Chapter 211: Two Days #211
The Deputy DA stepped aside to give Harley a clear view of the entire courthouse, and she looked around, quickly locking eyes with Amanda Waller.
"Yup, that one..." Harley said, nodding as she pointed at Waller. "I'd recognize that mean mug anywhere," She said, grinning as she shrugged, much to Waller's bemusement.
"What was her name again? Amanda Crawler? Brawler? Roller?" Harley wondered aloud, tilting her head as she rubbed her chin, seemingly deep in thought. "Waller! Yup, that's the one!" She concluded, nodding in satisfaction.
"I see. However, you must have felt skeptical about the bomb in your head and your sudden forced employment," The Deputy DA said as he approached the witness stand. "How did you react to such statements?" he asked, gesturing to the side.
"Oh, I didn't believe it first..." Harley replied, nodding her head. "Cause the government is supposed to be the good guys, right?" She added, raising an eyebrow, to which the DA nodded.
"Everyone thought it was just a bad bluff, but I didn't wanna be the one to prove it," Harley said, shrugging her shoulders. "Since, you know, my head is too pretty to go splat," She continued, chuckling as she pointed at her head.
"Anyways, we went on our first mission to assassinate some drug lord or whatever," Harley said, pausing as she seemed to recall the incident. "One stupid guy went rogue, and his head went caboom," She added, carelessly shrugging her shoulders.
"From then on, there was no more funny business, from me at least," Harley concluded, crossing her arms as she leaned into the witness stand.
"After this mission, how long did you serve under this secret task force, and how many times forced deployments did you have?" The deputy DA asked, emphasizing the forced part.
"I stayed there for about two months and had about a couple dozen missions," Harley replied after a slight pause, which seemed to use to calculate the answer.
"How did those missions usually end? And would you describe them as lawful law enforcement operations? If not, then how?" The deputy DA asked, raising an eyebrow as he briefly turned to the jury before focusing on Harley.
"They usually ended with the target and a couple of my teammates dead," Harley carelessly replied like it was nothing. "There was nothing legal or lawful about the missions," She went on, shaking her head.
"They were abductions, assassinations, executions, and all kinds of cold-blooded murder," Harley concluded with a scoff as she raised a finger with every word she said before waving it off.
"Then, as a mental patient and a Ph.D. in psychology, how did those missions affect your mental state?" The deputy DA asked, nodding as he moved on from the task force subject.
"They didn't do it any favors, I can tell ya that much," Harley replied, shrugging her shoulders as she shot the deputy DA a look that suggested he was an idiot.
"In other words..." The deputy DA said, clearing his throat as he tried to ignore the look Harley gave him. "The task force staff didn't help you overcome your mental hurdles and vulnerabilities. Is that correct?" He asked, to which Harley nodded.
"Would it be accurate to say they took advantage of them instead?" The deputy DA asked, his expression blank as he stepped away from Harley to let everyone else get a good view.
"Oh, they tried. They made all kinds of promises and tried to cultivate a false sense of belonging to the suicide team to goad people like me into staying willingly," Harley replied, grinning as she shrugged her shoulders.
"It even worked with a couple of shmucks with nothin' to lose," Harley said, chuckling as she shook her head. "Well, considering my condition, it might have worked on me too, eventually," She added with a sheepish smile as she scratched her head.
"But I did have some to lose, an' that's what helped me through," Harley concluded, her grin turning genuine for a brief second before she put the old cynical smile back.
"Thank you, I have no further questions," The deputy DA said, nodding his head as he walked to his seat back and started talking to the DA in a hushed tone.
"Does the defense have any questions?" The judge said as he turned to Waller's table after waiting for the deputy DA to get back into his table, to which Waller's lawyer promptly replied affirmatively.
"You may question the witness," The judge said, nodding his head, to which the lawyer immediately got up and approached the witness stand, locking eyes with Harley.
"Dr. Harleen, as a professional therapist, how would you diagnose your mental state?" The lawyer asked as he stopped in front of the witness stand.
"Borderline psychosis and personality disorder, specifically Histrionic Personality Disorder," Harley replied without hesitation, carefree as ever as she gave her answer.
"And what does that specific psychosis disorder entail, exactly?" The lawyer asked, pausing as he cleared his throat and waited for Harley to reply.
"It differs from one person to another, but people with psychosis share three common symptoms..." Harley said, her aura and body language transforming as she began talking about her profession.
"Hallucinations, delusions, and confused and disturbed thoughts," She concluded, sounding more like a professional therapist than the psychotic criminal everyone saw.
"You've stated, under oath, that you participated in more than a dozen illegal operations, including assassinations and abductions," The lawyer remarked, to which Harley nodded carelessly, reverting back to her default crazy blonde mode.
"You claim my client forced you to participate, but you were convicted of similar crimes before your alleged abduction..." The lawyer said, raising an eyebrow as he trailed off at the end of his sentence.
"Considering your mental state, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that your testimony is your own invention?" The lawyer asked and kept talking before Harley could get a word out.
"Maybe you did all that and more out of your own will? Maybe your mind spun those delusions about my client as a self-defense mechanism?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
"It's reasonable to assume someone with psychosis might subconsciously resort to such measures out of self-preservation instinct," Harley blankly said, regaining her professional tone as she trailed off, seemingly in thought.
Looking at her expression, the lawyer barely held back the urge to laugh victoriously, but he was in for a rude awakening.
"However, that is impossible in my case. For the past year or so, I was fully aware of my actions, and my symptoms have receded greatly," Harley said, nodding her head, to which the lawyer immediately frowned.
"I understand my opinion isn't valid because of the matter's personal nature..." Harley said, chuckling as she slowly reverted to crazy blonde mode.
"But I'm willin' to take a second professional opinion, pal," Harley concluded, shrugging her shoulders, to which the lawyer hesitated as he turned back to Waller.
However, before he could say anything, the judge interjected. "Then we will summon an expert to examine Dr. Harleen's mental state. Until then, the witness is excused," The judge said, to which the lawyer's expression soured as he returned to Waller's table.
"The prosecution may call the next witness," The judge said as he turned to the DA table.
"The people call Floyd Lawton..."
...
'That was something...' I mused, holding back a smile as I watched the judge announce the trial would continue in two days after having both parties review their evidence and counterarguments in front of the jury.
It's been several hours since Harley gave her testimony, and the DA had called and questioned Deadshot and Lady Vic. They also provided evidence the forensics team gathered from the secret basement below Gotham General to support their testimonies.
Still, none of the testimonies so far convicted Waller, but that wasn't a problem.
The DA called Harley, Deadshot, and Lady Vic to the stand to prove the existence of task force x and countless crimes and human right violations commited, not to convict Waller since their words wouldn't carry much value regarding the director's identity.
You have to prove the existence of the crime before you start working on pinning it on someone, after all. Ultimately, the DA would have to rely on all the evidence I'd gathered and the testimonies from Nightshade and Enchantress to convict Waller.
It might not look like Waller was losing, but everything was going according to the plan despite appearances. 'But two days...' I mused with a sigh as I got up and headed for the courtroom's exit.
'I guess I could keep an eye on how Question was doing with the religion for the time being...' I shrugged as I walked into the hallway and made my way outside.
'Maybe even work on my new toy...'
...
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