Neighbors. A Sabriel Fic.

Chapter 4

I know nothing about court cases and the judicial system... so bear with me on this one....

Gabriel was called for jury duty. He sighed dramatically when he got the letter. Why would he want to sit in a room full of boring people talking dumb legal lingo for a few days over some problem between two people he didn't give a fuck about? Honestly he'd rather eat chalk, but because of his ignorance to file whatever forms were needed to not be called to duty, he had to do what every American was supposed to do sometime in their life. The only upside being that he still got paid for the days he'd be spending in the courtroom.

He had to be called to the court to be questioned before he was able to actually be part of the jury. Gabriel was questioned by a man who seemed to have some importance in the courtroom, although he never gave a proper introduction, he radiated of someone who was much higher ranked than Gabriel. He also happened to have a deep monotonous voice that made Gabriel want to rip his ears off.

"Here is a list of the firms, lawyers, defendants, plaintiffs, and other possible jurors. Do any of them seem familiar in a way that would cause you to be bias and unwilling to be fair in this trial?" Gabriel skimmed the paper, it was full of names he'd never heard of before. He'd never needed a lawyer in his adult years, of course none of them were familiar.

"No, I don't know any of these people, although Mary Smith seems a little sketchy."

The man looked at him questioningly, "How so?"

"Her name is so generic and uncreative. What else am I supposed to think?" That comment earned him a glare.

"Enough with your attempts at humor. If you are going to be in the jury then there will be no funny business!" The man snapped.

Gabriel put his hands up in defense, "Of course sir. I'll keep my comments to myself."

"This specific case is an attempted murder and if you are squeamish by any evidence that may be a bit disturbing, then I suggest you back out now and be brought back for a less, dare say, offensive case."

Gabriel shook his head. "That's perfectly fine. The more disturbing the better." The man narrowed his eyes.

"If you are not going to back out, then be there on Monday morning at 8:30, at the courthouse, and be prepared for the trial. Dress business casual. You will be juror number 6. You are free to go now."

Gabriel nodded, rose out of the chair and left as fast as possible.

The weekend blew by quickly, and the next thing he knew, Gabriel was waking up to the sound of his alarm going off at 5:30 in the morning. He groaned, slamming his hand along the nightstand until the alarm stopped beeping. He dragged himself out of bed and into the shower.

He pulled out an old suit from the back of his closet. It was a bit wrinkly and dusty but it worked well enough. Gabriel hadn't had to wear that particular suit since he was eighteen, and hadn't grown much since then. Quickly he dressed and pretty soon the bus dropped him off outside the courthouse.

Gabriel wandered inside and then was ushered into the sixth juror chair. He watched as the courtroom filled up and the judge walked in. The only problem being that the defendant's lawyer never showed up.

"You may all leave for today. We will continue tomorrow and hopefully Mr. Harbour will show up." The judge said. The same thing happened for the rest of the week. Gabriel would wake up at ungodly hours, get dressed up, and wait for a man who wouldn't show. The judge was tired of waiting, as was everyone else, the trial was going nowhere and the defendant was steadily becoming embarrassed. "You have 48 hours to find a new lawyer before your case is revoked." The judge stated getting up, "Until that time everyone may leave."