Guilty, You Need to Plead Insanity!

“Open the doors, she's clear,” shouted the prison guard.

Barbara was tentative; she did not like being in this place. She walked down the corridor. It seemed as if all eyes were upon her. Her footsteps echoed loudly with every step.

Finally, she reached a small room with two chairs and two water bottles. She sat in the chair facing the door so she could see the guard standing outside. She waited patiently for Alice, the accused murderer. Five minutes seemed like an eternity before Alice finally walked in.

Dressed in prison orange and reeking of arrogance, she kicked back the chair and sat down.

“You the lawyer bitch that’s goin’ to get me off?” was her opening statement.

"You pleaded guilty to stabbing your housemate, who is also the mother of three kids. You stabbed her fourteen times over drugs you planned to sell to feed your habit. A habit that you have had for twenty years; do you really think you will get off?” questioned Barbara.

“Nah, but I’m clean now. Have been ever since I’ve been in here.”

“Four months,” clarified Barbara, looking at her file.

“Let’s talk about the other thing. You gunna’ help me with that. What did they decide?” quizzed Alice.

“Finish this first. I want to be clear; you getting anything other than a reduced sentence is slim. You might be moved to a different correction center because of your other matter. However, you killed a woman, and now her three kids are with social services."

“Yeah, well, I hated those little brats. Always stickin’ their noses into my things, they got what was coming to them,” Alice spat back.

Barbara hated the justice system and wondered why she had ever wanted to be a defense lawyer. This case had deeply affected her. She could not sleep and hated herself for not walking away, but she needed the cases if she was ever to get anywhere.

“Alice, you need to feel sorry for what you did, especially for the kids.” “We’ll plead temporary insanity; you didn’t know your actions."

“About the other matter,” Barbara began, clearing her throat. “The judge has agreed to let you have IVF to try for a baby."

“Shit, bloody wonderful,” was Alice’s reply.

“So, I get out to go and have that sperm shoved up me, and hopefully, I will have a kid to look after while I’m in here. Got to be worth something, eh?”

“I mean, they have to look after a woman that is pregas won’t they?”

"All that will need to be worked out. It is separate from your murder trial."

Barbara had had enough. She felt physically ill over the decision and wanted no part of it. She could not understand how any judge could rule in favor of someone who coldly murdered a mother of three.

“But I won’t be your lawyer on that part,” she said as she got up and walked toward the door. "We are done here."