2022-01-03 - The McNeely Hearing

Speaking of emotional trauma, the usual DA on this case, Bower, is apparently "not available." But we all know what's happening here. Some people have the stomach to tell crying mothers they're ripping bodies out of the ground whether they like it or not, and some people just don't. Cassidy is one of the ones that does.

Outside the assigned courtroom, several minutes before the hearing is scheduled, is Cassidy Bennet. She is pacing back and forth reading the written briefing and motion. Last minute preparation. Though the weather is cold, she has discarded her huge pink marshmallow parka in favor of an appropriate layered trench coat that matches her heather grey pants suit. Wool pants drape elegantly over 4 inch nude heels helping give Cassidy her classic, imposing, 'bish I ain't playing!' image. Especially when it's time to throw down in front of a judge.

Sometimes people have to be horribly traumatized for justice. That's just how it is. Which is why Alexander is here. To what might be the surprise of most people who know him, the investigator is wearing a suit. More, it's a very nice suit, with black trousers and jacket tailored to his frame, and a crisply ironed shirt in deep burgundy. No tie, but his usually unruly hair has been brushed into something more court appropriate. He looks almost respectable.

Almost, because it looks like Alexander has been in a fight, recently. Bruises bloom across one side of his face, along with a few minor scrapes, and his knuckles are bandaged. Between that, the rather sinister-but-expensive attire, and Alexander's native unblinking stare, several people discreetly check the court docket to see if they missed an organized crime case today. He doesn't cause any trouble, though; he's just standing off to the side, staring at people in a way that seems designed to make them uncomfortable.

Kimberly is lingering near the door to the courtroom, dressed in her usual professional style. A pale lilac colored blouse with collar, along with a charcoal gray suit that's been tailored to her own slender frame. The look is complete with sensible, professional looking flats. She has a file folder tucked under one arm and her badge clipped to her belt. Her hair is neatly coifed, just to make sure she gives off the right vibes for appearing in court. Never fun, but she's done it enough to know (mostly) what to expect. Alexander gets quizzical look as she catches sight of Alexander's bruised up face as she settles down to wait next to him as she waits for things to get started.

"Rough night?" she asks in a low tone, so as not to disturb the courtroom. It's jocular, mostly. There's perhaps a little bit of real concern contained there, too.

Alexander jumps when Kimi addresses him, moving off to one side before turning to stare at her. "...hello. Yes. Sort of." He thinks about it a little more, then says, "Yes." He clears his throat, then looks down at her badge. Recognizing the town, his eyebrows go up. "Gray Harbor. Me, too. Uh. Alexander Clayton," he offers quietly. His name, not his hand. Both of those are playing nervous little taps across his knees.

It really should be someone with more authority- and sleep - than Shawn here to plead the case for the autopsy. But somehow it ended up on his lap and so here he is. A nice suit and shiny shoes are his clothing as well as a half Windsor knot tie. His felt hat is held respectful on his lap as he waits his turn to be called. A brown paper envelope sits next to him with his cramped writing explaining who it belongs to (Shawn) and to please return if found.

Carefully he covers a yawn with a hand. This is his bed time folks.

Kimi's smile gets a little broader at the introduction. "Oh, Mister Clayton. I'm Detective Makimura. We talked on the phone the other day." She glances towards the front of the room, her eyes taking in the court room for a long moment. "Don't like to put the family through more bullshit, but... I think the truth is important."

Alexander blinks, then recognition dawns. "Ah. Yes. I remember. Hello, Detective. And yes, the truth is important." He brightens, visibly, when he sees Shawn, offering the M.E. a quick wave. "Dr. Young. Have you met Detective Makimura? She was just assigned to the McNeely case. She is also new to the city." His eyes dart back and forth between the two of them, as if wondering if they already know each other, then darting away to find Cassidy, for a moment.

Though not the presiding officer on the case, Gray Harbour's police chief has nonetheless had his presence requested this afternoon. Certainly he'll not be required to give any testimony for a hearing such as this; but far be it from him to go against the rule of law.

De la Vega's opted to wear a suit today. Nothing terribly fancy; charcoal grey jacket and pants, a plain white shirt and dark blue tie. He's even combed his hair or something, and applied enough product to keep his dark, unruly curls mostly tamed. In short, the man looks presentable. Spotting Cassidy outside at the tail end of the smoke he was indulging in to calm his nerves, he grinds the thing out with his boot, and murmurs a Hola to her in passing. Then he continues on inside, and pokes his head into the courtroom.

"Oh good, you're here..." Cassidy floats in Shawn's direction while her eyes are on the paper covering the motion filing. Have they met?

'Rough night'? Who? The blonde looks up and sees Alexander. Her arms fall to her sides, gripping the paper. "What the fuck are you doing here Nancy Drew?" Her eyes roll and in their travels find Kimi. She blinks. Looks down at the badge. Up at the face. Then she looks to Ruiz with a cocked brow that asks 'who's this?' because normal people like Cassidy totally don't just - you know - introduce themselves and ask politely.

Shawn rises as one should for a lady and reaches out his hand to shake Kimi's as Alexander introduces them. "Nice to meet you miss."

Then he is literally flinching as Cassidy sails up. He may not know HER beyond reputation but she has a TYPE and that type is bad for assistant MEs who want to go to bed after working a night shift and having another one tonight. "Here to serve Miss."

It is either condescending or respectful. Women usually choose which they want it to be.

Kimi reaches out to shake Shawn's offered hand, all polite smiles. "Nice to meet you, doctor. Detective Kimberly Makimura. Just picked up the McNeely case, like Mister Clayton said." The Chief gets a nod and then there's Cassidy, who seems to be looking at her boss for an introduction. She decides to cut out the middleman and simply gives Cassidy a quick nod.

"Detective Kimberly Makimura. Chief has me on the McNeely case."

Alexander grimaces, one hand flexing tight, then relaxing. "My name is Alexander Clayton," he mutters, more at Cassidy's shoes than her face. "Not Nancy Drew. And it's a public hearing. I can be here if I want." It sounds less assertive, and more like a teenager who is about claim that she's not even his Real Mom. Which he does seem to recognize, because he clears his throat, and adds, "I don't intend to cause any disruption. I'm just interested in the case." His eyes flick to follow Ruiz as the Chief sticks his head into the courtroom.

Well, if de la Vega had a shred of social acumen, he'd probably have made introductions proactively, and the detective and ADA wouldn't be left standing there staring at one another awkwardly. But he doesn't, and they do. Until Kimi thinks to give her name. The Chief sinks into a seat next to her, clears his throat, and murmurs, "Ms. Bennet's the, uh, the assistant DA." Alexander and Shawn get something that sort of wants to be a smile, but can't quite manage it, and he plucks uncomfortably at his tie as he settles in.

"Ooh!" Cassidy coos when Shawn addresses her. "A gentleman!" She smiles a girly coy smile and touches his felt hat. "How dapper!"

Kimi gets a look after her name is provided. And a once over. Then a small pursing of the lips (think Glenn Close in DWP) before her attention is pulled to Alexander. "Okay Watson. At least make yourself useful." She holds up one of the papers "They're claiming religious grounds. I need you to find out if they're actually church people. I don't remember that at /all/ you literally have 10 minutes."

Once they get settled in the courtroom proper, a giant burly man enters from the judge's chambers. Huge man. He walks into the center of the courtroom. And sits behind the stenotype.

Then a small mousy woman follows behind. She is wearing a uniform and informs everyone to rise for the Honorable Judge Gavelwitz.

Shawn just looks very very uncomfortable under Cassidy's eye, especially that coy smile of hers. That looks like a crocodile smile. Y'know, where it's all 'I am totally your friend just come over here and I promise not to chomp you' and then abruptly chomping happens. Yes, he is scared of the ADA. Or all blond women. It's fine. "Ms. Bennet," he intones rather than something else.

Thankfully, he's saved from anything else as the judge enters. Still holding his hat in his hands the large man turns to face towards the front and reaches up to pat his thinning hair into the best way to hide the bald spot coming in between the grays in the back.

Kimi's expression stays still and rather bland, but there's a faint twitch of lips and brow when she doesn't even merit a 'nice to meet you' from the ADA. Lovely start to the new job. She settles herself down to wait, stands for the Judge and waits to see how this is all going to shake out.

"My name is Alexander..." aaaaaand she's gone. Alexander sighs. But he's been given an order, so he mutters, "Yes, ADA Bennet," pulls out his phone and lingers on the outside of the courtroom, intending to get some lightspeed research done, both over social media and a few phone calls to town gossips. It's not like anyone is going to want to put HIM on the stand, so he might as well make himself useful.

Aaaaaand back up, again. Javier rises for the judge, whom he's almost certainly met before, then retakes his seat. More fussing with his tie, and a flick of dark eyes Alexander's way as the PI wanders off with his cell phone. Kimi beside him is given a quirk of his mouth and a murmur of, "Don't take it personally. That's how she is."

Shawn sits when told to, he's a good boy, and picks up his brown envelope of stuff.

Yes, that is a slight sheen of sweat budding on his forehead in anticipation. There's a reason he went into dead-people medicine and not alive-people medicine. Hopefully Cassidy has enough skill to compensate for his nervousness.

Kimi shrugs at Ruiz, but decides to stick with being silent for now. No need to risk ticking off the judge. She waits, her eyes focused over on Cassidy. This ADA better be worth her salt...

Well, this isn't his rodeo, so the Chief keeps his mouth shut and his eyes on the judge. He'll let Cassidy do her thing; if she needs his help, she'll ask.

"Last time?" Cassidy looks to Ruiz with a deep frown. Aghast. Almost offended, even! "Your honor the GHPD has never request tha---"

"Don't play games with me, Ms. Bennet! You think I don't know my own docket? I read this brief already and I'm ruling for the family unless you have some /really/ compelling reason that I shouldn't!" The Judge snaps. He reaches for his namesake and begins to lift it, threatening to strike and dismiss the hearing.

Cassidy frantically looks around. Her mouth slightly moving trying to find words. Her blue eyes find Kimi and narrow. Then she snaps her head back to the judge, "Your Honor! The detective on the case was reassigned and is under internal investigation..." >.> "...the new detective, Kimi...Kimberley... Kim..." Cough "Detective Makimura has, uhh, compelling new evidence that suggests - uhm - we need to do this now, thank you!"

Oh good, a reprieve. Shawn retrieves a handkerchief from his suit pocket and dabs at the sweat on his forehead.

Why is it always so hot in these courtrooms?

The stare that Kimi was giving Cassidy turns from curiously piercing to downright angry for a brief moment. God, is she really being hung out to dry by this fucking district attorney? She gathers her paperwork and stands to move towards the front of the court room with a resigned little sigh. Time to blow this whole thing and not get their exhumation, she guesses! Maybe she can think of something compelling based on what she does know while she gets settled in the witness stand. Here goes nothing...

Just a beat cop, by choice, Dani is here too, if only to witness the hearing. For the moment she is hovering just inside and near the door in her full uniform. Most of the law enforcement faces she recognizes, but she doesn't single out anyone in particular to greet. With things getting started, she slips her attention to the bench, interested in the proceedings for her own reasons.

Officer Ruiz? The Chief squints up at Gavelwitz like the man's lost his mind, and briefly watches the cop beside him climb to her feet and go to take the stand. Cassidy's shot a dirty look in return, like, what the fuck are you playing at? And then he digs out his cell phone and composes a quick message.

(TXT to Alexander) Ruiz : please fucking tell me you've got something. My detective's about to get skewered up there.

Cassidy laughs uneasily. She then /stares/ at Javier with 'you better not have fucked me over' eyes.

She looks back to the judge and smiles prettily, teeth clenched. "Heh Heh...Yah...Heh.." She waits for Kimi to be sworn in and then asks. "So...um...detective. Can you please explain the new details you've uncovered?" She puts her hands behind her back and crosses her fingers.

(TXT to Ruiz) Alexander : Yes. Maybe.

Shawn squints up at the judge, running a hand through the hair on his head again and taps his brown folder against his knee.

In the quiet of the courtroom it's pretty audible.

(TXT to Ruiz) Alexander : Bennet said they were objecting on religious grounds. Mom's an atheist on her Friendbook profile, looks like they got a courthouse wedding. Numerous posts in opposition to st. obj. spam of screenshot links

(TXT to Alexander) Ruiz : well fuck me sideways.

(TXT to Alexander) Ruiz : What about the father?

(TXT to Ruiz) Alexander : No evidence of any religious leanings on either of them.

(TXT to Alexander) Ruiz : see if you can find anything on him. I'll let Bennet know. Hopefully Makimura can stall a little longer.

(TXT to Ruiz) Alexander : Will try.

Javier starts to shove his phone back into his pocket, and pauses as it pings again with a text. He frowns, and finishes tucking it away. Then settles back in his seat like he's going to do absolutely fuck-all about it.

Well, until Kimi feels the touch of something in her mind. And it's not subtle, either. Some people knock and wait for the door to be answered; he just sidles right on in like he belongs there. <<Don't fucking panic. It's de la Vega. Tell him the religious grounds are a crock of shit. I've got evidence for you, if you need it.>>

Speaking of evidence, Alexander slides back into the courtroom, slouching his way to a seat near Shawn, and settling in as quietly as possible. The Medical Examiner is given a quick, sidelong sort of smile, but his attention shifts back to the detective on the stand and, after a moment, a glance towards Ruiz, as well. Returning his attention to Shawn, he murmurs, "How's it going?"

There's a moment where Kimi stiffens on the stand, unused to the sudden intrusion of another mind into her own. Her eyes flicker over towards Ruiz for a moment and then she takes a deep breath. Stay calm. She places her folder in her lap. "Well, to start with we do believe that the previous irregularities with this particular case make it more urgent than ever that we have an autopsy performed on the deceased so that we can find the person or persons responsible for this crime." Kimberly pauses to gather her thoughts. "Additionally, we do have some evidence that the family's religious objection to the exhumation may not be genuine."

More dabbing of his forehead. "Poorly." He does whisper! Such a good courtroom agent as he speaks to Alexander.

"But... maybe better? Soon?"

There's no way Dani could missing the happenings away from the bench, just the tense looks, definitely not privy to the more glimmery things going on. It made for an interesting observation though as she watches the witness stiffen then continue with the testimony and relaying of information. She just observes with blatant curiosity.

Cassidy literally just stands there like she has no idea what is going on. She turns and starts furiously pawing through her case file. In doing so she sees Alexander is back. She turns to look to Kimi. Looks back to Alexander?????

Alexander pulls out his phone, and starts tap tap tapping. Shawn and Dani, if she's close enough, can see that he's sending screenshots of various social media and posts from the last few years to Cassidy's phone. And when Bennet turns back to look at him, he taps the phone - since he's pretty sure she would have it silenced in front of the judge.

The Chief remains silent throughout all of this. Eyes on Kimi, and then Cassidy in turn as he waits for the evidence to make it to the stand.

Kimi clears her throat a little and looks back towards Cassidy. "Yes, Your Honor. I believe it's in the custody of Miss Bennett."

Shawn is without shame and leans his head over to try to get a look at what Alexander is typing on his phone. Shame is for those who are not curious.

Quietly, Officer Goodman slides into the nearest seat, watching from the back of the room. Court proceedings were interesting to watch! Especially with the current set of players. Dani's eyes linger on the Captain for a moment before moving along to the bench.

Cassidy is looking at Alexander with a /look/. She pets her pockets like her phone isn't on her. /duh/

Then Kimi says she has the evidence and the ADA doesn't know what the hell is going on. The blond stammers and tries to smile as she not so sneakily takes steps toward the gallery's bar trying to hide that she's making a grabby hand behind her back at Alexander or Ruiz - whoever is closest.

"Y-yess! I..uhm...if it pleases the court, I'll...uhh..."

"I don't think she has her phone." Shawn, being helpful in a nice whisper.

Alexander tilts his phone so that Shawn can get a look in. He does give a curious glance towards the McNeelys at the vehemence of their reaction. His brow furrows, thoughtfully. "Odd play," he murmurs. "I'd think that they wouldn't lodge an objection so easily--" and then Cassidy is making grabby hands, so he leans forward and offers his phone to her. Luckily, it is helpfully already cued to the screenshots.

"I hope you don't have ya'know, bad kinds of picture on that." Shawn, kipping pose order again for a quiet quip.

Cassidy takes the phone and isn't sure what is happening here. She glances at it and walks it slowly over to Kimi and places it in front of her. "Please tell the court what /you/ found, Detective."

Special Agent Castillo enters the courtroom without much fanfare, lingering at the back of the room for a moment before having a seat, ensuring the sounds of her footsteps are as unobtrusive as possible. She procures a notepad from her coat, puts one leg over the other and silently observes the court proceedings.

With Alexander handing off his phone, de la Vega merely settles in to watch. While silently wishing they could finish this shit up already so he can get out of his ridiculous getup.

Alexander has to choke on a sudden fit of laughter at Shawn's quiet words. "No. I'm not--that would be unsecure, to say the least," he mutters, but his eyes are gleaming. He glances over at the praying McNeely woman, and his brow furrows. "...I suspect she could not even address the substance of Matthew 6:5, much less quote it." Then there's a flare, briefly, of anger in his eyes at Cassidy's words. He glares at the back of the ADA's head, and Shawn can possibly even hear his teeth grind. But he doesn't say anything.

"I have a UFO on my own." Shawn says, he's starting to get more comfortable the longer that he sits here and NOT on the stand.

"Of course, Miss Bennett." She looks down at the phone for a moment and glances through it for just a moment. "Mrs. McNeely has her religion listed as 'atheist' on social media, if you'll indulge me, Your Honor," she says and holds the phone up so that the judge can see the screenshots for a moment. "Additionally, if you check the public records you'll find that they were not in fact married at Saint Andrews, but here at the courthouse."

Cassidy is vibrating somewhere between 'what the hell just happened?' and 'wait, I'm winning now?!' She looks to Shawn.

Shawn's adams apple goes UP and then DOWN in a very visible manner, and he grows even more shiny with sweat. Right. This is fine. All is fine. He stands and fumbles his brown envelope slights before he moves forward to the witness stand and starts pulling out his papers.

"Your honor, I have some new details that bring up some interesting questions regarding the request to exhume the body."

And alas, this is where they can all die of boredom as Shawn shows exactly why he works with dead people. He uses a lot of medical words that the player couldn't possibly know but are in character for him to say basically,

"The decomposition of the body in the report does not match the length of time it was supposedly buried for and something weird is going on here so we should dig the body back up and look again."

The sweat stains are visible under his arms when he finally finishes.

If Kimi happens to glance the Chief's way, he'll give her a little nod and a flicker of a smile in encouragement. And then his eyes, too, are on Shawn as the ME makes his way to the stand.

Kimi hurriedly vacates the witness stand and retreats to her place in the gallery next to Ruiz. Or at least she does as quickly as is appropriate for being in court. As she passes Shawn she gives him a sympathetic glance, then finally slides into safety. Few. Please let that never happen again.

"Goddamn it, that's my fucking phone," Alexander can't help but mutter under his breath as it disappears into Evidence Land. Then he sighs. When Shawn is called, there's a reassuring (or meant to be) look in the ME's direction. "You got this," he says, and tries to sound really confident about it. He turns his attention to Kimi, and tries to murmur a, "Good job," back to her.

And then...well, look at that. He grins, bright and sudden. "That was very exciting," says the guy who didn't have to take the stand.

The gavel hits jolt Cassidy out of stupefaction. She composes herself and brushes down her jacket. Then she hustles over to the bar to speak to Javier. "What the fuck was that, Javier?! You already testified on this matter? Why didn't anyone tell me? It's not in the file." Her fingers begin to slowly curl inward making little fists of her petite hands.

"Sorry about that," mutters de la Vega in askance, as Kimi retakes her seat beside him. "But I needed to get your attention." He keeps his gaze on Shawn as the ME finishes giving his testimony; and then an actual grin, if a wolfish one, cuts across his lips when the judge rules in favour of them. "Buen puto trabajo," he tells the detective.

Then he starts to pull to his feet as Cassidy approaches, in order to take her aside and speak quietly. "I had the same fucking question for you. I've never testified on this case."

BUCKETS. BUCKETS OF SWEAT. People might want to pinch their noses as Shawn removes himself from the stand and goes back towards the lawkeepers looking a little bit like he might throw up.

"Is that what you needed?" Yes? Right? SOMEONE REASSURE HIM.

Alexander sidles along behind Shawn; he's tall, so it's easier to hide behind him than it might be for some others. "You did well," he tells the ME, with a smile. "And I'd like to see the UFO. Since I don't have a phone, now. Apparently." A glare at Cassidy. "I want that back, you know." A sniff, before adding, "But now we can do an autopsy on Addison. I don't understand why they're opposing it." His brow furrows.

When Ruiz accuses her back, Cassidy almost reaches for him with fully formed claw. She catches herself and un-claws her hand and slowly lowers it down. But still. Those eyes...

The ADA huffs her irritation away and looks to Kimi. "Good job. Welcome to the team." Then she's stalking off. A brief smile for Shawn as she goes. As if that tall, sweaty, doctor man was the only genuine thing in this place. She leaves. Probably to go chain smoke menthols and drink a loooot of red wine.

Kimi exhales and leans forward to rest her face in her hands for a moment. It's a fucking warrant hearing, it doesn't need to be this stressful and yet. At Ruiz's words, she mutters back "Callate, Jefe. Estupida abogada." She gets to her feet to join the crowd of various official folks. As Cassidy gives her a perfunctory 'good job' she does her best to smile. "Thanks," she says but Cassidy is gone almost as quickly as she arrived. She looks around at the others.

"At least we got our warrant."

"That woman is scary." Shawn says as he mops at his brow a little more. THANK YOU Alexander for the reassurance.

THEN HE IS ASKING FOR THE UFO. Yes, Shawn is getting out his phone and starts flipping through it. It gets held up with glee. There's a small smudge up near a blurry powerline. SEE?! A UFO. "People get upset when you cut up their family members." Shawn, expert in this.

Alexander's eyes follow Cassidy. "...she didn't say anything about getting my phone back. And I did that research," he mutters, shoulders drooping. Still, Kimi is right - they did get the warrant. So he runs one hand through his hair, completely disheveling it with the erratic motion, and says, "Wanna get a beer? I hate courtrooms." But he likes UFOs! He leans in when Shawn pulls out his phone, eyes bright with interest. "Oh, neat. They're attracted to power grids, some people claim. Use the electrostatic impulses to navigate. Did you lose any time, or have any electronics fail?"

De la Vega's more than accustomed to the lip he gets from the ADA, and doesn't back off one inch when she gets that look in her eye. Just that little twitch of his upper lip, like he half considered baring his teeth at her for a moment there.

Then she's gone, and he heads over to Alexander and Shawn for a moment. And thinks about offering his hand to the PI, but then doesn't. Because Javier. "Thanks for that," he tells him quietly. The ME gets a once-over, but no introduction.

"Yes," Shawn says, RELIEF in his voice. "Usually the lead ME would do this kind of thing, but...." Shawn shakes his head and pushes himself to his feet while keeping the phone tilted towards Alexander.

But he doesn't leave just yet and glances at the judge's desk. "Has... the judge been evaluated lately? For... age related mental decay?" Just wondering.

With the pounding of the gavel, the excitement is over and it's only then that Dani gets to her feet only to linger at the back of the court room for a few moments longer before turning towards the exit.