《STAY DOWN |2020|》Forty Five.

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Genesis sat in the courtroom along with all of East's family. Nervous was an understatement for her. Today is the day of East's sentencing hearing, and Genesis is still hoping that Harmony will come through. Whether East gets sentenced today or not, Genesis will never stop fighting for his freedom.

"ALL RISE" a bailiff shouted as the judge entered the courtroom.

He waited until everybody was standing before speaking up again.

"Department one of the superior court is now in session. Judge Richards presiding. Please be seated" the bailiff said.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of the State of California versus Jeremiah Wright. Are both sides ready?" The judge asked.

"Ready for the people, your honor" the district attorney said.

"Ready for the defense, your honor" East's lawyer said.

East's stomach turned with each and every minute that went by. He wasn't afraid to go to prison, but he was afraid of not being able to be there for his family. The thought of not being able to raise his kids or spend the rest of his life with Genesis made him sick. He was hoping for some type of miracle.

"Will the clerk please swear in the jury?" The judge asked.

The clerk walked over to the jury then began the process of swearing them in.

"Will the jury please stand and raise your right hand?"

The clerk waited until each and every member of the jury had their right hand raised.

"Do each of you swear that you will fairly try the case before this court, and that you will return a true verdict according to the evidence and the instructions of the court, so help you, God? Please say 'I do'."

"I do" the jurors said in unison.

"Please be seated" the clerk instructed.

Genesis watched intently as the Deputy DA gathered evidence, preparing to give his opening statement. She was curious to see what type of evidence they had against East other than a murder weapon.

"Your honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury: the defendant has been charged with the murder of Jayceon Taylor. The evidence will include a murder weapon that was retrieved from the crime scene, and a written and recorded statement from the deceased witness, Lola Perez. Jeremiah Wright's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, and Lola Perez alleges that Mr. Wright confessed the crime to her" the DA said.

The judge read over Lola's written statement then the DA played her recorded statement out loud.

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"This is Detective Norris of the Los Angeles Police Department. I'm here to collect a recorded statement from a witness."

"Witness, please state your first and last name."

"Lola Perez" Lola said.

"Thank you, now tell me about the night that Jeremiah confessed to you" Detective Norris said.

"He- he was intoxicated one night, and he told me that him and his girlfriend had gotten into a fight. He broke down and told me that he killed Jayceon. I guess it was eating him up inside. He also mentioned that his gun was missing, and he believed that he dropped it at the crime scene" Lola said.

"Did he tell you where he dropped it?" Detective Norris asked.

"No, he just said that it was somewhere in the house."

"Okay" Detective Norris said.

The DA stopped the recording then went back to his seat.

East knew that something was off about Lola's statement. It was Lola's voice, but he could tell that she was forced to make the statement. For one, she sounded extremely nervous and shakey. For two, he knew that he never went to Lola's house. For three, he would NEVER confess a crime to Lola. It was obvious that he was being framed.

"Your honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury: under the law my client is presumed innocent until proven guilty. During this trial, you will see no real evidence against my client. You will come to know the truth: that Jeremiah Wright's weapon was stolen. He is not licensed to carry, but he does keep weapons in his home for safety purposes. That's perfectly legal. Therefore my client is not guilty" East's lawyer said.

"The prosecution may call it's first witness" the judge said.

"The people call Detective Norris" the DA said.

Everyone watched as the bailiff escorted Detective Norris to the stand.

"Please raise your right hand" the clerk said to Detective Norris.

Once his hand was raised the clerk proceeded to swear him in.

"Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" The clerk asked.

"I do" Detective Norris said.

"Please state your first and last name" the clerk instructed.

"Todd Norris" Detective Norris said.

"You may be seated" the clerk said.

Detective Norris nodded before sitting down.

"Detective Norris, tell me about the day that you found the murder weapon" the DA said.

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"I was searching for evidence along with a few other detectives. The other detectives were mostly searching for evidence for the other murder victims. We believe that this vicious crime was committed by multiple people, but we only have evidence against Jeremiah Wright. Anyways, I happened to check outside near a tree, and that's when I found the murder weapon. I immediately put gloves on then retrieved the weapon. Mr. Wright's fingerprints were later found on the weapon" Detective Norris said.

"There you have it, I don't see how anybody can call this man innocent when there's clear evidence against him" the DA said as he flashed pictures of the crime scene on the screen.

"Objection, your honor! My client is innocent until proven guilty" East's lawyer said.

"Overruled, continue Mr. Sloan" the judge said to the DA.

"Like I was saying, the evidence in this case is clear. That's all I need to say" the DA said before sitting down.

East's lawyer then stood up to defend his client.

"There's no motive or reasoning as to why my client would kill Jayceon Taylor. That's because my client does not know who Jayceon is. Like I said before, his weapon was stolen. It's very likely that the same person that stole his gun is the same person that killed Mr. Taylor. I-" before East's lawyer could finish somebody busted into the courtroom.

"STOP! I HAVE PROOF THAT JEREMIAH WRIGHT IS INNOCENT" somebody shouted.

Everybody looked back and seen Harmony.

"Thank God" Genesis mumbled as she let out a sigh of relief.

At that point, Detective Norris was visibly nervous. If Harmony has evidence showing that him and Zander framed East then his career will be over.

"Who are you? And why are you interrupting this trial?" The judge asked.

"My name is Harmony, and I'm the girlfriend of the REAL murder suspect. His name is Zander Floyd. I have proof that he's the one that killed Jayceon. Let me show you" Harmony said.

"This is preposterous! Is this even allowed? This can't b-" the judge cut Detective Norris off before he could finish.

"Bring her forward" the judge instructed.

The bailiff nodded then escorted Harmony to the stand.

Zander and Detective Norris were unaware that Harmony recently set up hidden cameras in Zander's home. After her conversation with Genesis she knew that she had to do what was right. She loves Zander, but right is right and wrong is wrong.

The judge watched the video footage in shock. The cameras not only recorded a confession from Zander, but it also recorded conversations between Detective Norris and Zander.

"JEREMIAH WRIGHT IS AN INNOCENT MAN! HE DID NOT KILL JAYCEON TAYLOR. DETECTIVE NORRIS AND ZANDER FLOYD WERE WORKING TOGETHER TO FRAME JEREMIAH. MY BESTFRIEND, LOLA, WAS FORCED TO MAKE THOSE STATEMENTS. I WATCHED DETECTIVE NORRIS PUT A BULLET IN HER BRAIN RIGHT AFTER THOSE STATEMENTS WERE MADE. THEY ARE MONSTERS! MY LIFE WAS THREATENED, AND I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW THEIR RULES. THAT ENDS TODAY" Harmony shouted.

All of this started when Detective Norris came across a murder weapon at the crime scene of Jayceon's murder. His brother works in the forensics field, so he was able to run the fingerprints off the record. He ran the fingerprints and seen that they belonged to Zander Floyd. He knew that Zander Floyd was a close friend of East's, so he blackmailed Zander into framing East. Zander stole one of East's personal weapons from his home then planted it at the crime scene. Detective Norris paid Zander twenty thousand dollars and guaranteed his freedom. Zander felt guilty, so he gave ten thousand of those dollars to Genesis then put the rest up for his son. He did all of this to save himself.

In the wise words of Joseph "JoJo" Coleman, niggas snakes, so you better watch who you trust. Same niggas you kick it with, same niggas that'll get you fucked up.

"Oh my God! I missed you so much!" Genesis cried out as she jumped on East.

"I missed you too baby" East said.

Genesis smashed her lips onto East's, not even caring about their family members that were watching them. The two shared a passionate kiss while everyone watched in awe. It warmed everyone's heart to see them back together.

"My baby boy" Yasmine said as she hugged East tightly.

"I love you so much sweetie" Yasmine said.

"I love you too mama. Thank you for everything that you did for Genesis and Kaiser while I was gone" East said.

"Of course, they're my family too" Yasmine said as she pulled back from the hug.

East smiled then wrapped his arm around Genesis. "What now?" Genesis asked.

"Now we celebrate" Yasmine said.

_____________________________________

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