Chapter 847: Chapter 847: Eggs_1
Silas Jaxon was a police officer of about forty, with a stern expression and a sharp gaze, looking very upright.
From the gallery, Marcel Jefferson nudged Aria Jackson with his elbow, “Sis, one of your peers.”
Aria Jackson glanced at him, “What’s so strange about that? I’ve been to court to testify when lawyers need to cross-examine on some cases before.”
Marcel Jefferson stifled a laugh, whispering, “Wonder if there’ll come a day when you’ll be up there getting grilled by her.”
Aria Jackson was momentarily lost in thought upon hearing this.
In the past, when Suzanne Saunders was a prosecutor, that wouldn’t have been possible. They had instead teamed up to grill someone else. As for the future…
Aria Jackson felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at Purple Summers standing straight and tall in the courtroom.
So good to see she’s still here, still the same.
It was as if just standing there, she would shine.
“Officer Silas Jaxon was the main person responsible for assisting the prosecutor in the investigation of this case; he has been on the job for seventeen years and has solved numerous cases. He is a very experienced officer. When the head of the deceased, Nadia Cory, was excavated from the villa’s garden, Officer Silas Jaxon rushed to the scene immediately…”
Purple Summers picked up a stack of documents in her hand, and as she introduced the case, she distributed them to the witness, jury, judge, and the prosecutor.
She had no assistant and did everything herself.
“Facing such an experienced veteran officer, I’m very curious to ask…” Purple Summers picked up two documents in her hand, “Officer Silas Jaxon, can you explain why these two autopsy reports are completely different?”
“Objection,” the prosecutor furrowed his brows, “The source of the defense’s evidence is in doubt.”
“Your Honor, there’s a signature of the forensic doctor on the last page.” Purple Summers stepped forward and pointed it out thoughtfully, “The autopsy report provided by the forensic doctor spans two pages, but somehow, when it reached Officer Silas Jaxon, only one page remained.”
The judge pushed his reading glasses up and browsed through both autopsy reports for comparison, then turned to look at the witness stand.
“It’s just standard procedure,” the officer on the witness stand replied calmly, “Before evidence is handed over to the prosecutor for investigation, we usually screen out those items which are irrelevant in order to lighten the prosecutor’s burden and to improve efficiency in case handling.”
Purple Summers asked, “Is there a regulation that requires you to do this?”
“No,” replied the officer, “It’s more like an unwritten rule within the police department. Prosecutors are under a lot of pressure at work, usually juggling several cases at a time. Submitting a large amount of useless evidence could increase the workload of the prosecutor, so… everyone does it to improve efficiency.”
“So, all the things you screened out, they’re all useless evidence?” Purple Summers asked.
“Yes,” the other party nodded.
“Then…” Purple Summers took a couple of steps closer, looking straight into the witness’s eyes, “how do you decide which information here is useful and which is not?”
“Listen, I know what you’re trying to say. You’re suggesting to the judge and the jury that I omitted crucial evidence, right?” the officer said calmly, with righteous indignation, “I have seventeen years of experience as a detective, and I’m well aware of what evidence is valuable.”
Purple Summers smiled, “I’m sorry, Officer Silas Jaxon, I deeply respect you, but if all it took was experience to solve cases, why would we be standing here? What is our purpose? It is to question.”
The other party’s face showed anger, “I’m a cop, not an idiot! The skeletal remains that were dug out from the mud came mixed with soil, dead leaves, twigs, small rocks, and so on and so forth! Submitting all these details to the prosecutor would be utterly meaningless!”
“You’re right, but unfortunately, this time you indeed missed a piece of information, and it is extremely, extremely crucial!”
Purple Summers pointed out an item listed by the forensic doctor in the details, which read: several 0.5cm grayish-white insect eggs.