Chapter 17: Legal consultation

The following day, Alice was taken to an interrogation room again. In there was a friendly older lady, who introduced herself as Mrs. Lewis, her attorney. After Alice sat down, she was left alone with Mrs. Lewis and the door closed behind them.

Getting straight to business, Mrs. Lewis started, "Inspector Brown has informed me of the charges, be honest with me Alice, is it true that you had sexual intercourse with a minor?"

Hearing her relationship and the love she felt for John being described as clinically as 'sexual intercourse with a minor', was a big hit in the face to Alice. Not in control of her emotions, she felt her tears well up and softly she nodded yes.

Mrs. Lewis patted her hand friendly and said, "I can understand that it's hard for you, to hear it said like this, but the sooner you face the truth, the better it is. I can see you have a lot of feelings for this young man, but I do hope though that you understand that the law considers it to be wrong for an adult to have a relationship with a minor."

Alice nodded her head again, still not able to speak. After all, she had realized it all along that what they were doing was morally, ethically and lawfully wrong, but she had simply given up caring about all of that and had justified it in her mind that John's mental age was well beyond eighteen. After all, he had been acting very mature around her.

"Can they proof it in court that you had a relationship with..." Mrs. Lewis took a moment to look something up, "with John Richards?"

Once again Alice nodded, adding in a broken voice, "I think they already took John's testimony, Inspector Brown had said that John had told them everything and Mrs. Coleman, a psychologist, was there too."

"I see ... Have you made a confession already?"

"No, not yet. I figured it'd be wise to talk to an attorney first."

"Yes, that was very smart of you. They often try to pull that trick, with people who haven't come into contact with the law before, hoping that a suspect will give a full confession before she spoke with an attorney, so that the prosecution can use it against them."

Mrs. Lewis took a moment to think and then said, "I think it's best if you don't give a testimony to the police, it would only give the prosecution more details to use against you. I suggest you talk with that psychologist though; we can have you declared to be in a state of diminished responsibility and then plead guilty on the charges. The judge will take that with him in his judgment and give you a lower sentence.

"I'm afraid that pleading not guilty won't do you much good, the judge will give you a much higher sentence then, perhaps even up to ten years, while he might only give you one to three years, if you plead guilty. With John's confession it's pretty much a given that the judge will think that you're guilty and it will be hard to disprove John's testimony."

This came as a shock to Alice and it took her a few moments to process this information. Mrs. Lewis waited patiently for Alice to give a response, giving her a chance to let her words sink in.

Finally Alice nodded in understanding.

"What happens now?" she wanted to know, the fear clear in her voice.

"You'll first be brought to the judge either this midday or tomorrow morning, where your bail will be set. Depending on whether or not you can pay the bail, you'll be either free until the court appearance, or you will have to wait in jail."

Mrs. Lewis looked at her seriously, before she continued, "Prison is no place for you, Alice. If you can afford it I would strongly suggest paying the bail. You have to face the likely possibility that you will be sent to jail for several years ... I don't know what your financial status is, but no matter what the outcome of the verdict will be, you will be fired from your current job. If you're unable to pay your monthly bills, like for example the mortgage on your house, then you might want to consider selling it, while you're still free.