American Justice - Chapter 14

Not far from E.D.N.Y, there is a Mexican restaurant that is popular among the staff of E.D.N.Y. In Brooklyn’s memory, he often came here for lunch.

Walking into the restaurant, large segments of memories flooded back, causing Brooklyn to feel slightly uncomfortable.

As he saw the restaurant staff, scattered fragments gradually became clear, and the familiar headache reappeared.

Brooklyn had to choose a nearby table to sit down, rubbing his temples with his fingers to ease the impact of the memories.

This scene made Ben Stone feel strange.

He didn’t know what had happened to Brooklyn. In his view, Brooklyn’s face turned pale as soon as he walked into the restaurant.

“Are you okay, Brooklyn?” Ben Stone asked.

Brooklyn shook his head, ordered a taco, and handed the menu to Ben Stone.

Ben Stone seemed to be familiar with Mexican food, and he skillfully ordered a corn tortilla and a coffee, then returned the menu to the waiter.

Since it was not mealtime, they didn’t order too much, just some snacks symbolically.

After ordering the food, Brooklyn had digested the memories and looked much better.

“You seem to be interested in my case,” Brooklyn started a conversation.

“I just transferred to New York,” Ben Stone explained with a smile. “It’s an interesting case, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t see anything interesting about it. Being falsely accused, framed by a dead person… my goodness, I don’t even know how that woman had such a huge grudge. It even makes me afraid to approach women.”

Brooklyn complained.

“Ben, as a prosecutor, can you tell me how long it will take for a murder case to go from indictment to trial?”

“To be honest, Brooklyn, your case is unbelievably fast,” Ben Stone shook his head. “It’s the fastest I’ve seen in all my years as a prosecutor.”

“Right, if only the federal government could be this efficient in handling other matters.”

Brooklyn shrugged innocently.

Brooklyn stretched his hands with an innocent look.

Ben Stone shook his head and said, “Frankly, Brooklyn, your eucalyptus is unbelievably fast. It’s the quickest I’ve seen in all my time as a prosecutor.”

“Yeah, if only the federal government was this efficient at other things.”

Taco and corn tortillas were brought out, and the two of them started talking about Mexican cuisine. They then talked about the Mexican government, the US-Mexico border, and the history of Texas, and eventually the conversation turned to federal history. In short, they didn’t talk about the main topic, and neither of them wanted to be the first to speak up.

After finishing his taco and leaving half of his corn tortilla and coffee to the bottom, the restaurant began to fill up with customers. Finally, the conversation got to the point.

“What are you going to do, Brooklyn?”

Ben Stone wiped his mouth and asked seriously.

“I don’t believe you will file a lawsuit against the NYPD. You are a judge in the Eastern District of New York, and your work is closely related to the NYPD.”

“What about you, Ben Stone, the prosecutor?”

Brooklyn put down his utensils and asked, lifting his head.

“If I were subjected to improper law enforcement by the NYPD as a federal citizen, and you heard about it, what would you do?”

“The power to prosecute is in your hands, you are the prosecutor.” [Note 1]

“If you can provide evidence, every prosecutor knows what to do.” Ben Stone’s answer was concise and clear.

“Yeah, what should be done.”

Brooklyn echoed and sighed.

“The police are really an intimidating group.”

He hadn’t figured out what role the NYPD played in his own case yet, but as Ben Stone said, he still had to deal with the NYPD and life had to go on. He wouldn’t offend the NYPD for now, which was good for everyone.

Therefore, he transferred the main contradiction to the second homicide team in the courtroom, making them the representative of the NYPD. This made it convenient for both sides to repair their relationship in the future, and also convenient for the NYPD to respond.

Just investigate and punish the second group!

Look! We’re still good, we just got blinded by the bad guys in the second group!

“Before coming to New York, I heard many rumors about you, Brooklyn,” suddenly said Ben Stone.

“What rumors?” Brooklyn recalled his memory and laughed. “Mysterious political family? Mysterious judicial officials? Oh, ABC recently came up with a theory that I am the illegitimate child of the Attorney General.”

“They say I’m the Attorney General’s illegitimate child, haha~”

What Brooklyn said was true.

As Brooklyn was appointed as a federal judge at a young age, speculations about his background have been circulating. Recently, someone claimed that he looked a lot like the Attorney General and might be his illegitimate child.

Brooklyn searched for the Attorney General’s photos and could only say that apart from both being human, he could not see any resemblance.

Stone obviously knew these rumors and laughed along.

“It’s not about that. It’s about the rumors about your work,” Stone explained after laughing.

“The cases handled by you have the lowest complaint rate. That’s incredible.”

No matter how much of a jerk the original owner was, at least he was serious and responsible in his work.

Brooklyn himself didn’t have much confidence in doing better.

“So, can you tell me what the little secret that the victim mentioned was?” Stone suddenly asked, changing the subject.

“I also really want to tell you, but unfortunately, I don’t know what she was talking about,” Brooklyn said sincerely, shaking his head.

“There are not many secrets that can ruin a judge’s reputation, professional misconduct? Unfair judgments? Bribery? Trading power or sex for power? ” Stone guessed one by one.

“I heard your private life is quite famous, maybe it’s trading sex for power,” Stone guessed again.

Brooklyn just shook his head.

“You just said it, I’m a responsible judge.”

“I guess she didn’t have any little secrets. She knew my biggest secret might just be my love of playing cards. So, I think she said that just to make the media show up at her house at two in the afternoon.”

“My friend once warned me not to get too close to Selena, she’s a dangerous woman. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen at the time.”

“You can go check her Twitter, most of the valuable items she flaunts on there are ones I bought, and I’m the one who paid for most of our expenses together.”

“She’s a vain woman.”

Brooklyn shook his head and gave his conclusion.

“So, you couldn’t handle the financial pressure and decided to kill her?”

Benson squinted his eyes and joked.

“Hey! That’s slander!”

Brooklyn knocked on the table discontentedly.

“Be careful, I’ll report you.”

Benson smiled and said seriously, “Actually, I have a lot of questions that need you to answer.”

“For example, why did you go to the deceased’s house?”

“If what you said is true, and she had no secrets, then why did you go to her house?”

“For example, you said you checked the victim’s condition twice, but you seemed calm and composed after getting up from the wall, judging from the bloodstains on the scene. Your walking distance towards the body and towards the door showed almost no difference. This indicates that you were calm at the time, and you should have had new thoughts.”

Ben Stone’s tone was still light, but his words made Brooklyn’s hair stand on end.

The question that he had subconsciously avoided—what he did in the morning—was brought up.

He had no memory of it!

Perhaps it was because the person involved had already died, and his clear memory only extended to the very end.

If there really were no secrets, why did he go?

If he hated someone, shouldn’t he be stingy with every moment spent together?

If there really were no secrets, why did he play cards with Selena?

Brooklyn’s heart was already in turmoil, but his face remained calm as he explained, “I had enough of her entanglement, so I went to warn her not to continue spreading rumors. Our relationship was over.”

“I have to admit that she might really love me, and I still have feelings for her, but I’m tired of the constant bills and frequent situations. I don’t want to continue anymore.”

“She’s a vain and controlling woman who wants to completely control my life. I don’t want to live like a prisoner anymore”.

Ben stone nodded without comment.

“I’ll investigate,” he said. “If what you say is true, all charges against you will be dropped, and we will reopen the investigation into the case.”

“Well, you better start with the second team,” Brooklyn joked. “I heard they had the paperwork ready before the case even started.”

Note:

I don’t quite understand whether this counts as a prosecution or not. The power distribution and functional responsibilities of different departments in the United States are so chaotic that it’s frustrating.