Court started off with Victoria being escorted to her seat ahead of everyone else. Alistair and Danny took their seats and whispered between themselves as the court room filled up with people behind them. Victoria turned half-way around in her seat.
"Don't worry, she will be here, turn around it doesn't look good," said Stacy gently touching Victoria's elbow.
As Victoria turned she caught a glimpse of her sister-in-law near the back of the room. Demi had Trevor in her arms and Misty, one of her friends was holding Amanda's hand as they found seats.
A JP entered the court from a large wooden door and the room fell silent.
"All rise for the Honourable Judge Smithy," he announced.
Everyone got to their feet as the judge entered the room and took her seat and addressed the court.
"Please be seated, court is in session, Miss Dylan your witness please."
"Thank you Your Honour, I would like to call Doctor Brian Carey to the stand please."
A tall thin blonde haired man in his mid-thirties, dressed in grey corduroy trousers and a plaid shirt took the seat next to the judge and raised his hand to be sworn in.
"Dr. Carey what type medical practitioner are you?" said Stacy.
"I am a Paediatrician."
"So in layman's terms you work mainly with pregnant women and infants?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever seen a shaken baby before?"
"Yes, it is much more common than most people realize."
"How can you tell that a child is suffering from being shaken?"
"The condition is called 'shaken baby syndrome', meaning on presentation there are several symptoms. Such as cranial pressure, which causes he fontanels to bulge and as a result almost always the child is brought in suffering from convulsions. Much the same looking convulsions you would see in epilepsy."
"So what makes shaken baby syndrome different from epilepsy?"
"They are vastly different conditions, epilepsy is neurological. However, shaken baby syndrome is the result of trauma, and is usually accompanied by bruising and sometimes broken bones as seen with little Emily Jacobs on presentation."
"Have you personally inspected Emily Jacobs's injuries?"
"Yes I have, she has classic symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, and there is no doubt in my mind."
"How long does it take after a baby is shaken for symptoms to show?"
"It is difficult to say, it depends a lot on the severity of the injuries. Convulsions directly result from swelling to the brain, it can take minutes, hours, days, or even weeks to manifest."
"So it is possible that Emily may have been shook weeks ago?"
"No, she had been shaken relatively close to the time her parents brought her to hospital."
"How long exactly? Minutes, hours?"
"No more than 12 hours before hand."
"May I ask Doctor how you come to that conclusion?"
"Well according to the notes from the doctor who treated Emily on the morning, the broken bones were recent."
"In your medical opinion do you think it is possible that Emily Jacobs sustained her injuries before Victoria Thorne administered first aid? Is it possible Emily had convulsions as a result of injuries sustained beforehand?"
"Objection Your Honour," cried out Alistair as he hit his desk in protest.
"Continue Doctor," said Judge Smithies ignoring Alistair's protest.
The doctor nodded at the judge, then paused for a while before replying.
"It is possible, but I could not answer that with any degree of certainty, if I had been there on the morning she was discovered....possibly?"
"But if she had been convulsing, not choking, then there is some possibility that baby Emily may have been hurt before Victoria discovered her?"
"Maybe, if she was convulsing, but we don't know that for sure."
"Thank you Dr. Carey. That is all your Honour."
"Do you have questions for the doctor?" said Judge Smithies looking at Alistair.
"Thank you Your Honour," he replied.
Then looking at the doctor Alistair began," As Miss Dylan explained to the court you work mainly with pregnant women and infants. Have you dealt with women suffering Post Natal Depression?
Victoria hung her head, she felt sick.
"Yes I have seen several cases, ranging from mild to severe."
"What would you consider severe Doctor?"
"In severe cases Post Natal Depression can cause hallucinations, bouts of psychosis or suicide, but only if it goes untreated. Most of the time if caught early and treated it has no adverse or lasting effects."
"Is it is possible a suicidal woman, being treated for Post Natal Depression may have harmed her baby and may not remember?"
"Objection, Your Honour," cried out Stacy
"Sustained, replied the judge."
"I am vaguely familiar with Miss Thorne's case, her medical file suggests that she responded well to treatment, which has been further confirmed by her recent psychological testing after being arrested. In my professional opinion, I don't believe Post Natal Depression played any role in this case."
"Dr. Carey just one last question, in your professional opinion is it possible that Victoria Thorne caused the injuries to baby Emily by shaking her when she was choking?"
"Yes, it is possible; infants at that age are fragile."
"Thank you Dr. Carey, thank you Your Honour," said Alistair returning to his seat.
The judge nodded, "Thank you for your time Dr. Carey, you may be seated now. Looking across at Alistair the judge said, "Mr James, call your next witness."
"Thank you Your Honour, we would like to call Demi Jacobs to the stand."
Demi made her way to the stand as she sat down to be sworn in she looked at Victoria with complete hatred.
Victoria's head spun, she had prayed that Demi would still be on her side, but now it didn't look so good.
"Miss Jacobs tell me about your relationship to Victoria Thorne please," said Alistair.
"She used to be my friend and my brother's de-facto wife," she said coldly.
"Have you known her for a long time?"
"Yes, about 10 years long before she and my brother ever got together."
"So it would be safe to say you know Miss Thorne very well."
"Well I thought I did."
"It is safe to say though that out of everyone in this room you know what type of person Miss Thorne is."
"I guess that is true."
"So tell me is she a good person."
"Yes, well most of the time, nobody is perfect."
Relieved Victoria sighed quietly; maybe she would help after all.
Alistair continued moving closer to Demi.
"That is true, so tell me about the not so perfect things about Miss Thorne, that you noticed during your 10 year friendship."
"She had issues with her mother, that's probably why she told lies."
"And how did that directly impact on your relationship with her Miss Jacobs?"
"Well sometimes she would ask me to keep her lies a secret from others, especially my brother."
Victoria hung her head down, it was too good to be true; Demi was going to put the last nail in her coffin...
"And did you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She made my brother so happy; someone who made him that happy had to be good, besides, I didn't want to make trouble for them."
"Is it true you and Miss Thorne were together at your house the night before Emily was hurt?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, but are you implying Miss Thorne wasn't at your house on the night in question?"
"No Victoria did not visit my house that night, she may have told everyone including my brother she was spending time with me, but it is not true."
"So where did she go?"
"Victoria asked me to cover for her that night while she went to the night club, she begged me to keep it from everyone. Since I am under oath, in a court of law...."
"So, Victoria was out at a local night club, where it has already been established she had been drinking alcohol that night and was under the influence of Anti-depressant drugs."
"Your Honour," begged Stacey.
"Continue," demanded the judge.
"Yes that is right," said Demi quietly.
"It has been established that Miss Thorne had been clinically depressed and taking medication for it, had you noticed her acting strangely?"
"No, Danny told me she was depressed and I watched the children when he took Victoria to the hospital because she cut herself. She didn't act weird, she did seem little sad."
"Thank you Miss Jacobs, no further questions."
"Miss Dylan, questions?" asked the judge.
Stacy stood up and Victoria pulled her back down and whispered, "Please don't."
"No questions Your Honour," said Stacy sitting down.
"If that is all, then court will convene until tomorrow morning, where we will hear closing statements and a verdict will be reached thank you."
And with that Judge Smithies hit the gavel with her hammer and left the court room.
Victoria sunk down in her chair as everyone filed out of the room, whispering between themselves, Stacy turned to her annoyed.
"What did I tell you about honesty Victoria, why didn't you tell me you went out somewhere else?"
"What does it even matter where I went, I'm tired of this whole thing Stacy. Big deal I didn't exactly tell the truth about where I went. Just a little fib, never intended to hurt anyone, a little fib I thought my best friend would keep secret. Are you going to sit on your high horse and tell me you never did anything like that before?"
Stacy sighed collecting up her papers and shovelling them into her brief case, "well it's done now, there isn't a lot we can do."
"She didn't even come Stacy, why couldn't she just stay away in the first place!"
"You have bigger things to worry about than your mother, or feeling betrayed by your best friend. By this time tomorrow this court case will be all over for better or worse."