Page 48 of Raymond's Forever

Raymond turned off his truck,unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to look at Amelia sitting in his passenger seat. He reached over and put his hand over hers that she had clasped so tightly in her lap that the knuckles were white.

“It will be okay, I promise. This is a long time coming.” They had just parked in the lot for the courthouse in Denver. The district court had determined that Perkins and Ervin wouldn’t get a fair trial in Colorado Springs, so they had moved the trial to Denver. Raymond leaned over, kissed her cheek, then got out of the truck to come around and help her from her side. He was dressed in his best lawyer suit, and Amelia had worn a skirt, and a jacket with a crisp blouse.

Once they were on the sidewalk, they didn’t touch, or hold hands, but she turned to him and cocked her head to the side. “Tell me again why this defamation of character case is coming before Perkins’ trial for his crimes on others, or for Ervin’s charges?”

“It’s to establish a basis of their deceit. If they are willing to talk openly about your alleged incompetence, then they would tell lies about anything. With that established, then we can move on with the other charges against them.” They paused as theyheard a horn toot, and turned to watch as Jason and Ilsa pulled into the lot and parked, and Shay was right behind them.

Raymond looked at her when she frowned. “Shay will testify to what he was told directly about you from Perkins. Then he’s going to testify that Perkins didn’t even examine him, and told him that he would operate on the wrong knee. We got this.”

“Thank you,” Amelia said, and as much as she wanted to hug him and get a kiss, but she would wait. In her mind, she pictured what she would do to him when they got home. She kept her expression blank as they greeted the new arrivals and, they were all silent as they entered the courthouse, went through the metal detector, and were directed toward the correct court room.

When they entered, the three lawyers walked forward and told Amelia where to sit at the table. Shay took a seat behind them. They looked up when others entered, and Amelia didn’t know if she was happy with the people that entered and joined Shay. Raymond read her face, leaned down, and whispered, “Witnesses. Caleb knew of Shay’s injury the day it happened.”

“Ah, I understand now.”

“I don’t know if we’ll use him today, but we will definitely have him as a witness in the malpractice case.”

“Okay, I trust you.”

He gave her a look, then when the door opened again, his expression turned to stone, and Amelia looked at the empty bench ahead of them. Fifteen minutes later, they had all stood, and settled down, and the judge called out what the case was about, and he frowned at Amelia’s table.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never seen any of you in my court before. Please introduce yourself.”

“Raymond Morris, lead attorney for Dr. Amelia Johnson.” Everyone saw that the judge was taking notes.

“You have the right to practice law in Colorado?”

Instead of answering, Raymond picked up his license and brought it to the judge. After he nodded, he went back and sat back down.

“Your Honor, I’m Jason Black, I’m serving as second chair in this case.”

“Do you have proof of your license?”

Jason nodded and took his certificate to the judge.

“You’re a federal prosecutor?”

“Yes, Sir.”

That statement caused the lawyers at the other table to sit up and pay attention.

“And you?”

“Ilsa Miller, third chair.” She took her papers to the judge, and after he took more notes, he nodded.

“Proceed.”

“Your Honor, we’re here today for a defamation of character suit to prove that Dr. Reuben Perkins is telling lies against a former colleague. We are here to prove that they are false, and will prove the damage his lies have done to my client’s reputation. Then we will be asking for compensation.”

The judge nodded and then one of the other lawyers stood and said that his client was innocent of the charges of defamation because everything that his client said was true.

The trial started, and if Amelia thought it was a slam dunk case, she was disappointed in the first thirty minutes, because whomever was called to the stand, Raymond questioned them, then the other side would try to prove that the witness was lying until Raymond did a rebuttal and had documented proof of what Perkins told patients.

Raymond’s list of witnesses were nurses, other doctors, and former patients of Amelia’s from the clinic.

They went back and forth for that day, and for the next four days. On the fifth, Raymond finally called Shay to the stand.

“Mr. Hall, could you please tell the court what you did at your previous job before you started your current one?”