((My first attempt at a PW fanfiction with a new central character and fan favorites. Let me know what you all think. I take constructive critisism well ))


Young Turnabout


Friday May 29th. District Courthouse. Defendant Lobby #1


Damn…I’m so nervous. I can’t stop my hands from shaking.

My thoughts are all cluttered in my head as I sit on the bench outside of the courtroom. If you must know who I am, I’m Matthew Young. I’m a defense attorney. I’m a junior partner at the Skye and Co. Law Offices. I look up to my boss a lot. She used to be a prosecutor but had a change of heart for some reason.
I run my hands through my dark hair as I try to clear my head. It wasn’t that it was my first case, it was that the case was thrust upon me at the last minute…that added on with the fact that it IS my first case. It’s a wonder I was able to breath at the moment.

“Young!!” her voice filled the empty lobby like a military instructor yelling at their squad. I jumped up as quick as I could. My body found itself at a strict military attention before I could stop myself.

She stepped in front of me and gave me the once over like I was having an inspection or something. I’ve been around her at the office in a Not-so formal occasion, but in the courtroom she was way different. She talked to me many times that in the courtroom, at least for the defense, it was a battle. Usually an uphill one. I guess that is why she always came to court with what looked like a military uniform on. I never really asked her if she was in the military or if she used it to scare witnesses when she was a prosecutor.

After her mini- inspection, she looked up at me and smiled. “Good morning. It’s good to see that you made it here on time.” Her smile really did make her face glow, but I wasn’t going to say anything when she was in this kind of mind frame.

“I… I’ve been here since 7.” I muttered as I felt myself relax a bit. My outfit wasn’t to stuffy like a suit or anything. A white shirt with a red tie, a black vest over it and black slacks. Comfortable but dressy. Although since it had been a bit warm in the lobby, my sleeves were rolled up.
“That is a bit to early Young. Nerves?” Lana asked me.
“I think so. I don’t know if I am ready for this.”
“You’ve watched me in court many times, it’s not like you don’t know what you are doing. Plus I’ll be right there beside you to make sure you don’t mess up.” Lana said as she grabbed my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “I do like the outfit with the sleeves up. Makes you look like you are ready for a fight.”
“Thank you for the confidence boss.”
“Although I am a bit surprised Young. I didn’t think you would actually take this case. Taking on a murder trial as your first, it’s rather brave…”Lana started.

“Or very stupid.” Another voice filled the room.

Oh great. Little miss I’m better then you is here.

A young blonde woman in handcuffs was shown into the room. She must have caught the end of our conversation. I had only met her once at the detention center with Lana.

“Good morning Ms. Andrews. How are you today?” Lana greeted her.
“I’m well thank you Ms. Skye. And hello there Mr. …erm…what was your name again?” She directed at me.
“Young. Matthew Young. I’ll be defending you in there today.”
Ms. Andrews turned to Lana. “Are you sure about this Ms. Skye. Letting someone who just passed the BAR Exam defend me in there?”
“Absolutely. He learned from me after all. How bad can it be?” Lana said with a slight quirk on her lips.
Why do I feel like gum under a shoe right now?

The bailiff walked into the lobby. “The defense needs to take their places in the courtroom.
“Well here we go. Don’t mess up to badly Young.” Lana smiled at me as I led the way into the courtroom.
Oh yeah. Comments like that doesn’t make me feel any better boss. Thanks.


Friday May 29th 9:05 AM. District Courthouse. Courtroom #1

For some reason the courtroom seems bigger when you know you are going to be the one speaking. I took my place behind the bench, Lana stood next to me as my co council. Ms. Andrews took her spot next to the bench as well. I stared across the courtroom to who the prosecutor was. It was a balding older gentleman, with large thick framed glasses. I didn’t know who he was, although I did hear Lana mutter something. I did catch a name though. Winston Payne. Sounds like this guy isn’t going to go easy on me.
The bailiff yelled for everyone to rise and we all did as the judge entered the room. He slammed his gavel three times and spoke.
“This court is now in session. The case against Ms. Adrian Andrews will now commence. Is the prosecution ready Mr. Payne?” The Judge turned to the prosecution.
The skinny prosecutor shrugged slightly and placed the tips of his fingers against his forehead like he was in thought. “I’m always ready to make minced meat out of new defense attorneys.” He said with a smirk.
It felt like a kick in the ribs. I knew that I was sweating a bit more now that he mentioned that I had never done this before.
“Young!” Lana snapped at me. “Stand up to him, or you are going to loose this one before it has even began.”
I nodded at her. “R…right boss.” I turned back towards the scrawny man and I sucked in a deep breath. Come on Young. You’ve seen Lana do this, you can as well.

“Hold it!” I yelled. My fists found their way to the bench before I could stop them. The desk slam was louder then I had anticipated. “How many cases…” I stopped to point at the man. “Have you won recently?”
The man seemed to flinch slightly at my pointing and comeback. “Ouch. Very good Mr. Young. You must have studied up on me. It is true I haven’t had a case in a while.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and put on the smuggest smile I could. That ought have put the odds back in our favor a bit.
Lana tapped my shoulder slightly. “Look at the Judge, Young. I don’t think he is very happy.”

The Judge looked very stern. “Mr. Payne. Mr. Young. I do not want needless bickering in my courtroom. Understood!” He yelled.
Mr. Payne was sweating at this point. “Y…yes your honor.”
I didn’t realize I was as well. “Yes sir.”
The Judge turned back to Mr. Payne. “Mr. Payne would you please get the trial underway and give us your opening statement.
Payne went back to being as smug as ever. “Yes, your honor. On May 26th, the defendant in the case committed the worst act a human can do. Murder.”
“What was the murder weapon?” I asked.
“The murder weapon was this knife.” He pulled a knife from his side of the room and placed it on the evidence table. “It was covered in the defendants fingerprints.” Payne continued without even glancing in my direction.
I felt like I was going to be sick. My clients prints were on the murder weapon. This isn’t going to be an easy one.
“What was the cause of death?” I blurted out without thinking really.
Payne just shook his head at me. “Mr. Young. Have you even ready the autopsy report?”
I involuntarily reached up and ran a hand through my hair. “I…er…”
“Young!” Lana snapped at me, pulling my eyes from Payne’s stare. “Do you mean to tell me you are defending a client and you haven’t even read the autopsy report yet.”
“I…I was meaning to…eventually.” I stammered.
“Here it is.” Lana said as she slid me the report. “Look over it quickly, before you make another fool out of yourself.” She gripped her temples between her thumb and pointer finger. “Now I know what Mia used to go through. I should have brought some aspirin.” she muttered.
I flipped through the pages of the report until I came to the info I needed. Cause of death, stab wound through the sternum. Wait a minute.

“Objection!!” I yelled.

All eyes in the courtroom turned towards me. “How can a petite girl like Ms. Andrews, stab a man through the sternum with that knife.” I pointed at the prosecutor again. “You can’t give me an answer can you Mr. Payne.”
“Uhm…Young. We aren’t here because they think she did it. We’re here because they have proof.”
Again I felt like I had be kicked in the stomach. “Oh…right.”

Payne chuckled quietly to himself. “Do you think I would come to court without witnesses or more evidence Mr. Young. I guess my initial thoughts of you were to high.”
The Judge lit up slightly. “Wait…witnesses. Are you saying someone witnessed this.”
“Yes your honor. But the first testimony we will here is from the Detective in charge of the scene. I call Detective Gumshoe to the stand please.” Payne started.
A large man in a tattered trench coat walked through the aisle and walked behind the witness stand. After he was sworn in, Payne took the initiative.
“Name and occupation please.” he asked.
“I’m Detective Dick Gumshoe. I’m a detective from the Homicide Department.” the detective replied.
Oh great. Someone with the name of how I feel right now. Isn’t that weird.
“Detective Gumshoe. In your own words, can you describe the details of this case.” Payne asked.
“I can do that for you, pal.” Gumshoe replied.

“Young.” Lana said. “Listen to what he says carefully. If you hear anything out of the ordinary, question him on it. That is what you have to do, find the lies.”
“Lie. He’s going to lie.” I said a bit shocked. “Isn’t he a cop.”
“Well he may not lie exactly, he may just forget a few details, so keep your ears open. And all else fails, ask him about everything, you never know when he will slip up.”
“Ok.” I said with a nod. Hard to think that a cop would lie on the witness stand, but I guess I don’t have any choice now do I.

Witness Testimony : The Scene of the Crime

Gumshoe took in a breath and started into his testimony. “The murder took place on the 3rd floor of the Regal Hotel. In room 3b.”
Well I guess I should ask about everything and see what happens.
“The Regal Hotel, sounds kinda fancy?”
“It is pal. I couldn’t afford to park there much less stay.” Gumshoe said with a frown.
Something tells me you can’t afford much, Detective.
“The defendant was the only person seen leaving the room at the time of the murder.” the Detective stated.
“Leaving at the time of the murder, wouldn’t that mean she wasn’t there when it happened?”
“You’re getting ahead of me pal. Just listen to the rest.” Gumshoe replied.
Interesting, me getting hushed like that. I guess this questions stuff works.
“An eyewitness stated that they saw here leave the room shortly after the murder.” Gumshoe added.
“Wait…an eyewitness?”
“Yes. Didn’t Prosecutor Payne tell you that already?” replied the Detective.
“Er…yeah.”
“Well there you go.” retorted Gumshoe.
“I see.”
“With that witness and the pieces of evidence we found, we arrested the defendant shortly after.” Gumshoe said.
“What evidence?”
“The knife that was sticking out of the victim’s chest…and other things.”
It felt like the light bulb had clicked on. Other things. What other things?
“These other things, do you mean more evidence?”
“Yes I do pal.” Gumshoe stated.
I stood there a moment and thought. Where is this other evidence then? Wait…that’s it.

“Objection!!” I yelled. I slammed my fists down on the bench to put emphasis on the point I was about to make. “Detective Gumshoe.”
“Yeah pal.” he replied.
“Are you stating for the record that you had found more evidence then just the knife?”
“Yep.”
I pointed at the detective. “Then how come none of these extra pieces of evidence are in the court record.”
Gumshoe looked glum for the moment, almost like I had struck a nerve.
I guess that is what Lana meant when she said to press issues and see what happens.
The Judge looked at Detective Gumshoe. “Detective, are you telling me that you concealed the evidence.”
Gumshoe shook his head. “No sir. Prosecutor Payne told me they were not important.”
Payne looked like he had been punched in the belly.
“Mr. Payne. Why did you withhold this evidence?” The Judge asked.
“I didn’t think it was important at the time your honor.”

“Objection!” I yelled. “The defense requests that this evidence be added to the Court Record for further examination.
“Granted Mr. Young. Detective Gumshoe, what were these other items?” The Judge asked.
“A cell phone, a letter and an ID card.” Gumshoe replied.
“Mr. Payne are these items in the courtroom today?” The Judge asked.
Payne was laughing on his side of the courtroom. He pulled out the three items and placed them on the evidence table. “I couldn’t have lead you into my trap any better Mr. Young. Unless of course I had a runway.”
I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me. He was waiting for me to ask for that evidence.
“Wow he hasn’t lost his touch.” Lana exclaimed.
“What?”
“They used to call him the rookie killer, guess he still knows his tricks.” Lana replied.
Rookie killer huh? Well I’m not going to let this little shrimp get the better of me.
I walked up to the evidence table and looked through the new evidence.
“The letter of intent shows that the defendant wanted the victim dead.” Payne added.
I looked at the so called “Letter of Intent.” The handwriting was a bit odd. It was definitely not a woman’s handwriting.
“Mr. Young!” Ms. Andrews shouted and threw something at me. She hit me on the head with a paper ball. What the hell? I opened the paper ball and there was a small note inside. He handwriting was long and curvaceous, just like her…I shook my head. Get your mind out of the gutter Young. Now isn’t the time. I compared it to the other letter.
“Did you find anything new Mr. Young?” The Judge asked.
“I doubt it, the evidence all points to his client.” Payne said with that smug look on his face.

“Objection!!” I shouted. “I do find something a bit odd.”
“And what is that Mr. Young?” The Judge asked.
“It’s this so called “Letter of Intent.” I find something very strange with it.”
“What about it Mr. Young?” Payne asked.
“Well…the handwriting style is different.”
“What do you mean Young?” The Judge asked.
“Yeah. What are you trying to get at Young.” Payne added.
“It’s quite simple really. The “Letter of Intent.” I said with quotation fingers. “and this letter that I just received from my client are different. There can be only one possible solution to this.”
“And what is that Mr. Young.” The Judge asked.
“The handwriting is different which means this “Letter of Intent.” Was not written by the defendant at all…” I said while pointing across the room at Mr. Payne.
The Judge’s eyes lit up. “You’re right, the writing is different.”


“Objection!” came from across the room. “Maybe she used her other hand to write it.” Payne added.

“Objection!” I shouted back. “How can you be so sure? You tried to hide this evidence from the court. How do you know the validitity of it. You could have wrote this Mr. Payne.”
Payne whinced and looked like I had just hit him.
That’s it. Time for the final nail for today.
“The defense wishes to suspend precedings until a test can determine whose handwriting is on the letter.”

“Objection!” Payne shouted. “This is crazy your honor. We shouldn’t waste the courts time and money with holding this trial on any longer. You’re verdict if you don’t mind.”

“Objection!!” I shouted. “Your honor. You can’t lay your verdict down if you don’t know all of the facts. This letter wasn’t written by the defendant, or was it. I don’t know. What I do know is that the writing doesn’t match. That is why I request the test.”

“Granted Mr. Young. This so called evidence is going to go to the labs for testing. I heerby suspend precedings until tomorrow morning. Court is adjourned.” With that the Judge slammed his gavel calling the court to attention as he left.


Friday May 29th, 11:00 AM. District Courthouse. Defense Lobby #1


I stepped out of the courtroom. My heart was beating in my chest so hard I could hear it pounding in my ears.
Ms. Andrews came out of the courtroom all in smiles. “Wow. Good job in there Mr. Young.”
I couldn’t help but feel my cheeks flare up. “Gee…thanks Ms. Andrews.”
“Call me Adrian.” She replied.
“Okay.”
“Nice going in there Young.” Lana said as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “You started off slow, but boy did you not hold back any punches when you decided to strike.”
“Thanks boss.”
“Well at least we get another day to figure things out.” Adrian said.
That doesn’t make me feel any better thanks Ms. Andrews.
“Oh by the way Young. I’m not going to be here tomorrow. I have a preliminary for another trial.” Lana said.
“B…but what about helping me?”
“Oh don’t worry. I will send over and old friend of mine to watch over you, although you probably won’t need his help.” Lana said with a smile.
“That is true. I pretty much have this figured out.”
Adrian had her arms crossed like she was scared. “Y…you do?”
I nodded. “I kinda do. Adrian, can you answer me something?”
“I…I can try.” she sounded faint.
“What was a knife doing in the room in the first place?”
“I had bought it as a birthday gift. Brent was a knife collector.” she replied.
“Well that explains why your fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Do you still have the receipt by chance?”
“I believe so.” she started flipping through pages in her book. “Here it is.” she handed me a receipt. Damn $1000 for a knife. That is more then I make in two weeks.
“Do you think that is going to help you tomorrow Young?” Lana asked.
“You never know.”