Source: https://haroldwrites./2016/07/05/guilty/

***
Bamidele Ayodeji went through his case file again as he awaited the arrival of the trial Judge. This should be a pretty easy case for him. Everything was in place to get the conviction he wanted - the conviction he needed. The conviction he badly needed. It was a murder case. The victim was identified. She was poisoned by a bitter admirer who could not handle her rejection of his advances. This bitter admirer – the accused - was apprehended after dogged investigation by men of the Police Force. The proof of evidence before the court, established that the accused committed the murder. The accused also confessed to the crime and his confessional statement formed part of the proof of evidence before the court. As far as Bamidele Ayodeji was concerned, this was a done deal.

How the proceedings of the day were going to be conducted played out in his head.

Court Registrar reads the charge to the accused. He pleads guilty. Bamidele calls in his witnesses and tenders the incontrovertible exhibits. The accused counsel who is assigned to him from the Legal Aid Council cannot impugn any of the exhibits. The court will admit the exhibits including the confessional statement of the accused. The court will proceed to find the accused guilty of murder – he admitted committing the crime anyway - and then, sentence him.

“Ah,” Bamidele Ayodeji heaved a deep sigh of relief. He could not believe he would be getting his first conviction after five years as a Public Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice. The infuriating words of Mr. Alex Oguntoyibo, his director at the Ministry, whizzed into his head.

“You are a good for nothing scumbag!” Mr Oguntoyibo had screamed at him the other day. “I don’t know how you got in here. Five years at this Ministry of Justice and you haven’t got a conviction? Of what use are you to us? Who employed you?! Who do you know?”

Mr. Oguntoyibo’s recent tirade at Bamidele was one of several of such heated words. He was always angry at Bamidele at the slightest provocation. Bamidele knew the reason for Mr. Oguntoyibo’s bad blood with him, and it had nothing to do with Bamidele’s work ethics or lack of achievements. When new recruits at the Ministry were hired, Bamidele Ayodeji was chosen by the Board of Directors at the Ministry over Mr. Oguntoyibo’s preferred candidate.

“Court!” The yell of the Registrar announcing the entrance of the Judge jolted Bamidele Ayodeji out of his reverie.

Show time.

***

April 23, 2016

Hi.





Eze Chinagorom slammed his phone on the table as he cursed under his breath. He had been trying to get the attention of a lady he recently met on Twitter to no avail. He had not been keeping count, but this could easily be the one hundredth Direct Message he would be sending her since he started following her on Twitter and all she could say in response was “Err. Okay”.

Err Okay? Who did she think she was to treat him with such disdain? Kim Kardashian? He had over eleven thousand followers on Twitter who all worshiped him and looked to him as a mentor of some sort. He was a Twitter Celebrity and every girl whom he had DMed had responded affectionately to him. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with “EzeDollar” as he was fondly referred to on Twitter? The popular “EzeDollar!”

His phone buzzed and he picked the call.

“Eze Dollar, where you dey?” the voice from the other end of the line enquired. It was his roommate from Unilag, Kazeem. They were to meet at a wedding event at Onike, Yaba.

“I dey the place already na.”

“The wedding venue? As in you don reach the event centre for Onike already?”

“Yes na.”

“I no believe you. The wedding don start?”

“Something wey we dey reception already. Wedding wey don almost finish.”

“Yepa! So how many chics you don block since you dey there?”

“Omo, I never see any Ogbanje yet o...”

“What of that Twitter babe wey you been talk say you go control? That one wey you say you go carry go the wedding as your date?”

“That Nkem babe?”

“Ehen, yes! That one.”

“My guy, forget that babe. She be winsh. She no dey reply my DM sef. She just send one yeye reply like that now now.”

“Wetin she talk?”

“Omo, if I catch that babe ehn, I go just kill am walahi!”

Eze could hear Kazeem laugh at the other end of the line.

“Wetin she talk?” Kazeem asked again.

Before Eze could tell his friend what an ill-luck Nkem was, a young lady walked past his table. He caught a whiff of her perfume and turned towards her. She looked like Nkem, the Nkem he was recently messaging on Twitter. The Nkem he was just talking about.

“My guy, hold that talk for a second. I dey come,” he said to Kazeem.

With that, Eze dropped the call. He kept gazing at the lady as she took her seat a few tables from his. She was alone. Eze dusted invisible spots off his shirt, poured a drink in the red cup on his table, took the cup in one hand and stood up, walking towards the lady’s table. When he got there, he asked, “Hi. I could swear you look like someone I know – Well, someone I know on Twitter. Would you by any chance be NK on Twitter? Do you have the name “Nkem” as your bio?”

The young lady took a good look at him. She could not place his face.

“And you would be?” she asked, needing some clarifications.

“Oh sorry about my manners. I am Eze – Eze Dollars on Twitter.”

“Oh, it’s you!” the lady said in a pleasantly surprised tone. “Yes I am NK - Nkem. I must apologise for not responding to your DMs on time... I have been really busy, especially this morning. I had to prepare for this event. The bride is my friend...”

“Oh, wow,” was all Eze could mutter. There was something different about the Nkem he was speaking to. She sounded different from the Nkem he was trying to have a conversation with on Twitter. She was warm and receptive, unlike the online Nkem who responded coldly to him.

“I must also apologise for my strong words on Twitter,” Eze said.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Nkem said with a wave of hand. “I get that all the time but I don’t take them personal. It’s just Twitter.”

“No, really, I mean it. I am sorry...”

“It’s okay E...”

“Eze. My name is Eze.”

“Yes, it’s okay Eze. Really.”

“To make up for my Twitter acts, I offer you this drink,” Eze said as he pointed his cup of drink to her.

Nkem smiled. “You know I can’t take that. I barely know you. But thanks.”

“You think I’m going to poison you?” Eze said with a charming smile on his face.

“Oh no no,” Nkem said. “It just feels weird. We’ve just met...”

“And I’m trying to apologise for my attitude...Please..” Eze took a sip from the drink as if to prove to Nkem it was not spiked.

“You’re charming in person. Alright, bring it.”

She collected the red cup and gulped its content.

***

“Call the first case,” Justice Okokon said to the Registrar of court as he took his seat. Bamidele Ayodeji was expecting to hear his case being called. It was a criminal matter and as was the procedure in Justice Okokon’s court, criminal cases were heard first. To Bamidele’s surprise, a civil suit was called by the Registrar.

“Must be an oversight,” he muttered to himself as he sat back and listened to the civil proceedings. It was a matrimonial cause action. A wife wanted a divorce from her husband barely two weeks after their wedding. Her reason for wanting a divorce was because the man broke their pre-nuptial agreement. She was a sex worker before they got married. The man was one of her customers. He had talked her out of continuing in the business of sex hawking and promised her a better life if she agreed to marry her. He said he had never met a woman who satisfied him sexually the way she did and he would like to have her all to himself for the rest of his life. In return, he promised to get her a choice property at Banana Island within a week of their marriage – if she chose to marry him. She requested that these terms be incorporated into an agreement if he was serious about marrying her. He agreed. After one week of the marriage and he did not get her the choice property as promised, she became apprehensive. After two weeks of marriage and no-show from the man, she wanted out.

Bamidele returned to his case file. He expected his case to be called next. As he went through his papers, he saw the confessional statement of the accused. It read,

“I Eze Chinagorom, male, 25, student at Unilag and Nigerian National hereby make this confessional statement. I know the deceased. We crossed paths on Twitter. She rebuffed my advances and so I poisoned her with rat poison when we met at a wedding event on Saturday April 23, 2016. I am sorry. It was the devil.”

Bamidele then turned to some print outs of Twitter conversations between the accused and the deceased. They showed the deceased did not accede to the accused advances. The accused must have been bitter after this, Bamidele concluded. He had a motive for killing her.

Bamidele heaved a sigh. Then he turned to the phone conversation transcripts between the accused and his friend on April 23, 2016. The statement that piqued his interest was this: “Omo, if I catch that babe ehn, I go just kill am walahi!” This statement was made just before the accused met the deceased in person. Bamidele shook his head. The accused kept to his threat. He killed her.

The Registrar called the next case. It was Bamidele’s much awaited case.

***

Tosin Adeyanju stepped out of the keke napep just in front of the court. He was running late to court this morning. He was not supposed to be in court today as today was one of his rare days off, but he got a call from Tayo, his colleague from the Legal Aid Council and counsel personally handling the matter. Tayo had developed the flu this morning and had called Tosin to stand in for him.

“I can’t just appear in a matter I am not fully abreast of,” Tosin had said to Tayo over the phone. “I need to study the file and have a pre-trial meeting with the accused. I need to know who and what I am defending.”

“You don’t have to worry about anything, Tos,” Tayo assured from the other end of the line. “You don’t have to do anything today. It is a murder case. Once the accused takes his plea, all you have to do is watch proceedings.”

“I’m missing something here...”

“Tosin, this isn’t one of the cases you want to fully get involved in. The accused does not need your legal expertise.”

“I ...don’t...understand.”

“See, the accused is one Eze Chinagorom. A douchebag of a guy. He was making advances at the victim. She did not want him. So he poisoned her. It’s a bad case, Tos. He is guilty. He said so himself.”

“He told you so?”

“Well, no...”

“Have you had a pre-trial meeting with him before?”

“Umm...No. But he confessed to the crime...It’s in his confessional statement..I saw it in the proof of evidence sent to the Legal Aid Council...All the documents are on my desk in the case file.”

“But have you had a pre-trial meeting with him? He is supposed to be your client.”

“He is the Government’s client. We are a government parastatal and we render pro bono services to all these criminals who can’t afford lawyers of their own...Look, Tosin, I know you love doing your job very well, but trust me, this particular case is a done deal. He is guilty and he will be convicted. Today.”

“How do you know that?”

There was a lull in the conversation.

“Talk to me Tayo,” Tosin pleaded.

“I had a meeting with the State Prosecutor over the weekend...”

“You met with the Prosecutor? Tayo, you met with the Prosecutor? And?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way...He furnished consideration for me not to challenge any document he will tender today...”

“What do you mean by he furnished consideration? You were given a bribe?”

“Oh no no. It is not a bribe. Well, I was given a token to cooperate. You know I need the money for my sister’s surgery. The State Prosecutor, one Bamidele guy like that, showed me everything. The Eze guy is guilty. He killed the girl. Bamidele does not want a long and unnecessarily protracted trial when all the facts and exhibits before the court prove the accused committed the crime. He just wants to be done with this case...”

“Is that all? Just that?”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this but...but...Bamidele knows the Judge. I think they’ve spoken about the case and the Judge is in as well. He will convict the accused, no matter what the Defence counsel does. No matter what you do. I’m sure Bamidele already told the Judge we are in too. We won’t be opposing any document...”

Tosin could not believe his ears. He could not believe what his colleague was asking him to do.

“Hey Tos,” Tayo called. “We are not the bad guys here. The accused is. He killed an innocent girl. He should face the wrath of the law for that. We should aid the course of justice.”

Tosin dropped the call. He had heard enough. He would go for the case and he knew just what to do. Or so he thought.

***

Tosin walked in just when the matter was called by the Registrar. He heard the State Prosecutor, Bamidele Ayodeji, announce his appearance. Tosin Adeyanju quickly hurried to an empty seat in the front row.

“May it please this Honourable Court,” he said as he stood by the empty seat. “My name is Tosin Adeyanju. I announce my appearance for the accused.”

Bamidele Ayodeji took a quick glance at Tosin. The face and name were unfamiliar. This was not Tayo. This was not the Legal Aid counsel he had met over the weekend. Tosin caught him taking a glance at him.

“Yes, State counsel,” Justice Okokon called on Bamidele. “What is the matter slated for?”

Bamidele stood up again. “My Lord, the matter is slated for arraignment.” He took another look at Tosin. “The accused is in court.” Bamidele looked to the back of the court room. The accused, Eze Chinagorom was brought into the court by men of the Police Force. “If it pleases My Lord, we are ready to proceed.”

As Bamidele took his seat, he took another look at Tosin. He gave Tosin the eye as if to say, “are we good?” Tosin refused looking at him. Instead, he rose and made an application to the court.

“My Lord,” he said. “I have just been briefed to defend the accused, but I have not had a meeting with him. If it pleases My Lord, may I humbly ask for a fairly short adjournment, to enable me be properly briefed by my client...”

Bamidele was surprised at Tosin’s application. Who was this guy? he thought.

Bamidele knew he would not be conceding to any adjournment. He could not concede to any adjournment. He had to commence trial today.

“My Lord,” Bamidele said as he stood. “I will be objecting to counsel’s application for an adjournment...”

“Yes, objection sustained,” Justice Okokon said even before Bamidele could complete his statement. “Mr. Adeyanju, this is a trial court. I take my cases seriously. I will not condone any unserious counsel in my court. You said you were briefed to handle this matter. Why didn’t you come prepared if you were briefed? Who briefed you if not the accused? What useful purpose will an adjournment serve?”

“My Lord, the case file was only assigned to me this morning at the Legal Aid Council...” Tosin stuttered.

“You said you were briefed in your earlier statement,” Justice Okokon said. “You didn’t mention anything about the Legal Aid Council. Why are you approbating and reprobating, counsel?”

At this juncture, Tosin knew he was not going to get any favours from this Judge. The Judge had made himself clear. He would hear the matter today.

“My Lord, I apologise if I didn’t use the right words earlier...In the circumstance, may I ask for a short stand down so that I may confer with my client?”

Justice Okokon fumed at Tosin’s request. But he decided to grant it. It was the least he could do.

“Case stood down,” he said. “For ten minutes. Registrar call the next case.”

Immediately the Judge stood the matter down, Tosin rushed out of the courtroom to meet with Eze Chinagorom who was in the custody of a Policeman. On meeting Eze, he asked for some privacy from the Policeman. He was obliged.

Tosin stared at Eze, performing a ritual he had always done whenever faced with cases such as this. He looked into Eze’s eyes and said, “We haven’t met before but I need you to tell me the truth. Did you kill her?”

Eze flinched. He looked at the ground.

“Look me in the eyes, Eze. Did you kill her?”

Silence.

“You need to help me here. I cannot do this if you don’t cooperate with me...”

“It doesn’t matter what I did or did not do,” Eze said, almost curtly. “I already made a deal with the Police....”

“What are you talking about? What deal?”

“They said if I wrote a confessional statement, they would offer me a plea bargain and I would be out of the cell in three months...”

“What?!” Tosin almost yelled. “Who gave you such deal?”

“The Police lawyer.”

“The one in court?”

Eze nodded.

Oh my God, Tosin muttered to himself in disbelief. “You don’t know what you’ve got yourself into,” he said. Tosin knew Eze could never get such a plea bargain. It was not only difficult; it was impossible. This was a murder case and the statutory punishment was death. No more, no less. Eze was billed for the hangman’s noose. “But did you kill her?”

“No. I only offered her my drink. Next thing she collapsed and there was pandemonium in the place. I did not know what to do. She died before the paramedics could arrive.” Eze paused. “The Police were invited. The autopsy report from the paramedics said she died from poisoning. I don’t believe them. I drank out of the drink before giving it to her.”

“You did what?”

“I drank out of it.”

“So you did not poison it?”

“No.” Eze looked at Tosin with surprised eyes. “Where would I get the poison from? I went for a wedding. I was waiting for my friend when I saw her walk into the event centre. I took my drink over to her table. I drank from it before offering her...”

At this point, the Police man who had earlier been with Eze informed them that, the matter was being recalled in court. Just before they walked back into court, Tosin told Eze, “Whatever you do, don’t plead guilty.” Eze gave him a confused look as if to say he was going to plead guilty. It was part of the plea bargain. He had to plead guilty to get the deal. But Tosin repeated, “Do not plead guilty. Please.”

***
Source with conclusion: [url]https://haroldwrites./2016/07/05/guilty/
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