As cross-examination started, the Marks' lawyer called Greg back to the stand. "Gregory, you stated that Ms. Marks sexually assaulted and raped you. Do you have any evidence to back your claim?"
"No, Sir. Penelope did the laundry. So she bleached it out of my sheets." Greg said.
"What about your mattress? Or your blankets?"
"I don't know about any of that kind of stuff, Sir." Greg said sounding as innocent as he could.
"Why did you wait until Penelope Marks stated that you had assaulted her to tell a trusted adult that she had assaulted you?"
"I was scared. Penelope told me that if I ever tattled, she would kill me."
"That didn't keep you and your brother from telling your mother other things. Like destroying your grandfather's urn."
"Well those things she only ever got yelled at for. But then after, she would come back and-"
The lawyer interrupted Greg. "Yet Mrs. Marks said that you always told her whenever Penelope Marks allegedly picked on you. Did she not threaten you then?"
"-Well, no… But-!"
"So if you were in real fear of your life, why did you still your mother that Penelope was a bully?"
"I don't know, okay!?" Greg bellowed, looking at his mother for guidance.
"Maintain order." The judge said as he narrowed his eyes at Greg.
"Gregory, Ms. Marks alleges that you blackmailed her by forcing her to give you her undergarments to keep her out of trouble. Do you recall ever taking anything from her?"
Greg scowled at the lawyer. "Eww, no!"
"Did you ever at any point in time touch Penelope Marks in any manner without her consent?"
"No I did not." He growled.
"And did you ever sexually harass Penelope Marks in any way at any point in time?"
"No. She did all of this stuff to me!" Gregory claimed.
"And yet, you don't have any proof that any of this happened, do you?"
"No. Of course I don't. I was scared!" Greg retorted.
"Are you sure that your mother, Mary Marks, didn't coach you into saying all of these things to keep the both of you out of trouble?"
"I'm sure."
"Your honor, that's all I have for this person. You may take your seat Gregory." The lawyer called the investigator back up to the stand.
"You know, Ms. Thompson, I find it odd that Mrs. Marks' lawyer didn't ask you many questions. Tell me, what was your conclusion on the allegations made against Ms. Marks after you had interviewed both of Mrs. Marks children?"
"It is of my opinion that Mrs. Marks and her children's claims are false, your honor." Members of the courtroom and the jury gasped, but nothing else was said.
"And why is that?"
"Rape examinations were done on both Marks boys at Mrs. Marks' request. There was nothing found that indicated any assaults took place. There was semen found in Gregory's bed, but most of it was on top of his comforter and around his laundry basket. There was no female DNA found in his bed, which would have been present if Mrs. Marks had indeed committed a sexual assault. Upon examining Mrs. Marks younger son, Sean, it was discovered that Mrs. Marks had coached them prior to the investigation. There are also certain behaviors that children and youth exhibit when they have been victims of assault, and none of those behaviors were observed either."
Greg and Mary's faces paled as Ms. Thompson revealed this information.
"There are normally recordings of these interviews that can be reiewed later, correct?"
"Yes." Mrs. Thompson responded.
"Your honor, I would like to present the recording from Scott's interview, starting from forty minutes, thirty two seconds to forty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds."
The judge gave his approval and a viewscreen on the side of the courtroom was activated. In it, Mrs. Thompson could be seen with Scott sitting across the table from her. "Can you tell me about the night before Penelope was taken away? What happened?"
"We went to dinner. And when we got home, I went to my room to grab some Pajamas and Penelope hurt me."
"But I thought you said you already had your pajamas on?"
"I did! But I needed more, okay!?" Scott whined, throwing his hands up.
"Why would you need more pajamas if you already had them?"
"Look, I don't know, Lady! I'm just doing what my mom told me to, okay!?"
"What did your mom tell you to do?" Ms. Thompson asked him.
"She told us to say all these things so that we don't get taken away. There. I said it. Please don't tell her? I don't want to get in trouble!" Scott grumped.
The video tape stopped.
"Ms. Thompson, you were also sent in a pair of panties belonging to Ms. Marks to examine. Could you please tell me what your findings were?"
"There was semen that matched that of Gregory's in the samples that I received."
"So there was more than one pair?"
"Yes. The first pair was a pair which had been in Penelope Marks' laundry when she moved in with the Filmore family. After that, there were several pairs that were sent in. Most of which had male semen on them. Though at that point, they had likely been washed several times and we could not determine whose it was."
"Thank you Ms. Thompson. You are free to go. I would next like to call Mr. Carlo Garcia to the stand."
Once sworn in, the lawyer asked. "Mr. Garcia, could you please tell the court what condition Ms. Marks was in when you initially met her?"
"Yes, of course. When I met Ms. Marks, she had bruises on her throat. She could hardly talk, and she was very weak."
"And can you tell me what was reported to you when you met her?"
Carlo went over all the details and findings that were relevant to Penelope's case as he sat on the stand. When he was done, the lawyer pulled up photos of Penelope's bruises, as well as a report from the medical team that had examined her.
"Your honor, the physician who was on call that day was unable to make it to testify, but he sent over this report, detailing the injuries that Penelope sustained that night. It included evidence of strangulation and traumatic brain injury. If you read the report, you'll note on page three that her CT scans showed brain activity that indicated evidence of continued psychological abuse. At this time, I would like to call Mary Marks back to the stand.
"They contained fluids from both Ms. Marks and Gregory. They had normal female discharge in them and did not contain any substance that indicated female arousal. Male ejaculate from Gregory was all over the sample, indicating that it was likely not worn."
"Did you receive any other specimens from Penelope that showed evidence of male ejaculate on them?"
"Yes. We were provided several pairs of Penelope's panties. All of which had amounts of male semen in them in patterns that indicated that they were used off the body. Though these particular samples had been washed, and were inconclusive on DNA tests."
"Thank you, Ms. Thompson. That's all I need from you right now. Your Honor, I'd like to call Mrs. Marks to the bench."
Mary got up and walked to the stand, her steps not as confident and steady as they had been before.
"Mrs. Marks, I would like to remind you that you are still under oath."
"Of course." She mumbled in acknowledgment.
"What was that Ma'am?" The lawyer demanded, his voice a little more firm.
"I know!" Mary growled.
"Thank you. Now, please tell the court. Did you or did you not coach your minor children on what you wanted them to say to investigators?"
"No! Of course I didn't! That video was staged!"
"So you're telling me that an impartial forensic psychologist hired by the state decided to modify video footage?"
"Absolutely! I would never brainwash my children."
"Your honor, may we pull up that video again, please?"
The judge nodded and the lawyer pulled the video back up. He zoomed into the bottom of the screen, which showed a timestamp. "You see these markings down here, Mrs. Marks? That's a timestamp that shows the exact time and date the video recording was taken. This was recorded in real time at the county's police station. Do you recall signing a form granting your consent for the video recording?"
"Yes I do. But that could have been edited in!"
"You're right. It could have. But if you look underneath that, you'll see the county name at the bottom. These cameras were programmed with it, and are encoded so that the videos cannot be altered. So, in other words, Mrs. Marks, the video could not be any type of a forgery."
Mary's face began to turn red, but she kept herself together.
"Mrs. Marks, you stated that you never assaulted or abused Penelope Marks. Yet, you blacked out when you allegedly discovered that she had assaulted your son. So how can you say that you never laid hands on Ms. Marks when you can't even recall that night?"
"I would never hurt a child!" Mary blurted.
"You say that, but how do you explain the traumatic brain injury she suffered when you threw her on the floor?"
"I did NOT throw her on the floor! Nor did I cause her brain injury!" Mary bellowed.
The judge slammed his gavel and ordered Mary to calm down or face contempt.
"You stated, Mrs. Marks, that you blacked out that night after discovering your child was being assaulted by Penelope Marks. Your son was caught on film stating otherwise. You stated, Mrs. Marks, that your older son was sexually assaulted by Penelope Marks. But that didn't happen, either, did it? You coached him into stating that she assaulted him because you knew that he had assaulted her. And you wanted to cover it up so that he wouldn't get in trouble, didn't you? You wanted him tried in juvenile court, and when that didn't happen, you wanted to do whatever you could to save your baby boy, didn't you?"
"I DID NOTHING OF THE SORT!" Mary screamed.
The judge pounded his gavel. "30 days in the county jail for contempt of court, Mrs. Marks."
The Filmore kept going, asking question after question about Mary, her treatment of Penelope, and everything else in between. The more Mary talked about how Penelope was a bad girl who deserved to be in jail, the more she talked herself into a corner.
Eventually, he let her go and called up the Filmore family, as well as Kent, who all affirmed that Mary had always spoken ill of Penelope, yet had never provided any truth beyond her words. Kent recollected the night he Mary had strangled Penelope. "I heard her screaming about a dirty towel after I watched her grab it from the bathroom and storm upstairs with it. She was so mad that I don't think she even realized I had seen her.
"At first, I left her to address whatever issue it was. She was screaming so loud that I could hear her every word. She was angry because after Penelope had spent the entire night cleaning the whole house, she had left a towel in the bathroom hamper. When I heard a thud on the floor, I became concerned, and went to see what was going on. That was when I saw Penelope on the floor, crying and begging for Mary to stop.
"When Penelope looked at me and begged me to intervene, I knew something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. I am so ashamed of myself for not noticing it sooner." A tear welled up in Kent Marks' eye, and he was dismissed from the stand.