"Objection, Your Honor. Mr. Cross is completely misapplying the rules of evidence. He is citing a statute that was repealed in 1994."
Judge Harrison sustained almost every single one of her objections. "Mr. Cross," the judge warned, rubbing his temples, "you cannot simply read from a textbook and expect it to apply here. The law is nuanced. It requires interpretation, not just recitation."
The jury watched with a mixture of pity and secondhand embarrassment. Elijah was stumbling. His questions, though brilliantly structured in his head, were constantly derailed by Pierce's aggressive procedural roadblocks. She was using the rules not to find the truth, but to suffocate it.
The climax of the mockery occurred on the fourth day when Pierce introduced the prosecution's central piece of evidence: Exhibit 42, a series of digital authorization logs that allegedly showed Sarah Cross's secure employee ID initiating the fraudulent wire transfers.
Elijah stood up, his hands shaking slightly, holding a stack of printed server logs he had managed to subpoena. "Your Honor," Elijah began, his voice trembling but growing firmer, "I'd like to introduce a motion to suppress Exhibit 42. I have analyzed the metadata from the city's servers. The timestamps on these authorizations do not align with my mother's shift schedule. Furthermore, the IP address—"
"Objection!" Pierce interrupted, slamming her hand on her desk. The sound echoed like a gunshot. "Is the defense attempting to qualify this—this teenager as a cybersecurity expert? He dropped out of college, Your Honor. He has no degrees, no certifications, and absolutely no standing to interpret digital forensics in a court of law. This is a desperate, pathetic attempt to confuse the jury with technical jargon he likely found on a Reddit forum."
Laughter rippled through the gallery. Even a few jurors smiled. Sarah Cross put her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking silently.
Elijah's face burned with humiliation. He looked at the server logs in his hands. He knew he was right. The mathematics of the timestamps were indisputable. The transfers had been initiated from a secondary terminal on the fourth floor of the municipal building—a floor Sarah didn't even have keycard access to. But he couldn't get the evidence admitted because he didn't have the credentials the court demanded.
Judge Harrison banged his gavel. "Order! Ms. Pierce, let's keep the commentary professional. However, Mr. Cross, the prosecution is correct. You are not a recognized expert. I cannot allow you to testify on the validity of the metadata. The motion to suppress is denied."