by Newbiel
"Show me yours and I'll show you mine." Nathaniel said, enjoying the double entendre.
"Deal!"
Exchanging folders, they immediately start reading what the other came up with. The assignment they had to give back today sounds simple but it really wasn't. They had to write an essay where they would take an old case and then write what the mistakes made by the two sides and come up with another solution to the trial. It was involving a lot of research and knowledge to find a case and spot the mistakes in questions. Nathaniel on his side spent two long weeks to find a case interesting and complete the assignment.
"Wow, that's smart." He said, reading through Na-Yung's essay.
Na-Yung, contrary to him, had chosen a very famous trial case that happened four years ago involving a coal company against the state of Wyoming. The mistakes were easy to find in this particular case but the solution that Na-Yung came up with was surprising. It didn't even know if it could really work but Nathaniel still liked it because of it's exotic nature. Still, she had done the work and it was showing, he didn't doubt that she will get an A at the minimum for it.
"Well, well, well, aren't you an overachiever?" Na-Yung said once she was done reading, shaking her head bitterly.
"I like to be thorough." Nathaniel answers, giving back her work and taking back his. "And you know how much Professor Miles hates my gut."
"Yeah I know, do you think that he's going to try again to invalidate your assigned work because it came after the deadline?" Na-Yung asked.
"No, I don't think so. Since I involved Joshua last time, it seems he abandoned that course of action. It was good for me that I keep proof of when I'm sending my work over or he could have been successful."
"Why is he doing that though? Why he picked on you that much, you never did anything to him I believe."
"No, I didn't. Maybe it's just jealousy? Or just an ego trip to show me that he's in charge? What is sure, is that I'm not going to put up with it for much longer before I start to fight back." Nathaniel answers.
"I know that, to be honest I'm surprised you didn't so far, you have put up with more crap coming from him that you have with Tobias." She laughed.
"I tend to be more respectful with former prosecutors than to other people." Nathaniel said.
After that they wait silently, looking at the last students hurrying inside before the professor enters and closes the door behind him. Putting his suitcase on the side of his desk, he turns back to face the students.
"Good day everyone! Just to remind you that today is the last day for you to give your assignment. The last deadline to ask for a report was last week, anyone not giving his essay today will fail this class and will have to pass it again next semester." He said with severity.
Keeping his eyes on the students in front of him, his eyes start roaming amid the row, seemingly looking for something or someone. When his eyes met Nathaniel, a devious smile appeared on his face that was quickly wiped away.
"Oh Mister Lyndon, oh nice of you to be among us today." He called sarcastically.
There were a few laughs around the room as people enjoyed seeing him put on the spot. The other students just look in his direction with curiosity and anticipation, waiting for something to happen. Nathaniel just appeared calm, feeling the stare of the hundred plus students on his and did not respond. Seeing the folder in front of Nathaniel, Professor Miles smiles again.
"I see that you came with your essay Mister Lyndon. I'm sure you will not have any objection at presenting it in front of everyone today?"
"I wasn't aware it was supposed to be an oral presentation Professor." Nathaniel answered.
"It isn't but as the shining star of the legal field, I'm sure your work is impressive and could prove to be beneficial to your fellow students. I'm not forcing you to do anything, if you think your essay is not good enough, you are free to stay where you are but I'm afraid I will have to grade it accordingly."
Nathaniel could clearly see that it was a poor veiled threat and a trap all wrapped into one. He had the choice between going down and presenting his work and to be shut down in public and he was sure it was his plan or stay seated and risk getting a failing grade. Luckily Nathaniel recognized that this teacher had a problem with him and so had prepared beforehand a solution in case he was going to step out of bound. It was time he learned that once the cord was set, it could fit around someone else's neck just as well.
"I'll be happy to present my work, Professor." Nathaniel answered.
Taking the folder containing his essay, Nathaniel put it in his bag, using the opportunity to lower himself to whisper something to Na-Yung.
"You should record this, it's going to be fun."
"I was going to." She responded in the same way.
Standing up, he exits the row of seats and starts descending the stairs with his bag in his right hand. Watching him come, the professor took his chair from behind his desk and moved it in front of the first row of seats and sat on it, crossing his arms, a smile on his face. That smile quickly faded however when he saw Nathaniel turning the light on this side of the room off and powering up the video projector on the desk. Getting his laptop from his backpack, Nathaniel connected it to the video projector and put two speaker from his bag on the desk.
"Take all the time you want Mister Lyndon." The Professor called sarcastically, triggering a few laughs around the room.
Nathaniel just ignored him as he was busy on his computer. He wasn't ready to make a presentation like this one but he liked to keep his work organized and so his research was still on his laptop. He couldn't do something perfect with the little time he had in front of him so decent will have to do. He also knew that what he was doing was pointless as his professor was going to shut him down whatever the quality of his presentation. Even then, Nathaniel had his pride and he was going to make sure it made it really hard for him to do so.
Making a quick copy of his laptop screen, he made sure that everything was working correctly before lifting his eyes and facing the two hundred plus students in the classroom.
"Hello everyone, like you may have heard before, I'm Nathaniel Lyndon." He said with a brilliant smile.
Chapter 231: :
"Hello everyone, like you may have heard before, I'm Nathaniel Lyndon." He said with a brilliant smile.
There were a few polite laughs around the room as everybody knew him by now. Outside of the fact that he was a celebrity of sorts, it wasn't everyday that you had a seventeen years old college students with three millions subscribers on Twitter and almost two millions on Youtube. More than that, Nathaniel was something of a curious entity for the rest of the class.
Because of the fact that he was a very busy actor and singer, he was more often missing from class than not and yet he was still the top of the class, his GPA seven point ahead of the second who was Na-Yung and eleven point to the third. Outside of class, he wasn't engaging in any social activity or sports like the huge majority of students. It was also why he was often seen alone on the campus, walking or sitting in the library busy studying. Despite his handsome appearance and his physique, he was giving off geeky vibes.
Making sure that everyone had his eyes on him, Nathaniel launched the first video. It was a replay of a new broadcast showing Police officers in riot gear, in the middle of the street between two groups of people who were cursing and shouting at each other. The image changed showing cars burning to the side and business front window being smashed down.
"Let me give you the context of what you are seeing." Nathaniel said, cutting the video that was muted on purpose. "What you just saw happened six years ago in the town of Auburn in Alabama. Let me walk you through this sequence of events. At ten forty five PM, the local Police respond to a 911 call for public disturbance coming from 47 Drake Avenue. That place was the home of forty four years old, James Owen living with his wife and two sons. Upon arriving at the scene, the two officers noticed that James Owen was intoxicated and that his oldest son
had a mark on his face consistent with a slap and was crying openly. Taking into account that the father was a very well respected minister and a pillar of the community, the two officers just issued a warning and left them alone. In their report, they choose to hide what they saw concerning the slap and then carry on with their work like it was nothing."
Nathaniel made a short break to make sure he still had everyone's attention before continuing.
"That could have been the end of it but it was not and seeing the lack of response of the Police, the neighbor in question called a local news channel about what was going on what she learned amidst all of the yelling that she was hearing coming from the house. A reporter investigated and found out why they were arguing. It happened that his oldest son, Eric, was for a few months now dating a brown american girl, Clarrissa Warton, who was living a couple of blocks away and the father was trying to break them off. The two being in love, they tried to hide it from the minister and keep dating in secrets. When they failed, Eric tried to run away from home and it was at this occasion that the cops intervened and saw him with signs of abuse on his face. The news channel then reported the story."
Nathaniel then shows five different front pages of a local journal, all talking about the story.
"Forty four percent of James Owen congregation was black Americans, hearing the story they felt betrayed to learn that a brown girl was not good enough for his white son. Friends and neighbors turn on each other and what I showed you earlier happened. Racial tension exploded in that district and it created a scene depressingly familiar in the US. Seeing what happened, the prosecutor who was in an election year pursued the minister for child abuse. Using the racial angle of the case as a character assassination, the prosecutor advocate for the harshest jail time and was succesfull. James Owen pleaded guilty and was incarcerated."
Seeing that his professor was going to say something, Nathaniel continued before he had the chance.
"Now I see you wondering why I'm talking to you about such an open and shut case. One of the reasons is because it had a really bad ending. Two month after being convicted, James Owen hung himself in his cell. Eric and Clarissa finish high school and choose to go into the same university in Tennessee. Four years later, they were happily engaged when they had a car accident. Due to complications that happened after the accident, they both died from their injuries. The second reason is the most important because I believe everything that happens is wrong."
There was a visible surprise among the crowd when Nathaniel said this and many people started to frown at him.
"What do you mean by wrong?" Professor Miles asked.
"I mean exactly what the word means, this whole case was not what it seems from the beginning. For starters, I don't even believe this man was racist." Nathaniel answered.
"I don't understand, didn't this whole case start because he didn't want his son to date a black girl?" One the student asked out loud with brown hair.
Not displeased in the slightest by the interruption, Nathaniel answered before Professor Miles could berate the student for speaking without asking permission first. In fact, Nathaniel wanted a discourse with his fellow student, if they were here in the first place, it means that they were brilliant each in their own way.
"It is. In fact this is one of the rare things that the new report got right in their piece."
"Then how can you affirm that it was not about race? What proof do you have?" A girl on the fourth row asked.
Nathaniel nodded appreciatively as it was a good and fair question to ask. He was especially grateful that the person in question kept it factually and did not go into the feelings of the subject who was extremely divisive in the US. It was not to say that everyone in the room had that factual approach considering the number of glare and judgmental glances that was coming his way.
"I pulled up their tax record from the last five years and they were giving 23% or their total income to various charities, most of them helping Black and Brown Americans families. I know, I know, it proves nothing but I mention it because they give it anonymously and based on the people I talk to, they never even talked about it to their close friends. When you are a racist who gives money to hide it, you are making it known or that goes against the point you are trying to make by giving it in the first place. There is more of course, while I was investigating I found this video online where him and his congregation were hosting a caritative event, take a look."
Nathaniel launches the vid but this time he activates the sound. The minister and his congregation were having fun, drinking beer and making food to feed the homeless. The minister in question was always with a smile on his face, talking to everyone and making jokes. Nathaniel let the vid run until he was sure the point got across.
"Now, show of hands, who believes that man was racist?" Nathaniel asked.
Conforming to his expectation, the last video had managed to convince everyone which wasn't surprising considering that had been what convinced him while he was investigating. There were still some people who raised their hands and Nathaniel pointed at one of them.
"Why are you not convinced?" Nathaniel asked.
"I'm not convinced because it's only circumstantial evidence and for the video, he could be very well faking."
"Fair observation." Nathaniel nodded. "If that man was at that level of acting and sociopathy, he would not be a minister but the head of the RNC right now. Moreover, he was offered advancement over the years and he never went for it, he was just content to stay where he was and help his community. That's not making any sense from a psychological standpoint."
Nathaniel watched the few students that had their hands raised lowering them until one girl was left. Nathaniel looked at her and nodded his head once to give her the room to voice her question.
"Didn't he admit it during the trial?" She asked.
"He did. He's exact word were 'I didn't want my son to be with a filthy black girl.'"
"Then why are we talking about it if he confess about it under oath?"
"Because people lie and it's in cases like that you realize for what people are willing to lie for and for what people are willing to die for." Nathaniel intoned in a grave voice.
At that point the two hundred students in the room were eyeing Nathaniel with rapt attention, wanting to know more. Even his professor was glued to his word and wasn't even thinking of interrupting him.
Chapter 232: :
"Now, why would someone lie under oath and especially on something that was so damaging to his case?" Nathaniel asked, looking expectantly to the two hundreds plus students sitting in front of him.
Almost twenty hands instantly rise in the air, Nathaniel points to a cute looking girl on the first row.
"He was paid to lie?"
"Statistically correct, money is one of the main reasons someone would lie on the stand. However, it's not really applicable to this case as there was no one to benefit from all of this. His congregation was dissolved even before the trial began, I'm sure some deep conspiracy theorist could say that he was a plan from the deep state to radicalize a part of Auburn population but I'm afraid we all are not high enough to even think of believing it." Nathaniel added with humor, his audience laughing at the joke.
"Someone else?" He asked, pointing at someone who was in the far back of the classroom.
"He was pressured by the Prosecutor into accepting a plea deal?"
"Astute observation, it's easy to forget sometimes the absurd amount of power that prosecutors hold before the trial starts and even when it's ongoing. Again, not applicable in this case because the prosecutor never offers a plea deal. He was content to go all the way and advocate for the harshest sentence. Anything else?"
Nathaniel watches the last people who had their hand raised, lowering them. Nathaniel had to smile seeing them think so much about it but not finding the answer. He waited for a few seconds before waving away the issue.
"We will go back to that later. Let's fast forwa
rd into the future shall we? To be more precise, four years into the future. Eric Owen and Clarissa Warton were going back home from a friend's house when their car was hit by a truck. The truck driver was found dead on site and Eric and Clarissa were heavily wounded. EMS brought them to the nearest hospital where they stayed on the operating table for more than twelve hours. The surgery went well but at the time where the doctors were feeling optimistics about their recovery, their state suddenly got worse."
Nathaniel made a quick break to look at everyone before continuing.
"Considering that the two of them start getting worse and they had the same symptom, the doctor leans toward an infectious disease or something more environnemental that they catch on the crash site or even before. Unfortunately, all tests came back negative but at this point the state of Eric and Clarissa had taken a turn for the worse. Eric needed to go back to surgery as a part of his bowel was necrosing and Clarissa had trouble breathing because of fluid in her lungs. Eric died on the operating table and Clarissa joined him two hours later from respiratory arrest. Like I told you earlier, this case is a sad story."
Nathaniel saw a girl with red hair raise her hand and nodded in her direction.
"I get that you try to give us the full story but it's this relevant to the case?" She asked.
"Of course, I would not waste your time otherwise. Everything is only a part of the puzzle that you must put at the right place for you to fit. Let's see some family photos now." Nathaniel said, leaning down on his laptop to show two photos side by side who were putting on front display the Owen and Warton family. "Does someone see something curious about these two pictures?" Nathaniel asked his audience.
At first, no one was understanding what he was asking as the two pictures could be easily found in every household in the US. They then decided to put more thought into it and Nathaniel heard wood creaking as every student leaned forward on their desk to see better. Even his professor looked at the two pictures with attention, trying to know where he was going with this. It was then that few students started to raise their hands in the air and Nathaniel pointed at the first who had seen something.
