Episode 47: "I Have Your Back"

Senator Travis leaned close to his client.

“Mike,” Senator Travis began softly, his mouth near his client’s ear. “I think we need to ask the judge to direct the jury to find you guilty.”

“You want me to change my plea?” Mike asked.

“No,” Senator Travis explained. “You’ll still maintain your innocence. See, we have a problem here. I figured all along the fix was in, and they were going to stack the deck and find you guilty no matter what. Then, we could appeal and have a higher court sort out the constitutional issues. That’s been the plan all along. After your testimony yesterday, and my arrest for contempt… and after the events of last night… and after Roxy’s testimony… Well, I don’t know. I really don’t know. We MIGHT actually win this thing. Then, we can’t appeal a winning verdict, after all. But more likely, we get a hung jury. You know what that means?”

“We get to do this all over again?” Mike asked.

“Exactly,” Senator Travis confirmed, “and I don’t have time for a second round of this. Maybe Roxy does, maybe she doesn’t. I don’t know. Round two would be a complete crap shoot. We already have good testimony. We already have a solid record. Better than I’d have expected going into this. In a do-over? Maybe THEY’LL do a better job excluding our evidence next time around. They’ll certainly be trying harder. Maybe the judge will be more on our side. Nothing like having your car torched by Antifa to make a conservative out of a liberal. But they do have the home court advantage, and they won’t make as many mistakes. What I’m saying is we’re very likely to end up worse off. I say we take our loss – and the trial record we’ve established here – and we move on.”

“The superintendent said he’d cover my fine,” Mike pointed out, “but after last night… I mean, I’m officially out of a job now, apparently.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Senator Travis replied with a twinkle in his eye. “Let’s just say, his honor mentioned not everyone in this town is happy with your superintendent’s performance from last night. Anyway, after this, you could write a book, or go on the speaking circuit. One way or another you’ll do great – probably better than the teaching gig. Don’t you worry about the fine or about the future. The Family, Faith, and Freedom Foundation has your back.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Mike pointed out.

“I have your back, too,” the senator declared, “even if you did hog the bottom bunk.”

Mike smiled. “OK,” he agreed. “We’ll do it your way.”