CH 15

This meal was satisfying.

Brooklyn was excited by his intense encounter with Stone, feeling like he was dancing on the edge of a knife. It was a feeling that made him tremble to his core and left him spellbound.

By the time Stone left, the sun was setting, and Hoover Avenue had become congested. Brooklyn hummed a tune as he drove slowly through the traffic. He turned on the car radio and listened to the news.

The news of his meeting with Ston at the restaurant had already made headlines, and the radio host was discussing it with two experts.

The endless speculation about conspiracy theories amazed Brooklyn, and he listened to it with relish.

When he arrived home, it was already dark. He ate two slices of pizza and opened his computer, where he found a photo of the NYPD commissioner's press conference on the homepage.

Brooklyn's mood improved, and in the afternoon, he watched as the NYPD commissioner responded to his accusations in court at a press conference.

He expressed his deep concern over the matter, announcing that he had dismissed all members of the second and third squads of the Violent Crimes Unit and had handed them over to Internal Affairs for investigation.

He assured the media present that the NYPD would never support or cover up corrupt officers, and that once Internal Affairs had confirmed the investigation, they would take serious action against all those involved.

He also called out to the media that he admired Brooklyn Lee, believing him to be an honest and fair judge, and that the NYPD would work with the district attorney's office to reopen the case. They would not falsely accuse an honest person.

Finally, he warmly invited Brooklyn to have a friendly exchange with him.

Looking at the news release, Brooklyn grinned.

"David."

He called David.

"Are you okay?"

David only said a word that started with 'F' before hanging up the phone bluntly.

Brooklyn dialed again, unable to contain his excitement.

"You better have a good reason for calling," David warned with a harsh tone.

"Of course, Officer David, I do have a good reason," Brooklyn replied.

"I'm going to call the police. You're threatening me," Brooklyn joked lightly.

To his surprise, this joke had a better effect than he had anticipated, and he felt more relaxed.

What better way to clear his name than through an official investigation?

"There's going to be a lot of talking with our chief," David whispered into the phone.

"Tell him that I'll come visit him once everything is settled," Brooklyn replied.

"In the future, you can assign me to any internal NYPD court case," Brooklyn added.

David was silent for a moment before his voice came through the phone, sounding a bit low.

"I'll make sure of it."

Brooklyn paused for a moment before asking, "Do you remember that day in the interrogation room?"

David's mood was still low, "Yes."

"If I really were the killer, what would you do?" Brooklyn asked.

There was a long silence on the phone.

Brooklyn understood.

David was a person with a strong sense of justice.

His dilemma was between his duty and justice, and his loyalty to his fellow officers.

Maybe he had even breathed a sigh of relief when Brooklyn denied being the killer that day.

And today, his mood was probably low because he could sense something beyond those words.

"I'm just a judge, David. It's my duty to make sure the guilty are punished," Brooklyn reassured him.

After a moment of silence, David asked, "Do I need to contact Ray?"

"We still need to testify in court, don't we?" Brooklyn replied without hesitation. "Our rhythm won't change."

Having David and Ray as character witnesses was something Brooklyn had planned from the beginning. One of the reasons he called David yesterday was to confirm his reliability and have him contact Ray.

Brooklyn was looking forward to meeting his good friend Ray, who he heard had done well in the military.

"Okay, Ray is currently submitting an application, and it may take a few days before he can come back."

"I have a lot of work to do here, so I won't tell you about it."

"Okay, goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Brooklyn closed his eyes and lay on the couch, deducing the development of the situation. After confirming that he had not missed anything, he got up and walked into the bathroom.

...

...

On the fifth day of the trial, in the E.D.N.Y. Courtroom 10, the trial continued.

The plaintiff's seats were still occupied by two people, but they had switched positions. Ben Stone sat in the main seat, and Coulson sat in the assistant seat.

Other than that, there didn't seem to be much change.

However, to those who were in the know, everything on the scene had undergone tremendous changes.

Judge Anna's attitude towards Brooklyn had improved quite a bit.

The prosecution's speech was more rational.

The trial returned to its normal course and became the familiar trial that everyone knew.

Both sides were still at loggerheads, but there was much less gunpowder in the air, and more rational discussions of the details of the case.

That's the way trials are, if both sides can put aside their distractions and engage in rational discussions about the case, trials all over the world will become as smooth as silk, and the work of judges will be reduced by two-thirds.

Unfortunately, almost all participants in trials are influenced by various factors, are swayed by emotions, and are tempted by money...

Once the trial returns to rationality, it can actually become very boring.

…

…

Brooklyn stood up again and made a dry statement regarding exhibit 7 before sitting down. It had been 14 days since the start of the trial.

At this point in the trial, Brooklyn had mostly cleared his name.

The media had stopped paying much attention to the trial four days ago.

Now, the NYPD's spokesperson was their new favorite.

The investigation into the two groups involved in the murder of An has almost come to an end, and the reporters were keeping a close eye on them.

"The defense requests to call witness David Portman," Brooklyn said as he stood up.

There was an issue on Ray's end. Originally, he was supposed to arrive within a week, but the delay had continued until they had lost contact altogether.

The seventh item of evidence is the last piece of evidence, and for the time being, he can only apply to call David as a witness to delay the trial.

Yesterday, he had already requested the court to list David as a witness and made it public to the prosecution.

David was brought to the witness stand, swore on the Bible, and under Brooklyn's questioning, recounted his knowledge of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn himself found this part of the testimony fascinating.

His awakening memories were only in parts of New York, and his memories of his past were always vague. This may be because he had not yet been to the place where he lived as a child, and that part of his memory had not yet awakened.

According to David, Brooklyn's parents died in a car accident, and he was sent to an orphanage at a young age.

Brooklyn was timid, cowardly, and introverted by nature. He was at the bottom of the orphanage, and anyone could bully him.

Brooklyn's life in the orphanage was not happy, and he was able to survive not because of his own efforts, but because David and Ray shared their food with him.

Later, David and Ray escaped from the orphanage and joined a gang, and Brooklyn's life improved a bit.

David and Ray became a policeman and enlisted in the military, respectively, which was also Brooklyn's idea.

The three of them were like three stray dogs, sticking together, helping each other, and stumbling along to this day.

According to David's account, the fact that the three of them were able to grow up from orphanage children to where they are now was nothing short of a miracle, a real-life version of the American Dream.

After David finished speaking, there was even a never-ending round of applause in the courtroom.