Chapter 16 - The Trial Begins
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Six months later.
The high-profile trial of State of California v. Austin Wellman and Amanda Wellman began at the San Diego County Courthouse.
I sat at the prosecution table in a tailored dark suit. My knee had healed enough through months of agonizing physical therapy that I could walk with the support of a sleek wooden cane, though a permanent limp remained.
Across the room, Austin and Amanda sat at the defense table, dressed in formal clothes provided by their public defenders. Neither of them had been able to post bail.
Austin looked gaunt, his arrogance stripped away by six months in county jail. Amanda looked ten years older, her hair graying and her eyes hollow.
The prosecutor called me as the state's star witness.
I walked slowly to the witness stand, my cane clicking against the hard courtroom floor.
"Ms. Wellman," the prosecutor asked, "can you recount for the court what happened on the evening of your thirty-first birthday?"
I looked straight into the eyes of the jury.
"My brother hit me in the left knee with a heavy steel tire iron because I exposed his illegal marriage and stopped him from defrauding another family," I testified clearly.
"And what did your mother do when your brother struck you?"
"She clapped her hands," I replied, my voice strong and unwavering. "And she said, 'It's about time someone put the trash in its place.'"
Gasps echoed across the crowded courtroom. Members of the jury shook their heads in utter disbelief.
Amanda's defense attorney stood up for cross-examination.
"Ms. Wellman," the defense attorney began, trying to look intimidating, "isn't it true that you have always felt resentment toward your brother because your mother paid more attention to him?"
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"I resented my brother because he was a criminal," I answered instantly. "And I resented my mother because she protected a monster while crippling her own daughter."
The defense attorney sat down, unable to break my composure.
