Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 26: The Trial Commences
The next day, I flew back home to Florida, but I came right back 9 days later. The goodbyes were hard, but at least this time, I knew I would be seeing these people again very soon. During the time I was back home, I kept reliving my relationship with Josh, seeing if I could find anything to connect Matt to Josh’s death, but I just couldn’t and I grew extremely nervous for the trial. I guess I was just afraid I would say something wrong or get embarrassed up on the stand in some way.
I flew back to New York at around 8:00PM Tuesday night and Amanda came to pick me up again, but Jesse and Tyler accompanied her this time. I walked up and gave them each a hug and we decided to go out to dinner. After dinner, Jesse and Tyler came back to Amanda’s house and Jesse helped me put my stuff in the guest room. After we were done, we sat down on the bed and I looked down at my hands.
“So, how are you holding up?” he asked, laying his hand on top of mine.
“Honestly, I could be better. For the past week and a half, I’ve been trying to work out what I’m going to say. I’m so afraid that I’m going to screw up somehow and that it will affect the verdict. I’ve been trying to see if I have any memories that would connect Matt or anybody else to Josh’s death, but I’ve got nothing. What if I missed something really important?”
“Riles, the most important thing is that you go up there and tell the truth; tell everything you know about Josh, about your relationship with him, and about that night. Don’t worry about anything else. If this guy really is guilty, then hopefully justice will prevail, but what the jury decides is beyond your control and you will not be the only one up there testifying.”
“I guess I’m just scared.”
“Why are you scared?” he asked, hugging me close to him.
“Because I’m afraid of how you are going to feel when I get up there and start talking about the guy that I loved before you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I just don’t like seeing you go through all this pain.”
“Yeah but, Jess, you weren’t fine when you saw me with Eric; you were jealous. I just don’t want you to feel like that again. I didn’t even tell you about Josh until well into our relationship, which turned out to be a big mistake and I just don’t want you to have to feel like you have to compete with his memory or something because you don’t; I love you just the way you are and I need you probably now more than ever.”
“And you know I’ll always be there. When I got jealous, that was a moment of weakness and I’m going to try to work on it. I’m not going to fly off the handle again because this time I really don’t even have a right to; I can’t really be jealous of a dead guy, but I guess I can be jealous of the memories you had with him. You don’t have to worry about anything, Riles. I’m not going to do or say anything that’s going to make this any harder on you and I’m not going to try to ruin your memories with Josh.”
“Thanks, Babe. I’m still nervous though.”
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
“Shut up! I can’t help it. I have this weird feeling about tomorrow and I can’t explain it.”
“Riley, you are going to be fine!”
“I hope so.”
15 hours later, I sat in the courtroom with Jesse and Amanda waiting for the trial to begin. The lawyers came in followed by the defendant. When Matt walked across the floor to his seat, I studied him hard. His head was down and his face was even paler than normal. Could he really be a murderer? Everyone rose when the judge came in and the trial began.
“Ms. Howard, please call your first witness.”
“The state would like to call Riley Miller to the stand.”
Jesse squeezed my hand as I got up and walked over to the witness stand and put my hand on the Bible and gave my oath of honesty. As I sat down on the witness stand, I could feel all eyes in the room on me. I looked around the room and saw Jesse looking at me encouragingly. Josh’s parents were in the first row; his mother was crying, but she gave me a small smile to show that she appreciated that I was there. I looked to the other side and saw Matt’s family looking completely crestfallen, except for his brother who looked utterly threatening, which startled me temporarily.
“Miss Miller, can you please explain to the court your relationship with the victim?”
“Josh was my boyfriend for around 2 years and I loved him very much.”
“And what was Josh’s relationship with the defendant?”
“Matt was Josh’s best friend.”
“What were you and Josh doing on the night in question?”
“It was Christmas and he took me out to dinner. Then, we went to the beach and danced under a gazebo, but I got cold, so we went back to his house and sat by the fire and gave each other Christmas presents.”
“And what was it that Josh gave you?”
“OBJECTION. Your Honor, this has no relevance to the case,” demanded the other lawyer, Richard Crowl.
“Your Honor, that question proves the closeness between Miss Miller and Josh. It shows how important she was to him.”
“I’ll allow it.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.” She turned back toward me. “Now, I repeat, what was the gift that Josh gave you?”
“He gave me this locket that I’m wearing around my neck. It has pictures of us from our prom in it. He also gave me a shirt with a picture of us on the beach on it along with the lyrics to the song we always used to dance to. I gave him a baseball autographed by Derek Jeter, his favorite baseball player.”
“What happened after you exchanged gifts?”
“His family came in and his mother got mad that Josh had me in the house when no one else was home. I decided to leave, since I didn’t want Josh to get into any more trouble than he already was.” I had to pause and wipe some of the tears off my face.
“Miss Miller, I know this must be hard for you, but can you tell us exactly how it happened?”
I breathed slowly and tried to go on without choking up. “He said he wanted to walk me out to my car, so we went outside. My car was parked across the street from his house. When we got to my car door, we held hands and it started to snow, so we spun each other around and laughed in the middle of the street. When we stopped spinning, we saw bright headlights speeding toward us and showing no signs of slowing down. Josh quickly pushed me out of the way and I knocked into my car and passed out momentarily.” I paused again to regain my composure and then went on. “When I came to, Josh was on the ground covered in blood and the truck was gone. I rushed over him, held his head on my lap, and yelled for someone to call an ambulance. Then he told me again that he loved me and he wanted me to go on to live a happy life. He died in my arms.”
At that moment, almost every eye in that courtroom looked at me with sympathy instead of wonder. Now the whole world would know the nightmare I went through.
“Did you happen to see the driver of the truck that hit your boyfriend?
“I did not get a clear enough view because it was so dark. The only thing I remember is the black shadow of a man behind the wheel.”
“I have no more questions for this witness.”
“Does the defense have anything to add?” asked the judge.
“No, Your Honor,” responded Mr. Crowl.
“Ok then, Ms. Howard, your next witness, please.”
“The state calls Jonathan McDonald t the stand.”
I stepped down and walked back to my seat as Jon approached the witness stand and gave his oath.”
“Mr. McDonald, will you also state your relationship with the victim for the jury?”
“Josh was one of my best friends.
“And what was your relationship with the defendant?”
“He used to be one of my best friends too.”
“Used to be?”
“Yeah he’s not my best friend anymore.”
“Why is that?”
“He has changed. He’s a lot more volatile now and it seems to me like he drinks a lot more.”
“Objection, Your Honor. This witness has not been around my client enough lately to say how he’s been acting.”
“Sustained.”
“It’s my understanding, Mr. McDonald, that you hosted a party a few weeks before the death in which both the victim and the defendant attended. Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you have said before that you saw them fighting at the party and you and another boy had to break them up, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea what they could have been fighting about?”
“They were fighting about Riley, Josh’s girlfriend at the time and the girl that was just up here.”
“Why would they be fighting about Miss Miller?”
“Because Josh told me that he went over Matt’s house one day when he thought Matt was home. Matt’s mom let him in and let him go up to Matt’s room and wait there. While Josh was waiting, he decided to go on Matt’s computer, but he found a collage of pictures of Riley on the desktop, some of which were compromising and invasive and could have only been taken If someone had followed her. Josh ran out of the house when he saw these and came straight to my house a few hours before the party and told me all about the pictures. When the party started, he confronted Matt and Matt told him in front of everyone that he had been in love with Riley ever since he met her and that he was going to figure out a way to steal her away from Josh; he said he would do absolutely anything to gain control of her. Josh told him to stay away from Riley and so Matt punched him.”
I flew back to New York at around 8:00PM Tuesday night and Amanda came to pick me up again, but Jesse and Tyler accompanied her this time. I walked up and gave them each a hug and we decided to go out to dinner. After dinner, Jesse and Tyler came back to Amanda’s house and Jesse helped me put my stuff in the guest room. After we were done, we sat down on the bed and I looked down at my hands.
“So, how are you holding up?” he asked, laying his hand on top of mine.
“Honestly, I could be better. For the past week and a half, I’ve been trying to work out what I’m going to say. I’m so afraid that I’m going to screw up somehow and that it will affect the verdict. I’ve been trying to see if I have any memories that would connect Matt or anybody else to Josh’s death, but I’ve got nothing. What if I missed something really important?”
“Riles, the most important thing is that you go up there and tell the truth; tell everything you know about Josh, about your relationship with him, and about that night. Don’t worry about anything else. If this guy really is guilty, then hopefully justice will prevail, but what the jury decides is beyond your control and you will not be the only one up there testifying.”
“I guess I’m just scared.”
“Why are you scared?” he asked, hugging me close to him.
“Because I’m afraid of how you are going to feel when I get up there and start talking about the guy that I loved before you.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I just don’t like seeing you go through all this pain.”
“Yeah but, Jess, you weren’t fine when you saw me with Eric; you were jealous. I just don’t want you to feel like that again. I didn’t even tell you about Josh until well into our relationship, which turned out to be a big mistake and I just don’t want you to have to feel like you have to compete with his memory or something because you don’t; I love you just the way you are and I need you probably now more than ever.”
“And you know I’ll always be there. When I got jealous, that was a moment of weakness and I’m going to try to work on it. I’m not going to fly off the handle again because this time I really don’t even have a right to; I can’t really be jealous of a dead guy, but I guess I can be jealous of the memories you had with him. You don’t have to worry about anything, Riles. I’m not going to do or say anything that’s going to make this any harder on you and I’m not going to try to ruin your memories with Josh.”
“Thanks, Babe. I’m still nervous though.”
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
“Shut up! I can’t help it. I have this weird feeling about tomorrow and I can’t explain it.”
“Riley, you are going to be fine!”
“I hope so.”
15 hours later, I sat in the courtroom with Jesse and Amanda waiting for the trial to begin. The lawyers came in followed by the defendant. When Matt walked across the floor to his seat, I studied him hard. His head was down and his face was even paler than normal. Could he really be a murderer? Everyone rose when the judge came in and the trial began.
“Ms. Howard, please call your first witness.”
“The state would like to call Riley Miller to the stand.”
Jesse squeezed my hand as I got up and walked over to the witness stand and put my hand on the Bible and gave my oath of honesty. As I sat down on the witness stand, I could feel all eyes in the room on me. I looked around the room and saw Jesse looking at me encouragingly. Josh’s parents were in the first row; his mother was crying, but she gave me a small smile to show that she appreciated that I was there. I looked to the other side and saw Matt’s family looking completely crestfallen, except for his brother who looked utterly threatening, which startled me temporarily.
“Miss Miller, can you please explain to the court your relationship with the victim?”
“Josh was my boyfriend for around 2 years and I loved him very much.”
“And what was Josh’s relationship with the defendant?”
“Matt was Josh’s best friend.”
“What were you and Josh doing on the night in question?”
“It was Christmas and he took me out to dinner. Then, we went to the beach and danced under a gazebo, but I got cold, so we went back to his house and sat by the fire and gave each other Christmas presents.”
“And what was it that Josh gave you?”
“OBJECTION. Your Honor, this has no relevance to the case,” demanded the other lawyer, Richard Crowl.
“Your Honor, that question proves the closeness between Miss Miller and Josh. It shows how important she was to him.”
“I’ll allow it.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.” She turned back toward me. “Now, I repeat, what was the gift that Josh gave you?”
“He gave me this locket that I’m wearing around my neck. It has pictures of us from our prom in it. He also gave me a shirt with a picture of us on the beach on it along with the lyrics to the song we always used to dance to. I gave him a baseball autographed by Derek Jeter, his favorite baseball player.”
“What happened after you exchanged gifts?”
“His family came in and his mother got mad that Josh had me in the house when no one else was home. I decided to leave, since I didn’t want Josh to get into any more trouble than he already was.” I had to pause and wipe some of the tears off my face.
“Miss Miller, I know this must be hard for you, but can you tell us exactly how it happened?”
I breathed slowly and tried to go on without choking up. “He said he wanted to walk me out to my car, so we went outside. My car was parked across the street from his house. When we got to my car door, we held hands and it started to snow, so we spun each other around and laughed in the middle of the street. When we stopped spinning, we saw bright headlights speeding toward us and showing no signs of slowing down. Josh quickly pushed me out of the way and I knocked into my car and passed out momentarily.” I paused again to regain my composure and then went on. “When I came to, Josh was on the ground covered in blood and the truck was gone. I rushed over him, held his head on my lap, and yelled for someone to call an ambulance. Then he told me again that he loved me and he wanted me to go on to live a happy life. He died in my arms.”
At that moment, almost every eye in that courtroom looked at me with sympathy instead of wonder. Now the whole world would know the nightmare I went through.
“Did you happen to see the driver of the truck that hit your boyfriend?
“I did not get a clear enough view because it was so dark. The only thing I remember is the black shadow of a man behind the wheel.”
“I have no more questions for this witness.”
“Does the defense have anything to add?” asked the judge.
“No, Your Honor,” responded Mr. Crowl.
“Ok then, Ms. Howard, your next witness, please.”
“The state calls Jonathan McDonald t the stand.”
I stepped down and walked back to my seat as Jon approached the witness stand and gave his oath.”
“Mr. McDonald, will you also state your relationship with the victim for the jury?”
“Josh was one of my best friends.
“And what was your relationship with the defendant?”
“He used to be one of my best friends too.”
“Used to be?”
“Yeah he’s not my best friend anymore.”
“Why is that?”
“He has changed. He’s a lot more volatile now and it seems to me like he drinks a lot more.”
“Objection, Your Honor. This witness has not been around my client enough lately to say how he’s been acting.”
“Sustained.”
“It’s my understanding, Mr. McDonald, that you hosted a party a few weeks before the death in which both the victim and the defendant attended. Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you have said before that you saw them fighting at the party and you and another boy had to break them up, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea what they could have been fighting about?”
“They were fighting about Riley, Josh’s girlfriend at the time and the girl that was just up here.”
“Why would they be fighting about Miss Miller?”
“Because Josh told me that he went over Matt’s house one day when he thought Matt was home. Matt’s mom let him in and let him go up to Matt’s room and wait there. While Josh was waiting, he decided to go on Matt’s computer, but he found a collage of pictures of Riley on the desktop, some of which were compromising and invasive and could have only been taken If someone had followed her. Josh ran out of the house when he saw these and came straight to my house a few hours before the party and told me all about the pictures. When the party started, he confronted Matt and Matt told him in front of everyone that he had been in love with Riley ever since he met her and that he was going to figure out a way to steal her away from Josh; he said he would do absolutely anything to gain control of her. Josh told him to stay away from Riley and so Matt punched him.”