The
Trial of Willow Rosenberg
Parts
1 & 2
By Sam James
SPOILERS: Set in the summer after S6, spoilers for everything through "Grave"
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Willow, Warren, Giles, Xander, Lilah Morgan, Wolfram and Hart, Anya, and the general mythos belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and 20th Century Fox. WB and UPN just rent them. I claim no ownership of anything other than the plot.
"All rise," said the bailiff as the Santa Barbara County Judge walked into the room. His dark robes flowed on the cherry desk in front of his seat. "What's our first case?" Judge Bone asked, his voice still firm despite his increasing years.
"People versus Willow Rosenberg," said the bailiff. "Accused of murder, attempted murder, and attempted jailbreak."
The judge peered over his glasses at the defense table. There was only one small red-headed girl, barely 20 from the looks of her. She had a somewhat sad, somewhat scared, deflated appearance covering an air of curiosity and nervousness. "Are you the defendant?" he asked, somewhat surprised. She certainly did not look like a murderer as she stood and nodded. "Do you have an attorney? If you cannot afford one, the state will provide..."
"I will be her attorney pro bono," came a well-cultured female voice. "Lilah Morgan, from Wolfram and Hart." The judge could not help but give a start of amazement. That firm was known to be extraordinarily expensive and not known for its generosity. He wondered what the girl had done to engage their interest.
"Certainly not!" the girl was objecting. "I've already chosen to represent myself."
The judge lifted an eyebrow. "Are you an attorney? Or in law school?"
"No, but I've done some research and know that I have the right to defend myself if I wish which I do..." Willow seemed to cut herself off with a visible effort.
The prosecuting attorney stood up. Judge Bone recognized Carlos Columbia, a young Hispanic attorney with ambitions far beyond Santa Barbara County. The man could barely suppress his eagerness to do a murder case with no opposition, "Your honor, she does have that right."
Judge Bone ignored him and turned to the girl. "You are accused of crimes that could lock you up for life. This not the time to build up a resume for law school. I very strongly suggest you accept Miss Morgan's offer."
"I understand," came the girl's soft words. "But I know what I am doing, really sir." There was an undertone of shattered confidence in her voice.
"Very well," said the Judge. "How do you plead?"
"Not guilty," Willow said firmly.
The Judge turned to Columbia. "Do you wish to arrange a plea bargain?" He was not at all surprised when the attorney answered, "Due to the severity of her crimes, and her clear lack of remorse, the state stands by its charges." Carlos just wants an easy win, the Judge thought to himself. That little girl doesn't stand a chance against him.
Jury selection did nothing to reassure the judge that this was a fair fight. Carlos used his questioning to carefully screen the jury, eliminating anyone from the girl's hometown of Sunnydale, older men who might be swayed by her physical attractiveness, and educated men and women who might see through a lawyer's tricks. This left a prosecutor's dream jury, mostly women old enough to be jealous of the defendant's youth and looks without being old enough to be maternal. Willow asked questions mainly about the juror's religious beliefs. She only threw two people out of the juror pool, a staunch Catholic and, after Columbia had used up all his preemptory challenges, a long-time resident of Sunnydale. That last seemed to shake Columbia up. He looked at her strangely. The Judge could not figure this out either. Did the girl want to be found guilty? A neighbor would be less likely to convict her than a stranger.
The unevenness of the matchup was even more apparent once the trial started. The prosecution had Carlos Columbia and an assistant, plus several others from the district attorney's office on call including expert medical witnesses. The defense table had just Willow. Alone. The district attorney's opening remarks accused Willow of doing unnatural sexual activities with Tara, desiring revenge against Warren for his murder, and then extending her revenge to Andrew and Jonathan. He stressed that the witnesses he had to Willow's revenge were her own friends, reluctantly testifying in the interests of truth, justice, and Willow's own best interest. Finally, aware that his long speech was boring the jury, Carlos sat down.
Willow stood up and faced the jury. "Um," she said and her face grew red. There was a titter from the audience. She turned to them and said, "I'm sorry" and returned her focus to the jury. "My name is Willow Rosenberg. I am 21 years old and not a lawyer, although I am representing myself," her voice gathered strength as she went along. "I did a bit of research on the Internet and found that the prosecution has to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That means, and I'm sure the judge will correct me if I'm wrong, that they have to do more than show that I wanted Warren dead. I admit, I did; he murdered my Tara who had never done anything to hurt anyone." She stopped and wiped her eyes. "But the prosecution has to show more than that I wished him dead. They have to show evidence that I took action and explain what I did. Since there is nothing to prove; they cannot. The prosecution's case rests on trickery and taking advantage of fragile individuals. I ask that the jury consider reasonable doubt and when the prosecution makes outlandish claims and piles impossibility upon implausibility, follow their reasonable doubt and declare me not guilty."
The judge struggled to control his facial expressions. The sole benefit of representing oneself in court was the chance to address the jury without being under oath. So Willow's speech made no sense. The girl did not declare herself innocent; instead she laid down the gauntlet for the prosecution to prove that she was not. Still, the girl did not seem crazed. The judge wondered if he could declare her incompetent anyway and demand that she accept a lawyer. He looked around; Lilah Morgan was still in the courtroom.
"The prosecution wishes to call Miss Buffy Summers."
The Bailiff rose. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I do," said the petite blond. Her movements spoke of quiet strength.
"What is your relationship with the defendant, Willow Rosenberg?"
"Willow has been my best friend since tenth grade, nearly seven years. We're like sisters. And, I suppose I'm her landlord, she's been living in my house since shortly after my mother died."
Carlos was a bit surprised, the landlord business hadn't come up in questioning, but he decided it was unimportant. If anything that simply reinforced the idea that the witness and the defendant were close. He asked a few more questions about their relationship and then moved into the relationship between Willow and Tara, establishing that they were lesbian lovers. Finally he asked "Had you noticed any behavior changes in the last year or so?"
Buffy gave Willow a guilty look and then said, "Yes, she and Tara were fighting over Willow trying to control her and then when Tara left, Willow started behaving like a junkie."
Carlos leaned over and asked, "Was she using drugs?"
The judge looked at Willow, still seated and silent, and decided to interject, "Miss Rosenberg, you are allowed to object to questions that do not directly refer to matter of the trial."
Willow stood up and said, "I understand, sir, but I do not want to hurt Buffy."
The judge motioned her over to the bench, "Miss Rosenberg, you are on trial for your life. You must think of yourself. If I do not feel you are doing a sufficient job representing yourself, I will be forced to declare you incompetent. And I am very close to doing that right now."
"I understand, but sir, please wait until my cross examination and all will be clear. I know things seem strange right now but believe me. They're going to get a lot stranger."
Judge Bone looked at her eyes. While her words certainly failed to reassure him, the girl seemed nervous but far from crazed. He raised his voice to address the whole court. "The attorney may continue."
Buffy looked at Willow. "Not drugs, there was never any sign of drugs. But she was behaving oddly and at one point she crashed a car that had my sister in it."
Sensing that the Judge's call for Willow to object meant that Bone thought he was going too far afield, Carlos returned to the issue of Warren, getting Buffy's story about how Warren shot her, Willow's confession that Warren had killed Tara and saying she'll kill him for it, and finally the story about how Willow killed Warren. Throughout her testimony, Willow sat still, not objecting or reacting.
"Warren was tied with some vines, standing up. His chest was wounded, there was blood coming out of a small hole. Willow... Willow... She removed his skin from his body, while still alive. I heard her say, 'Bored now' and set him on fire. He burned up instantly." The jurors gasped.
"Like he was drenched in gasoline?" Carlos asked, expecting an objection for leading the witness, and somewhat disappointed when none came. The girl was not even trying and the game was no fun when the opposition did not fight back.
"I don't know," Buffy said. "He went up instantly. I asked, 'Willow, no. What did you do?"
"And her reply?"
"She said, 'One down,' and vanished in the darkness. I knew she was going after Jonathan and Andrew. I eventually caught up with her, we fought and then Andrew and Jonathan escaped. That's all I know."
"No further questions." Carlos sat down pleased with himself. Buffy made an excellent witness. She was a very close friend of the defendant, moreover had been critically wounded by the person the defendant was accused of killing, so had no reason to lie.
On the witness stand Buffy gave a sigh of relief. She had managed to complete her testimony by telling the truth without having to mention magic, slayers, or witches. She stood up to leave but saw Willow standing up.
"Sorry, Buffy, I get to ask a few questions, now," Willow said. "But I'll be quick. Don't worry. All you have to do is tell the whole truth like you promised. Are you okay with that, Buffy?" Willow's tone was sweet and motherly. Not that of a friend addressing a friend, but more closer to the tone she used as a teacher.
"Yes," Buffy answered.
"Now you told Mr. Columbia about how we were friends. Could you tell the jury what you tried doing to me on March 12?"
Buffy blinked in confusion. "I'm not sure I remember."
Willow smiled. "Us all in the basement with Tara."
Buffy jumped to her feet in full defense mode. The whole gang had decided, reluctantly, that human crimes should be met by human justice and that, after everything they did to Faith, it would be hypocritical of them to not to insist that justice be done in the case of Willow. Of course Willow had the right to defend herself, but she had jumped right in to Buffy's weakest point - asking about the events of March 12, "Us all in the basement with Tara."
"Objection!" yelled Carlos, not sure what was going on but not liking the way Buffy reacted. "Leading the witness."
The judge shook his head. "Denied, let's see where this takes us."
Willow ignored the byplay and focused on Buffy. "Don't worry, Buffy. Everything will be okay. You can sit down. No one is gonna hurt you. Just tell what happened."
Buffy sat down, determined to give only minimal answers. "I knocked you unconscious."
"Go on..."
"I tied you up."
"And..."
"And I tried to feed you to a demon... But, that wasn't me. I was being controlled. I didn't mean to." Buffy started crying.
"Of course, Buffy." Willow's voice was soothing. There was a stir in the audience and one of the jurors turned to the other and asked, 'Did she say demon?'
"Now about Warren, you say I removed his skin, how did I do that?"
Buffy was silent.
"Did I use a knife? A gun? My nails?"
Buffy shook her head.
"Say it for the transcriber," the judge put in.
"No."
"Okay, Buffy, tell how I did it." Willow waited. "You did swear to tell the whole truth."
"You used magic."
"Magic? How can I do magic?"
"You're a witch," Buffy said. "You waved your hand, looked at him and frayed him alive."
The courtroom seemed to explode with everyone talking and the jurors were looking mystified at each other. The judge had to bang his gavel several times.
"So, I killed him with magic?" Willow asked.
"Yes."
"Objection!" Carlos broke through his shock.
The judge looked at him. "On what grounds?"
Carlos stood stumped. "I don't know, but the witness must be confused. She's not making sense."
Judge Bone stared at Buffy and then looked at Carlos, "Miss Rosenberg asked a valid question that followed up an area in Miss Summers' testimony for you. It's opened up some justifiable concerns about the witness that I trust Miss Rosenberg will continue investigating."
Willow smiled at him before turning to the witness. "I have magic powers?" Willow asked Buffy.
"Yes," Buffy was almost crying.
"Do you have supernatural abilities?"
Carlos wanted to object but knew the judge would override.
"Yes," Buffy was sullen. Everything was being exposed.
"Explain, please."
"I'm a vampire slayer with supernatural strength, skill, speed, and healing." The murmurs almost overpowered the sound of the bang as the judge hit the table with his gavel.
"Quiet, or I'll clear the courtroom," Judge Bone said.
Willow sighed. "So vampires exist too?"
"Yes, of course. Willow you know all this."
"Buffy, don't worry," Willow adopted her soothing voice again. "We're just going over things for the court. Now, could you tell the court where you were in July and August of 2001."
"Objection," yelled Carlos. "This has nothing to do with her testimony."
"Your honor, this line of testimony will illuminate my relationship with the witness and her credibility," Willow responded quickly.
"Temporarily denied," said Judge Bone. "But I'll need to see the relevance quickly."
"I understand," Willow said and turned back to the witness. "Where were you and what was happening to you in July and August of 2001?"
Buffy gave Willow an angry stare before saying, "I was in the ground because I was dead. I was in heaven until you pulled me out of it."
Willow expressed surprise. "I brought you back from the dead?"
"Yes." There was no noise from the crowd this time, only a stunned silence.
Willow turned to look at Buffy. "So you're a supernatural vampire slayer and I'm a witch who can kill people with magic and bring them back from the grave too?"
"Objection," Carlos seized on a straw as he saw his case go down the drain. "The witness has already stated this."
"It certainly bares repeating," the Judge said. "But, Miss Rosenberg do you have any new questions?"
"One more, your honor. Buffy, and I remind you that you swore to tell the truth. Have you ever been institutionalized for delusions?"
Buffy was silent.
Willow sighed. "I don't want to hurt you. Haven't I been helping you all these years? But if necessary I can subpoena the records."
"Yes," came Buffy's faint voice.
"Yes, what?"
"My parents..." Buffy breathed before gathering strength. "My parents put me in an institution when I started seeing vampires. But they were wrong... Vampires exist. Willow you *know* that. You've slayed them yourself." Her voice gathered strength.
"Of course, Buffy," Willow said in her soothing voice. Buffy shivered as she finally placed the tone Willow was using. It was the patronizing tone of doctors to a patient they believed completely insane. "Don't worry, I'll make everything okay."
She turned to the judge. "Your honor, I request that the testimony of Miss Buffy Summers be completely stripped from the record as she clearly is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality."
Both Judge Bone and Carlos Columbia looked at the redhead in astonishment. Carlos recovered first, jumping to his feet and yelling, "Agreed!" His case was being saved, and by his opponent too.
The judge called them both over to his stand. "Miss Willow, the lead witness for the prosecution has admitted to trying to attacking you and shown herself to be completely insane. This should be an important part of your case. If her testimony is removed, Mr. Columbia can start all over again and you can't mention how it is based on the claims of an insane woman. Nor will you won't be able to bring up her testimony at any appeal."
"I understand, your honor." Willow said. "I don't want Buffy to be hurt by this."
Judge Bone could hold it in no longer. "Miss Rosenberg!" he yelled. "You are on trial for murder. You need to think about yourself here."
"Please don't worry sir. I know what I'm doing." Willow pleaded.
"You insist on requesting the removal of Summers testimony?" Judge Bone asked.
"Yes, thank you."
The judge turned to Carlos. "I don't even need to ask if you still agree." Carlos just smiled.
The judge waved the two back to their benches and stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Both sides have agreed to remove the testimony of Miss. Buffy Summers from the record. You are to forget everything she has said and not take it into account in making your deliberations. Miss Summers, you are excused."
Buffy, her eyes now red with crying, left the stand. Everyone stared at her, not saying a word, as she walked down the steps and out of the courtroom. Willow had kept her promise, nothing official was left on the record that could hurt her custody of Dawn. But she had gotten a glimpse of how her life looked to outsiders and didn't like it at all."
"Since that witness testimony is officially disregarded, will the prosecution call its first witness?" the judge said.
"I call Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins."
Willow shot up. "Objection!"
"Well, this is new," the judge muttered.
"I know you're not a real lawyer," Carlos said condescendingly, "But you can't object to a witness."
The judge motioned them to his podium again. "Explanations, Miss Rosenberg."
"We've just set the precedent that those who think themselves supernatural beings will not have their testimony believed," Willow said.
"And this has to do with Miss Jenkins because..." the judge looked at her.
Willow blushed, "She thinks she's a 1122 year-old vengeance demon."
The Judge looked at Carlos. Carlos shrugged, confused. "Well, it certainly didn't come up in my questioning."
After questioning Anya and finding out that yes, Anya did think she was a vengeance demon and yes, she really was over 1120 years old, the judge dismissed her.
Carlos was furious. This had to be some kind of a trick. His witnesses were all friends of the defendant, they must have concocted this story. They had to in cahoots with the ACLU to ruin his reputation.
"Mr. Columbia, in my quarters, now," the Judge said firmly frowning as he looked on the young attorney.
Continued in the next part.
If you like my stories and want to encourage me to write more or just comment, please send feedback to [email protected]
Last
Story
Home
Storylist
Next
Story