After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 34

December 17, 1992. 3:29 PM.

Jack Merridew's grades may not have currently reflected an impressive level of intelligence, but that didn't mean that Jack wasn't smart. As a matter of fact, Jack was smart enough to know that Dana Barnes was getting strategically and dangerously close to her current short term goal; proving that Captain Benson was murdered in cold blood.

It wasn't Officer Bailey's presence in the courtroom that made Jack nervous in and of itself. It was what his presence meant, the focus of his testimony. Surely, not all the other boys could yet see what this shift from Benson to the RAF program meant, but Jack certainly did. Dana Barnes was gearing up for the most important shift of all; the shift from the circumstances to the boys themselves.

But naturally, watching Dana Barnes take her seat at the prosecution's table as defense attorney Jeremy Reynolds took his turn with the witness did help to lower Jack's heart rate a little.

"Officer Bailey" Reynolds began as he paced subtly in front of the witness stand, "how many years prior to September of 1990 was this international training program running at Bainbridge Military Academy?"

"Our first year running it was 1979, so about eleven years at the time" Officer Bailey proudly informed the court.

"And you mentioned to my opposing counsel that you and your team in charge of this program hadn't ever sent any staff in addition to the pilot out onto the plane with the cadets in those eleven years prior to 1990, correct?" Reynolds recalled.

"That is correct" he confirmed.

"Has the program stayed up and running since the tragedy that occurred on September 6th 1990?" the defense attorney questioned.

"It has" Officer Bailey confirmed, "with the exception of the spring of 1991 term, the semester that followed the incident in September of 1990. We decided it was best to cancel that trip until we concluded our own investigation into the incident, and to give our community time to heal."

"That's understandable. Have you and your team made any changes to the way you staff these international trips, specifically during the commute?"

"Yes, we have" Bailey confirmed.

"Could you elaborate on that, please?"

"We reviewed the standards and policies regarding trips of this magnitude and now require two or more staff members, including the assigned pilot, to be present for the entire duration of the commute" Officer Bailey explained.

"How come?" Reynolds asked abruptly.

"I beg your pardon?" Bailey asked in confusion.

"How come you made that change to your staffing requirements? What drove you and your team to make that decision?" Reynolds prompted.

"To take extra precautions after what happened in September of 1990. We felt it was necessary to do whatever we could to prevent something like this from happening again, and having more trained staff on board is just one additional safety measure we can use to do that."

"Did the state of Georgia's policy change in regards to staffing ratios for trips like these?" Reynolds asked.

"No" Officer Bailey answered simply.

"So again, what really drove you to change your own school's policy if understaffing was never an issue prior to this tragic event?"

"Objection!" Barnes stood to interject. "Asked and answered."

"Sustained. Move on, Councillor" Judge Eldeson chimed in to agree with Barnes.

"Yes, Your Honor" Reynolds complied, turning his attention back to the witness. "Officer Bailey, is pilot error something your team considered in making changes to your policy regarding these trips?"