Hey everyone! I'm thrilled that you've all decided to come back for more. I admit, there's a lot going on in this chapter, and it's longer than my usual entries. Therefore, I broke it up a little bit. Let me know if the pacing and/or length worked for you guys or not. The last thing I want to do is to write something that people have to slog through. My goal is to be accused of being an agent of the Lotion Industrial Complex!
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As always; consent is necessary. Obey the law. But hey, anyone high-IQ enough to be part of the ConstantinCrew already knew that anyways. Enjoy the chapter, mis amigos!
It had been ten days since the home invasion, and it had been one hell of a media circus. The five women were taken into police custody shortly after the police arrived to Steve's home. The detectives and forensic investigators showed up not long after that. Steve resorted to sleeping in his office during that time, even when the needs of the business did not call for it. Steve was mildly annoyed by the intrusive nature of the police presence in his home, but then stopped his internal complaining when he reminded himself that this was all a necessary evil.
As soon as the police report was written by the officer who had arrived to take the women into custody, Steve went to the local county jail to fill out five S-9 forms; one for each of them. The names, dates of birth, and other identifying details of the arrested women were now public record thanks to their arrest, thus Steve had all of the information he needed to fill out the enslavement forms. The Female Slavery Laws had language that allowed the victims of crime committed by women to seek ownership in lieu of financial compensation or prison sentences, but only upon conviction. It was a sort of legalized calling
dibs
on female perpetrators, with the victim of their crimes getting the first opportunity to do so. The S-9 forms also required a standard 72-hour STD panel on each woman to be performed; this was for the benefit of their soon-to-be-owner, though it also benefited the local government as well. After all, STD panels were less expensive than the cost of keeping an inmate behind bars.
At first, the local media reported the event as just a run-of-the-mill home invasion. However, once the contents of Kelly's and Michelle's backpacks were revealed-several plastic bottles of vodka and lighters is when speculation ran rampant. The media opined that the five women were connected to
The Pink Claw
women's liberation extremist group, and the community instantly made the connection to the arson of the auction house. The public outcry was both loud and persistent; the community wanted a conviction, and they wanted it
now
.
This pressure was felt by the police department and the district attorney. They both had a solid suspicion that the five women were likely members of
The Pink Claw
, given the similar circumstances of the two crimes. However, more time was needed in order to carry out a thorough investigation into their grander suspicions of a domestic terrorism network. Hounding masses of reporters were present at the home and office of the DA, constantly pressing for answers. This, combined with the fact that the DA needed a high-profile conviction to boost his chances at re-election in the next few weeks influenced his decision to proceed with the charges of attempted arson, forced entry, and trespassing. These charges were still felonies, and ones that had evidence to support them; DA's prefer slam-dunk cases over speculatory ones.
However, the community had to wait a few days longer than they would've liked for the trial. The investigators made relatively quick work gathering the evidence they needed from the crime scene in order to piece together what happened that night; that was not the hard part. The part of the process that led to the waiting, and hence the agonizing public pressure for the police chief and the prosecutors, was the medical condition of Rae and her crew.
Michelle needed immediate surgery in order to rectify her broken ribs from the force of her collision with Steve. Advancements in medical technology had enabled the use of lasers to fuse broken bones back together in many cases, assuming a clean break. However, Michelle's ribs were anything but, hence the need for the old-fashioned rods and screws to be implanted. Luckily, her internal bleeding was minimal, and the hospital had an on-site plastic surgeon to minimize the scarring on her chest cavity from the operation. Michelle woke up from her operation to find that her wrist was handcuffed to the railing per police protocol.
Crystal had a severe concussion, and needed several days to become fully aware of her situation. The neurologist who examined her noted that her symptoms were similar to football players and boxers that he had seen in the past. It took Crystal several days to no longer be sensitive to bright lights or sharp colors. She had to be contained in a darkened cell for her first few days of police confinement.
Rae wound up coughing out the excess water from her lungs rather quickly after police custody. The police station was able to treat her on-site for her hypothermia symptoms; after all, she was butt-naked, drenched thanks to the washing machine, and there was a frigid cross breeze thanks to Michelle's window cutting, Courtney taking out the kitchen window, and Courtney being used as a rag doll on the living room window.
Courtney needed a pint of blood to be transfused into her due to the blood loss. While most of her cuts were not serious, there were a few that required stitches. Her blood was tested for any signs of poison from the rosebush she landed in and was forcefully pulled from. Luckily, the test proved negative. Kelly's injuries proved to be the least serious; no broken bones or internal bleeding, and just some bruising.
Trial
The trial began as soon as all five of the accused were deemed medically fit for trial; a low bar since Crystal, Kelly, and Michelle were still in pain from their injuries. The five alleged home invaders were clad in the standard inmate suit and had a public defender to represent them. While the Female Slavery Laws had a chilling effect on crime, specifically on crime committed by women, the caseload on public defenders was still immense. At the peak workload several decades ago, a public defender had an average of eight minutes to prepare a legal defense. While it became better, the attorney had less than two hours to come up with a legal defense for Rae and her co-conspirators.
The prosecutor introduced the evidence against the accused. DNA samples were obtained from each member of Rae's crew during their medical treatment thanks to a warrant approved by the judge. The DNA evidence from Rae, and Kelly matched the DNA harvested from the skin cells found on the inside of their catsuits recovered at the crime scene; ditto for Courtney's sample and the blood trail starting from the rosebush. For Michelle and Crystal, they used DNA samples and compared them to skin cells found from the footwear removed during the invasion; another perfect match.
Outside of the DNA evidence, there was a lot of physical evidence used against the feminine burglars as well; the old lock on the inside of the bulkhead entrance had damage that could've only come from someone pulling on it from the outside. The rectangular window cut and the window cutting kit found from Michelle's backpack were also displayed for the jury to see, as well as Kelly's recovered lock-picking kit. Courtney's retractable baton had several small gouges from it that support the story that it was used to break the window she used to crawl into Steve's home. The size and shape of the indent in Steve's wall support the story that Michelle was slammed into the wall. The case was iron-clad; Rae and her busty babes had invaded Steven Sharper's home.
Not only had they invaded Steve's home, but the prosecutor was able to show that they had malicious intentions. He showed the several plastic handles of cheap vodka and the lighters recovered from the backpacks at the scene of the crime. These were damning pieces of evidence that they had malicious intent; specifically, that there was reasonable intent to burn down Steve Sharper's home.
