All Jesus Christ preached was love for your neighbor. Yet, all dear dead Charlie did was push for hate against anyone that didn't look like him. The hypocrisy of the Christians trying to make him a martyr was what Tyler found the funniest in the whole ordeal, imagine Jesus crying because an evil Pharisee died. Yes, murder was bad, but his death doesn't erase the evil he spent his entire life spreading.
Paul Goodman rose slowly, he tucked at his jacket sleeves, and walked a few steps towards the bench. His voice was quieter than Barra's but it carried calm
"Your honor… the prosecution is right about one thing. The evidence in this case is overwhelming. The facts are not in dispute. Tyler Robson was at the scene. His DNA was found there. His messages will show what he did. We do not contest any of those things."
Loud murmurs broke out in the courtroom, even though the voices saying different things at the same time thereby creating noise in the courtroom. Tyler knew exactly the question on everyone's mind, 'is his own lawyer throwing the case?' ' Has the man he hired in weird circumstances betrayed him at the last moment? ' That will be a really interesting turn of event if that really was the case, because for the first time, Michael, his friend who made him choose Paul as his lawyer will be wrong about something.
The reporters was scribbling faster and Paul continued
"But this Trial is not only about what happened, it is about why it happened. About who Tyler Robson really is, and who he was on the day of his terrible crime."
He glanced briefly at, their eyes met and Paul nodded at him, then he turned back to the judge.
"The prosecution will paint him as a cold, calculating assassin. But the truth, Your Honor, is that Tyler Robson is a deeply disturbed young man. Twenty two years old. A man who has battled with mental illness since his teenage years. A man whose grip on reality… has never been whole."
He began to pace slowly, like a man threading his way through a mine field. And Tyler looked at him, wondering what Paul was waffling about. 'A man whose grip on reality has never been whole?' Instead of betrayal is this old man trying to send him to the mental hospital?
Paul halted, now turned to the judge,
"You will hear about his history. About the warning signs. About the cracks in his mind that widened until he could no longer tell right from wrong, reality from delusion. You will hear about the thing that caused this crack, how much damage mere words could cause on a young man. You will hear from medical professionals who will testify that his actions not the product of a rational mind, but of a mind broken, fractured, and spiraling out of control."
Paul stopped, hands open, voice tightening
"This trial is not about whether Tyler Robson pulled the trigger, we admit that he did. This trial is about whether society, in good conscience, can execute a young man who was not in control of himself. Whether we answer a tragedy with another tragedy."
He turned fully toward the judge,
"Your Honor, at the end of this case, I will ask you not for freedom. I will ask you for mercy. To spare Tyler Robson's life. To recognize that while he committed a terrible crime, his punishment should not be death, but life, where he can be treated, studied, and contained. Justice is not vengeance. Justice is compassion where compassion is due."
Paul gave a final nod and returned to his seat.
"This will be a tough ride," Paul whispered to Tyler as he sat down.
"I told you that I wanted to go to Tungsten Heights Penitentiary, but it looks like you want to send me to a Psychiatrist ward instead."
"I'm not trying to send you anywhere Tyler, I'm trying to keep your head on your neck."
The Judge adjusted his glasses and looked toward the prosecution.
"Mr. Barra, you may call your first witness."
Rafael Barra rose with confidence, "the people call Detective Raul Mendez."
The bailiff swore him in, and Mendez took the stand. Stocky, broad shouldered, with a cop's weary eyes, he adjusted the microphone and sat upright.
Barra stepped forward, legal pad in hand, "Detective Mendez, please state your name and occupation for the record."
"Raul Mendez, I'm a homicide-detective with the state Bureau of Investigation, fifteen years on the force."
Barra nodded, "Detective, I want to walk through the events of September 13th, the day Charlie Kuck was killed. What did your investigation uncover?"
"The victim, Mr. Charlie Kuck, was engaging with students during a campus debate when he was struck by a sniper round. Thousands were present. Panic ensued. A UVU police officer was who was watching the crowd from an elevated vantage point. As soon as he heard the shot, he began to scan the area for threats. It was the sound of the gun firing that immediately made the officer on ground think two things. One, the gun shot was the sound of a riffle, two that it might be the work of a sniper. We zeroed in on a rooftop far enough from Charlie Kuck's innermost security perimeter, but still close enough to have a clear shot."
"And what did you find on that rooftop?"
"We recovered DNA samples on the ledge, later matched to the defendant, Tyler Robson. We also found boot prints consistent with his shoe size."
"What about the murder weapon?"
"The weapon, a scoped rifle, was discovered in a bush close to the building. The fingerprints on the Gun belonged to Tyler Robson. Ballistic testing confirmed the round that killed Charlie Kuck was fired from that rifle."
Tyler looked around the courtroom, most people there will think he was stupid, leaving that amount of evidence behind for the police. He must be the dumbest assassin to exist, but there was where the problem laid, getting caught had always been part of the plan.