Week 18

Lawyer Cynthia looked at Lycan Cyrabus and stated, "I do not like what we are about to do. I am doing this under protest."

Lycan Cyrabus replied, "This was your client's idea. I am not sure I like it either. She, however, is a powerful-willed she-wolf. When she arrives, I will ask her again if she is sure she wants to do this."

The phone rings, and Cyrabus answers, "Cyrabus." Then he listens, "send her up." He hangs up the phone, "she is here." A few minutes later, there is a knock on the door. "Enter."

Jocelyn enters, and Cyrabus says, "Hello, Jocelyn. Are you ready for the trial to begin today?"

Jocelyn replies, "I am ready for it to end." She then sits down.

Cyrabus replies, "I empathize with your feelings on this. We will have you be our first witness. Are you sure you want to go into the room and be blindfolded before anyone other than the jury, judge, and lawyers are present."?

She replies, "Yes, then one at a time, have everyone else enter. I don't want anyone else to know. I will be sworn in and, one at a time, have them file in with a bailiff escort. They step in, and I press the button. I will do red to stop. This person is one, and then Green goes ahead and sits in the other courtroom. Red tags will wait for prisoners to be officially escorted in. Once everyone has gone through that courtroom, we get up and officially get moved to the other courtroom. "

"What if you don't tag anyone, tag the wrong person, or miss someone."

"Guess that person is lucky, then. I want to prove to everyone on the jury and the judge I know who did this to me. I have heard people ask how I can identify people by scent only. I need to prove it. What better way to prove it? Is it unconventional? Yes, but I have been told since the beginning of the classroom assignment that started this set of events I do things differently. My different way of doing things can infuriate others. You did manage to get the judge to agree. However, he might have only agreed since he is a wolf. Plus, two jury members are wolves; you told me those would be my biggest obstacles."

"Cynthia, you do have one stubborn client. What she says is true. Suppose she can identify her alleged rapist like this a second time. Plus, the others coming to testify in this case will prove their guilt. Plus, one of the wolves has agreed to testify. He claimed nine wolves were involved, and if she identifies the other two this way. We can prosecute them too. The one testifying claimed he did not take her because he is gay, so he was brought in to guard the door of the warehouse she was found in. He would have been the tenth wolf involved."

There was a knock on the door, and it was opened. One of the bailiffs stuck his head in, "It is time to come." We stood up and followed him."

Jocelyn follows Cynthia, Cerebus, and the bailiff into the courtroom. The bailiff directs Cynthia and Cerebus to sit at a table. She sees a lawyer sitting at the other table. She looks and sees the jury box with 12 juries in it. She considers the judge sitting in his chair. The bailiff taps her arm, and she startles. She looks at him sheepishly and follows him to a chair surrounded by a blind. The bailiff asked, "Can you please state your name for the court."

She replies, "Yes, it is Jocelyn Sommers."

He asked, "Which god or goddess do you worship?"

"The moon goddess, Selene."

He reaches over and grabs a crescent moon, "do you promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth in the name of Selene?"

Jocelyn reaches up and touches the crescent moon, "I do." Then she does a howl to close the pledge. The bailiff sets the moon back where he got it. He picks up and hands her a blindfold to put on when told.

He walks over to stand by the door where others will enter. The judge looks at the jury, "Ms. Sommers today has requested she shows the court and jury how she identified whom she is accusing of raping her. She was blindfolded and never saw who raped her. She used her other wolf senses to identify them. It was her sense of smell that led to the accused being charged. Today we placed a blind in front of the witness box, and she is wearing a blindfold to ensure she cannot see anyone entering the courtroom. Plus, a camera is on her. The judge, jury, and lawyers will be able to watch her. They will see she cannot view anyone or get signals from anyone. The bailiff is going to let one person in at a time. She will sniff and indicate if yes or no. If yes, another bailiff will escort the person to be held. If not, they will walk to the courtroom wait area. This is why we all were sprayed with scent before coming into the courtroom today. She wanted the jury to witness her identification of her alleged rapist and not just see the video of her identification of them until afterward."

He turned and looked at me, "You have been sworn in. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Place your blindfold over your eyes." I do that. Bailiff, open the door and let one person in at a time, and they are to follow the yellow tape line into the next courtroom waiting area.

It took almost two hours for people to file in. She identified all seven of the people she was accusing. They even had them walk through a second time, and she identified them both times. She also identified the one who was the guard who claimed to be gay and did not partake. She did not identify anyone else.

When done, the judge said, "It is now 11:27. We will adjourn for lunch. We will meet back at 12:30 pm."

At 12:30, we were sitting on the prosecutor's side. The defense lawyer sat in his spot. He stood up and said, "I once again want it known. I'm afraid I still have to disagree with how my clients were identified."

Judge replied, "Your protest is heard. Now before lunch, Ms. Sommers identified eight different people. I had the bailiffs send them through a second time, and she still identified the same eight. However, the eighth one is not part of the ones on trial today. Please turn on the video from the day she identified the original seven. We will call them out. It started at the beginning. When I indicated a hit, the bailiff paused the video and called out a name. This was the first time Jocelyn could put a face and name to the scent. She was surprised when she reached behind her and grabbed her Alpha's hand, and squeezed it for needed support. She had tears forming in her eyes. She tried to hold it back, but one lone tear ran down her face.

Once they were all introduced, Solomon squeezed her hand back. She then let go of his hand. She sat up straight and slowly let out a deep breath. The bailiff then went to the center of the court. "Today's hearing is Jocelyn Sommers rape victim docket 2341A-wolf. She has identified seven people in her rape who is before us. We are here today to hear the case. Earlier, the jury got to witness her identification method. She used her sense of smell and identified them twice this way today. Plus, the official identification method that led to them being accused. Now the jury will watch her official statement to Lycan Cerberus before this unique identification." He hit play, and the video was watched.

"We will now call Ms. Sommers to the stand where the defense team can cross-examine, which will then follow Lycan Cerebus redirection. Ms. Sommers, please step into the witness box."

Jocelyn stood up. She walked over and sat down in the witness box. The bailiff stated, "Earlier, you were sworn in, and you are still under that oath. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Jocelyn looked over to the seven sitting in the defense chairs. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she stared at each of the wolves she knew raped her. She did wonder which one was her pup's sperm donor.

They stared back, and a couple of them had their mouths opened in surprise. Delta Kyle Browling spoke up, "She is pregnant. Does that mean I am going to be a father?"

The oldest-looking one, Alpha Xavier Branson, growled and said, "Will you shut up."

Their lawyer said, "I ask that Mr. Browling's comment not be in the records."

Cynthia stood up, "Your honor, I object. He was not coerced into saying that remark. He has admitted he could be a father to one of her pups. I request that it not be stricken from the records."

Then Lycan Cerebus stood up, "I have to agree with Ms. Cian. We did not say anything to make his voluntary comment come out. There doesn't seem grounds to have it stricken if one of his clients cannot control his speech."

The judge said, "I agree with Lycan Cerberus and Ms. Cian. Your motion to have it stricken is denied."

Cerberus and Cynthia sit down. Their lawyer then turns toward Jocelyn. "We haven't formally met. My name is Sickel Varnish, attorney for the accused. Have you ever met any of my clients before today?"

I looked at each of them. "The third one in the blue jacket is in one of my classes, but I have never talked to him while in class. He was one of the wolves who heckled me after the debate. My alpha ran him and his group off."

Jocelyn then scanned across the courtroom, and her eyes stopped on her ex-mate. She put her hand over her belly and then stopped to look at various friends in the courtroom.

"When did this alleged rape happen?"

"It started the Friday after the debate. My alpha requested I come back to the pack to discuss my paper. I became my wolf and was running home when I realized at least four wolves were following me. I tried to link my alpha and a few others but got no response. I finally reached Mrs. Snyder, a former pack high school teacher of mine. She reminded me of the safe house, and I turned toward it. I was jumped and knocked down before I could reach it. When I woke up, I was blindfolded and chained down."

"You could not see any of my clients?"

"No."

"You identified them by smell at the time of the supposed rape?"

"Not at first."

"What do you mean not at first? You either can or cannot identify them."

"I was raped over two weeks repeatedly. Until they seemed to forget to use a scent begone spray."

"You could not smell them because of scent begone, and you are just alleging rape because of them hassling you at school."

"I did not say that. If you listen, I stated at first, which means it is followed by at least a second," I growled.

"Your honor, she is acting hostile. I feel she should be collared before she changes and attacks me."

Cynthia stood up, "Your honor, I object to this action. She is pregnant and cannot change because of the pups. He is badgering her. I feel she should also be able to complete her second or more points."

"I agree with Ms Cian. With her being pregnant, she cannot shift. She did not even have her eyes darken or her voice deepens to indicate her wolf was taken over. Did her tone sound angry- yes, but not wolf angry? Your objection is overruled. Miss Sommers, what is point two before Mr. Varnish resumes questioning."

"Your honor, as I started to say at first, I could not smell them, and they would spray stuff every now, and I did not smell anything. I felt the spray even land on me. Well, one of the times I woke up and pretended to be asleep as one of them was pounding into me." I had a tear roll down my face." I noticed I could smell juniper and Granny Smith apples. Plus, a hint of brown sugar. Then I started picking up other scents when they took turns taking me. They all had Juniper and Granny Smith, but they also had different scents. Can I stand up and walk to the defendants?" I can tell you who had the smell of caramel, peanut butter, dark chocolate, cinnamon, brown sugar, maple, and citrus. I could even be blindfolded, and they mix up and give their scents. I can tell you that once I became aware of their fragrances, Carmel took me four times; peanut butter took me just once; dark chocolate took me twice; cinnamon took me only once; brown sugar took me five times, maple syrup took me twice, and citrus took me three times while I was conscious and they seem to have forgotten the scent be gone.

"I object to her pointing out their scents again,"

The judge says, "I disagree. I want her blindfolded again. She will stay in her seat. Then the bailiff will bring them up in random order. She will give each person's scent. Take them out of the courtroom. Plus, if any others from their pack are present. Once we blindfold her, I want you to join the accusation. This type of identification is fascinating to witness. This will be her fourth time identifying them. I won't have it a question. She was able to identify their scent each time."

They covered her eyes, and she then identified them again and the distinct scent on all the accused again. Each time she did, she repeated how many times they took her once she smelled their odor. Plus stated others distinct smells on a few other pack members but none of those others were with Jocelyn when she was raped."

Once this was done again, the judge stated, "We will, I think, call it quits for the day. Resume tomorrow at 9:00 am."