The Trials of Jay Miller

A few things that would actually work in my favor, I didn't own the murder weapon, I'd been the one to call 911, and thinking about it, only my family knew of my motive. Nat felt pretty good about our chances that I would never go past the next hearing, I hoped he was right.

As the day of the hearing approached, I had quite a fight with the girls. Both of them wanted to be there to support me, I didn't want to subject them, especially Nan, to the facts that might be brought out. Nat didn't quite agree with me, but I stood firm and eventually got my way.

Since I was a cop, the killing was pretty high profile. The DA's office was determined to try the case, so with what would appear to be against the judge's wishes we were going to trial. Again a date was set, and now I get to hurry up and wait for my peers to decide my fate. Their evidence was all at best circumstantial, and a lot of that was slim.

I pretty much sat around on my dead ass waiting for my day in court. As much as I hate to wait around, it would be better to go to jail than to live like this much longer. Once in a while one of my cop buddies would stop by, but those visits got fewer and farther between as the months went by.

If you've ever attended a murder trial, then you'll know how the time drags by. A couple of days went by for the jury selection, the DA and Nat negotiated like used car salesmen trying for jurors they each favored. In the end nine women and three men would sit and decide the rest of my life for me.

The DA laid the story out for the jury, and it all sounded very plausible. He played the scenario out as it could have gone down, but the major flaw with his story was that I really didn't commit the crime that I was accused of. The witnesses were called and testified one by one, I was proud of the way Bobby told his story. He told the truth and nothing but. As he left the stand, he was afraid to look at me. I looked him straight in the eyes and smiled, giving him the thumbs up sign for a job well done.

The last witness for the prosecution was called, the forensics expert. This would be our best shot at convincing the jury that I was innocent. He laid out the crime scene with the facts that he had. My finger prints on the murder weapon, me standing over the body when the police had arrived. The ballistics showed that the bullet had in fact come from the Berretta. The estimated time of death clearly proved that I was present in the room when Amir expired. The DA smiled at the job he had done.

Oh, he smiled until Nat cross examined his witness. Nat asked him is a GSR, gunshot residue, test had been performed on me. Why that surprised the DA, only he will know. The test had been done upon my directions to Bobby, by the book. The findings were clear that I had not fired a weapon.

Nat asked the man a lot of question about his expertise in regards to blood spatter evidence. He also grilled him thoroughly about how far away the shot had been fired. Then he put the man totally on the spot by asking if in his expert opinion that given the amount of blood strewn around the room, how was it that I had no blood on me. The man stuttered and thought, but he had no answer. The DA's reaction said it all. It was going to be a slam dunk alright, but for the home team.

The jury was out for less than an hour, the judge read the innocent verdict and dismissed the case. I was finally free to go, all the months of waiting were over. I thanked Nat for all his hard work on my behalf.

"Jay, I was proud to do it, and after you get settled back into your life I'd like to talk with you about something," he said as he shook my hand.

"What is it Nat?" I asked curiously.

"No Jay, not now. Come see me next week," he told me and patted my back as we walked out of the courtroom together.

Lena and Nancy met me at the door of MY house. It was good to be home again, and they both hugged and kissed me. I ate the first home cooked meal I'd had in months, and Nancy excused herself for the night to give Lena and I some time to get reacquainted.

We talked about many things, but not of the trial. She apologized for not listening to me about Amir, and told me how sorry Nan was now also. We cuddled on the couch and discussed plans for the future, we talked about getting away for a vacation we had planned for many years. I knew it was finally time to ask Lena the question that had plagued me since the day of the shooting. It would probably be better to let it go, but I had to ask.

"Lena, one thing has bothered me since that day. I know I shouldn't ask, but did you aim at his throat or was it a miss?" I asked with great curiosity.

"Jay, I... I..." she stuttered.

"Now Lena, do you see why I couldn't come home? If the DA had gotten hold of you, you'd be in jail right now. Shit Honey, when I saw you on the stairs, I had a pretty good idea what I'd find up there. But the main thing is that I didn't know for a fact that you had done it. The less I knew the better we were, I wasn't going to lie if I was asked. If we would have talked about what happened, at that point I would have known and not just suspected," I explained

We took the rest of the conversation to bed, but there was very little talking done for the rest of the night. I was reinstated to my old job, but I had enough time in and opted for retirement. This played well into Nat's hands, as he offered to use me as an investigator for his law practice. I worked a lot fewer hours for much more money. The only thing I had left to do was for Nan, Bobby will be here soon for dinner and yes, he has looked me in the eyes and I like what I see.