood what was happening. There was the part where each counsel was asked to present evidence and the clerk of court started marking them. There were a lot of documents presented so other exhibits were said to be examined later.

It took about half an hour of discussion between the clerk and the counsel before some of the marked evidence was presented to the Judge.

The judge sifted through them, then placed them to the side. After, he asked the prosecutor for who his witnesses would be. The prosecutor presented a list, and the clerk got it and gave it to the judge. On the other hand, when the judge asked the defence lawyer, he said that they do not intend to present any witness as the defendant shall testify to deny allegations.

After which, there have been some discussion, but no question was directed to Hugo, the defendant. It seemed that aside from the judge, the prosecutor was also checking Charlton's reaction from time to time. Thus, the hearing was relatively quiet save for Hugo's initial outburst.

At about 9:45 a.m., the judge announced, "Given the time constraint for this preliminary hearing, we need more time to examine all the new evidence submitted today. As such, we cannot yet determine if there is indeed enough evidence to force the defendant to stand on trial. Thus, the court shall finish this preliminary Hearing today on this note and shall convene agin on a new trial date. The new schedule shall be sent through another Court Summons within 30 days."

After that announcement, the judge hit the gavel and said "Court dismissed." Then, he stood from his seat, and went through a curtain leading to, what Emily assumed, was the backroom where he rested for the next trial.

When the judge left, Emily saw that the defence lawyer seemed to heave a sigh of relief. He quickly approached Hugo's mother while the prosecutor approached Charlton.

Emily didn't know what they were talking about, but even from behind, she could see that Hugo who was still sitting at the dock was clenching his fist as if holding his anger in.

Emily should have expected it, but she was still surprised when suddenly, Hugo stood, faced Charlton and shouted, 

"You venomous, traitorous, rodent, piece of Shit!"

--

TBC