Chapter 7A

Monday, 7 July 03
1300 EDT
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

AJ and Jules were just outside AJ's office, unlocking the door and talking about seeing a movie that night with Francesca when Tiner reappeared from the break room.

"Ma'am. Colonel MacKenzie asked me to tell you that Captain Sebring is reconvening court at 1330. She asks that you're in the court room in the guest area ready to testify."

Jules smiled at Tiner knowing he'd been stressing about getting that message to her. "Sure thing, Tiner, thanks." She watched as he walked quickly back to his desk and took up a small stack of messages.

AJ got the door unlocked and told Tiner, "Give me a few minutes, Tiner, before you bring in the messages and faxes."

"Yes, Sir." Tiner agreed and watched the Admiral escort the Colonel into his office. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Admiral's hand slip from the small of the Colonel's back down to her hip where he squeezed her six. Tiner's jaw dropped and he looked around quickly to be sure no one else saw.

The door closed behind the two officers and Jennifer Coates walked up asking, "Tiner, why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

He shook his head and said, "Because, Jen, I just saw the Admiral cop a feel of Colonel Merriweather."

Jen's eyes bugged and she whispered, "Coped a feel of what?"

Tiner leaned in and whispered, "I saw him squeeze her six!"

"Well, they are a couple." Jen insisted.

"Yeah, but I've never seen him like this with a girlfriend before. With the last girlfriend the Admiral had, I never saw him touch her so familiarly in the office. And the way they were at the party," Tiner sighed. "I've never seen the Admiral like that."

AJ shut the door behind them and pushed Jules up against it, pinning her in place. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and a leg around his hip.

"You know Tiner saw you touching me, don't you?" Jules asked.

AJ was nibbling on Jules ear when he murmured, "Mmm hmm."

Shivering Jules asked, "You know that this is seriously inappropriate behavior, don't you?"

"Mmm hmm." AJ started nibbling on Jules lower lip.

"Do you care?" She husked.

"No." He said before taking her mouth in a deep kiss.

Jules moaned into his mouth as he nibbled and sucked her lips. She parted them eagerly and he took full advantage, slipping his tongue inside and dueling with hers.

Outside the office door, Tiner kept an eye on the clock. He knew he needed to get the Colonel into court on time but didn't really relish the idea of interrupting the Admiral.

AJ slipped his hand along the silky material of Jules nylons up to the even smoother skin above them. With her thigh hooked around his hip AJ slipped his hands between their bodies, between her legs and stroked her gently through her silky panties.

Jules tore her mouth away from AJ and panted, "If you keep doing that I'll have to change them before court."

"Did you bring an extra pair with you?" AJ asked, dipping his fingers inside her and back out, stroking her tiny nubbin.

Jules tried to keep from moaning as she answered, "No." She panted, "I didn't. So stop that, please, AJ."

He could tell she was close to the edge. Just a tiny touch from him and she seemed to rush headlong to that edge in seconds. God he loved her, what he could do to her. "Then you better take them off." He murmured in her ear before kissing her and bringing her to the pinnacle of her pleasure.

AJ held her, stroking her hip and caressing her cheek, until she floated back down and her breathing evened out. "Ok now?"

"Mmm. You're cruel, AJ." She shivered as a delicious after shock rippled through her.

"I just wanted you to remember me when you're in court. Owen Sebring is an older, balding Sailor too." He smirked.

Jules reached under his guard and pinched his sides, "Yeah, but he's not a SeAL. And I need no help remembering you, Honey." Jules kissed him sweetly on the lips before trying to pull out of his arms. She needed to repair the damage to her appearance before court.

"Neither do I, but maybe I can have a reminder of you." AJ grinned as he shifted his hands.

In the outer office, Tiner worried that there was only ten minutes before the Colonel had to be in court. If she didn't come out in five minutes, Tiner feared he'd have to buzz the Admiral.

"Reminder? AJ? What..." Jules suppressed a surprised squeal when AJ slipped her panties down her legs and whipped them off.

"A reminder." He grinned and stuffed her panties in his breast pocket.

Jules couldn't help but feel another shaft of arousal pierce her knowing that such a personal part of her would reside in AJ's pocket for the time she was in court. Not to mention that she'd be going without suitable and proper undergarments while in a military court.

Jules walked carefully over to where her briefcase was resting and pulled her travel make up case out of a side pocket. She could feel AJ's eyes on her as she repaired her hair and reapplied her lipstick.

"Are you going to cover the love bite?" He asked with a proud grin.

"For now." Jules replied with a coy grin and did just that. She straightened her uniform and presented herself. "So, do I pass inspection, Admiral?"

"Military inspection, yes." AJ grinned and walked over to her. He took her in his arms and carefully kissed her made up mouth. "We'll just see about AJ's personal inspection later."

Jules shivered. She kissed his lips one last time and said, "I'm off. Don't leave tonight without me!"

AJ swatted her tush on her way out the door and watched as Tiner's jaw dropped for the second time in the last half hour. He just grinned unrepentantly at the boy.

Monday, 7 July 03
1330 EDT
JAG Headquarters, Captain Sebring's Court Room
Falls Church, VA

"I call Colonel JC Merriweather to the stand." Mac intoned.

Jules stood and walked confidently to the stand where she was administered the oath and seated in the witness chair.

"Please state your name, rank and duty station for the court." Mac requested.

"Colonel JC Merriweather, USMC, stationed at the Pentagon." Jules stated.

"Colonel, in your work for the Marine Corp, did you have occasion to be certified as a Forensic Firearm Identification Specialist?" Mac asked.

"Yes."

"And you've testified in other hearings such as these?" Mac questioned.

"Yes."

"Your Honor, I'd like to submit Colonel Merriweather as an expert authority." Mac requested.

"So submitted." Captain Sebring stated and noted in his records.

"Colonel, you had occasion a few weeks back to come down to JAG to review some evidence at my request, is that correct?"

"Yes." Jules answered. These things would be so boring if a man's career wasn't at stake.

"You reviewed evidence in relation to a murder charge brought against Lieutenant Commander Ralph Jenkins, the victim being his brother, First Lieutenant Tom Jenkins. Correct?" Mac asked once again.

"Yes."

"What evidence did you review, Ma'am."

"Everything you had in your files, Colonel." Jules answered.

"Specifically, Ma'am." It was like pulling teeth, Mac thought.

"I reviewed the Commander's service record, crime scene photos, a weather report for the evening of the murder, the NCIS report, the police report, the Coroner's report, had you walk me through every detail of the case that you knew and then I requested a full ballistics report from NCIS."

"And you did that, why Ma'am?"

"The report NCIS sent originally was stated to only be inconclusive; I wanted to know why it was inconclusive."

"And what did you find, Ma'am, based on all of this information?"

"That unless Commander Jenkins was in two places at the same time and could shoot a bullet from a hand gun that doesn't hit his target for at least two weeks and can make it look like it came from a rifle, he didn't kill his brother."

Captain Sebring demanded, "Explain," even before Mac could ask her to elaborate.

"Colonel, perhaps the diagram you drew would be helpful?" Mac asked.

"Yes."

Harm set up a blown up version of Jules diagram in position to face the jury, the prosecution, and Captain Sebring.

"Your Honor, this is a blown up version of a diagram that the Colonel drew. The diagram in it's original size has already been admitted to evidence. I'd like this marked in as well please." Mac stated.

"It's marked as defense 7-a and so entered." Sebring scribbled on his pad once again, impressed with the diagram.

"If you'll step down here please Colonel and show us your findings."

Jules stepped up to the diagram and declared, "Ok. Follow on the diagram."

Mac marveled that her words today were nearly verbatim from their interview weeks ago.

"This is the deceased, standing outside O'Malley's facing east," she indicated a Marine insignia then the arrow next to it, "the direction in which his brother, Commander Jenkins, would be arriving from Norfolk.

"How do you know the direction he's facing, Ma'am?" Mac asked.

"I know he's facing this way based on the way he fell after taking the hit." JC explained carefully. "This is the Commander." JC indicated the anchor and another arrow. "This location is where the Commander states he was at the time of the shooting, half a mile away from the bar; he was facing West, walking to the bar. The car, another half mile East of the Commander where he parked it is indicated here." JC indicated a box with what looked like wheels and another anchor was drawn in the box.

"The Coroner's report stated that Lieutenant Jenkins was shot in the chest. The bullet penetrated the heart in almost the side of the left atrium and ripped the top of the right ventricle before it penetrated the upper lobe of the left lung and shattered his 6th rib before exiting the body and lodging in the brick wall behind him."

"Is that a normal trajectory, Ma'am, for where Commander Jenkins was located?"

"No. If the Lieutenant was shot from the Commander's position, the bullet would have penetrated the heart and gone right through and straight out the back."

"So the gun was fired from another location?" Mac asked.

"Objection." The prosecutor jumped up.

"On what grounds?" Sebring asked.

"She's leading the witness, Your Honor."

"Doesn't sound like it to me. Overruled. Continue." He ordered Mac.

The offended prosecutor sat down in a huff.

"What other conclusions were you able to come to based on your review of the evidence?" Mac asked and hoped she continued to be so detailed, as she had been during their initial meeting.

"The Commander said he didn't have his weapon on him the night of the murder, he was coming right from his duty at Norfolk. The Commander doesn't carry his weapon as part of his daily uniform."

Jules continued, "Also, the Commander's weapon is a standard Navy issue .38 semiautomatic handgun. According to the date of the report, the powder residue inside the gun was several days old when it was tested by NCIS, granted, but the powder was actually at least two weeks old inside the barrel of the gun."

"How do you come to this conclusion, Ma'am?" Mac asked, wishing she dared to look at the prosecutor to see his face fall.

"Judging by the carbon and nitrogen testing levels provided in the detailed report I requested from NCIS, too much of those elements had escaped into the air after being fired and sitting in it's holster without being cleaned for me to believe the residue was only a few days old. According to the Commander's service record, he was due to report for a fit-rep three weeks prior to the murder; the appointment was made and kept. His fit-rep was dated fifteen days before the murder. The Commander didn't clean his gun."

"Could it have been fired to cover something up?"

"No, Colonel. The elemental levels in the residue would reflect that." Jules stated.

"You said something earlier about a rifle?" Mac prompted.

Smiling JC said, "Yes, I did. I looked at the picture the microscope took of the striations on the bullet that was supposedly fired by a handgun. There are several too many etchings to have come from the barrel of a handgun; it had to have come from a longer barreled gun, like a .38 rifle. Forensics didn't fire the Commander's weapon and compare it to the bullet dug from the wall behind the Lieutenant; otherwise, there would be a secondary report. That's why your original report was inconclusive, Colonel and why I requested a second more detailed copy for review."

Mac asked, "One more question, Ma'am. On this diagram there's a position across the street from Lieutenant Jenkins position that is indicated with a question mark. What is that?"

"That, Colonel, is where the real murderer was located at the time of the shooting, whoever he or she is."

The prosecutor once again shot to his feet and declared in a strident voice, "Objection."

"To what?" Mac asked.

"Colonel Merriweather can't be sure that a second shooter was even at the scene, let alone in position across the street." He opined.

Captain Sebring removed his glasses and stared at the prosecutor as if he had grown a second head. "I'm sorry, were you sleeping when the Colonel said the trajectory wasn't normal for Commander Jenkins position on the street?"

"Your Honor..."

"Overruled. Sit down." Captain Sebring donned his glasses once more and ordered, "Continue."

"Ma'am, just to recap. On what are you basing your expertise here?"

Jules all but laughed out loud. Brilliant strategy she thought. The prosecutor was for sure going to try discrediting her evaluation.

"My experience and my training in the Marine Corp." Jules answered.

"I have nothing further, Your Honor." Mac sat down and sighed. Eat my dust she thought to the prosecutor.

"Sir, you may begin your cross."

"Colonel. You testified that your current duty station is at the Pentagon. What do you do there, what is your job?"

"That's classified." Jules replied, deadpan.

"I beg your pardon." He asked, blinking owlishly.

Jules was about to answer when Captain Sebring stated. "Move on."

"Your Honor, how can I determine her expertise when she can't answer my questions?"

Sebring's patience with the civilian was hanging by a thread when he stated, rather adamantly, "Her expertise has been established and entered into the record, you need not establish it. Further, if the Colonel's answer to something is classified then you move on."

"Colonel, what exactly does it mean to be certified in Forensic Firearm Identification?" He asked.

"Firearms Identification is a discipline of Forensic Science that has its primary concern to determine if a bullet, cartridge case or other ammunition component was fired from a specific firearm. Also it incorporates a bit of crime scene evaluation science."

"How did you come to be thus certified?"

Jules eyebrow rose at the language as well as him trying to establish her expertise again. "Through the Marine Corp."

"Through the Corp? You're around guns a lot then?" He asked, smirking.

"I am a Marine." Jules answered and noticed that several of the Marine officer's on the jury panel smiled.

"Yes, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Yes it does. Move on." Came Sebring's order.

Sighing deeply, "Ma'am, how many cases have you testified on?"

"I've lost count." Jules wondered just how many times she had been to court.

"More than ten?"

"Yes."

"Have they all been military cases?" He asked.

"No." Jules admitted.

"In civilian courts, when the lawyers ask how you came by your certification, your experience, what do you tell them?"

"The same thing I'll tell you right now. It's classified."

"Do you have any actual questions pertinent to this witness that she can answer?" Sebring asked.

"Yes, Your Honor. I do."

The prosecutor turned to Jules and asked her, "Colonel, were you actually at the crime scene during the murder or right after?"

"I don't have to be to know what I'm talking about, but no. I wasn't there."

"So what in your experience makes you so sure about this case?"

Jules smiled a secretive smile to rival the Mona Lisa. "I'm sorry, but that's classified information."

"I think you've finished your cross, haven't you?" At his nod, Sebring ordered, "Then take a seat. Colonel, have you anything to add?"

"No, Sir. The defense rests."

"Colonel Merriweather, you may step down. Does the prosecution have anything of their own to add?" Sebring looked up over his glasses daring the prosecutor to do something stupid. It looked like a typical Clint Eastwood make my day look.

"No, Your Honor." He admitted sheepishly.

"Closing arguments." Sebring demanded.

Each lawyer took their turn summarizing their cases with Mac reminding the jury that despite Jules not being at the crime scene during the murder or after the crime was committed, her classified experience was not to be discounted, nor was her certification.

When the summations were finished, "Then this court is in recess pending jury deliberation. We will reconvene when they have arrived at a decision." Sebring brought down the gavel and dismissed everyone at 1530.

"Well I could go for a coffee." Mac muttered sarcastically.

"Wanna make a run to Starbucks with me?" Jules invited. "I'm dying for a nice cold mocha frappacino. Sugar and caffeine. What more could a girl want?"

"A cinnamon scone?" Mac grinned.

"Sure. Let's go." Jules walked behind Mac into the bullpen. While she dropped her briefcase in the office, Jules knocked on AJ's office door before sticking her head in.

"Busy Sailor?"

"Just paperwork, Darlin', come on in." He watched as she shut the door and sauntered over to his desk.