Chapter 05

The Supreme Court

Kim just has time to roll back up beside the plaintiff’s table when Judge Finnegan walks into the room and the bailiff calls for all to stand. Then everyone bows and the judge takes his seat. While the judge flicks through the papers on his bench Kim waves Jim over to ask for a copy of the album of photos of people associated with Dave. It’s handed over and Kim starts to flick through it while the court proceedings open with the usual identification of why they’re all there and who is who. The legal people start a series of quick discussions Kim ignores while he looks for people in the photo album, finding the eleven images he’s looking for he marks them then hands the book to Jim and says, “These are Dave’s top killers, we need to locate them to take them out of the game. I don’t care how! Put them in prison, in hospital, or the morgue as they’ve all killed a number of people. Just get them out of play right now.” Jim takes the album and leaves the court, following correct procedure while he does. Judge Finnegan notes his hurried departure after being given orders by the teenager. After opening up his laptop computer Kim finds the wireless broadband Internet service works. He links to Jim’s office server and logs on to the section about his case to view the folder of images they have. Finding the photos they’ve taken of Dave’s office and home, they are very thorough so they photo every location they may have to later go to, he downloads copies of the images showing the walls with the safes in them. Opening GIMP, an image manipulation program, he puts arrows on them pointing to certain things and labels them A, B, C then saves the changed files. Opening LibreOffice he imports the images to two pages and types under the image what each identified point is, how to open the safe, and the combination to use to open it. On a third page he types the passwords to open both office and home computers along with the details of the banks and bank accounts Dave uses, plus the instructions of what to do when they get logged on. By the time he has that all typed and saved to hard disc as well as a USB portable drive the court legal preliminaries are over and they’re getting ready to start the fun stuff. Kim waves Tim over, hands him the USB drive, tells him what he wants done, and smiles when the grinning Tim leaves the court.

Judge Finnegan has been watching the boy in the wheelchair all of the time he’s been listening to the many solicitors ramble on with the usual opening speech stuff, but listening with only half an ear since that’s all he needs at this point. He’s intrigued. The teenager is busy organising and directing adults to do tasks. The judge isn’t used to seeing a boy acting so mature and in charge. It’ll be interesting to hear what he has to say when his turn to speak comes around, if it does. The boy doesn’t have to actually speak for himself as his legal representative can do all of that.

Sanity

The first issue to be dealt with is Kim’s sanity because so much of the other stuff can be knocked over with that sorted. The Department of Education’s representative hands up the reports written by their psych staff which summarises Kim as being unstable, paranoid, and ready for commitment in a state institution. Madison hands over the reports from the hospital staff noting Kim as eminently sane and stable. The hospital reports are from two doctors while the Department has reports from three doctors. The judge is considering these conflicting reports when Amanda stands up, so the judge nods for her to speak.

Amanda says, “Your Honour, I’ve another matter going before the Federal Court in Adelaide concerning the sanity of Kim Majors. This matter is to determine if he is sane and mature enough to take over the direct handling of the extensive trust I currently handle for him. I started this matter a few weeks ago as it will enable Kim to be better able to manage his day to day affairs if he has more control of his own resources. I don’t expect the court to approve giving him full control, I’m not that naïve, but I do expect them to issue orders allowing him to have a greater access and control over more of his property so he can better respond to his personal needs in their use, especially cash. The Federal Court has engaged two eminently qualified doctors to do an evaluation of Kim and they’ve been doing that for some days. I note they’re in the court as part of their observation routine to evaluate Kim. If Your Honour asks them they may give you a preliminary report of their assessment.” When she sits down the judge slowly nods while he thinks.

Judge Finnegan is about to speak when Kim raises his hand, as he can’t stand this is the easiest way for him to get the judge’s attention to be able to speak. The judge points at Kim while saying, “You wish to say something, young man?”

Kim smiles, “Yes, Your Honour. Just in case it wasn’t clear in the earlier introductions, I’m Kim Majors, the central figure in this case. I don’t think it would be fair to Doctors McDonald and Michaels to ask them to give a report of their findings until after they’ve finished them. I understand they still have another few days or so of observation to go. However, I think I can help clarify this situation a bit without their help. I was badly injured due to an incident on the controlled property of the Department of Education, a place where they have a large ’duty of care’ to me. I’m currently studying Commerce and Commercial Law so I’ve an understanding about duty of care, liability, and compensation. I know they’ll seek to do whatever they can to reduce their liability. So when they send a gaggle of doctors to go over my files and examine me without any prior request or permission to do so and that gaggle has more headshrinkers than physicians, well, is it any wonder I got worried about their intentions and kicked them out before they could do any harm. As you may have noticed, when the copy of their reports of that matter were handed out I read them after my legal staff did. Unlike them, I was at the scene and I can say their reports do not reflect what really happened at the time. Now, I’m sure they’ll argue I’m lying or my memory is confused. But the ward where it happened was a private ward under my legal control as the resident lessee at the time of the meeting. The departmental doctors were so busy getting up on their high horses they failed to notice I had two people videotaping all that went on because I was already concerned this sort of thing might happen. I have here, with me, the two tapes that were made of that meeting if you wish to watch them, Your Honour. You may then find it easier to decide whose recollection of events are clearer and whose recollections are coloured by other factors.” Reaching into the shoulder bag Ali has been carrying for him Kim pulls out the two camcorder tapes concerned then he holds them out for the bailiff to collect to hand to the judge.

Judge Finnegan thinks and says, “Normally disclosure of evidence is an important matter that’s handled before the case reaches court and the responsibility lies with the plaintiff. But this is a convoluted case with the initial claim for insanity came from the defendant and their reports on this issue were not disclosed prior to today. Because these tapes are in response to those claims I’ll allow them as valid evidence. Please put them on to play, Bailiff!” The defendants are now looking very worried.

There’s already a large television with a group of media players in the corner of the courtroom so it takes the bailiff only a moment to identify the correct device to use as playback and set the first tape rolling. Twenty minutes later both tapes have played through and been rewound before being added to the evidence table. Later, copies will be made and given to both sides by the court staff.

Judge Finnegan is trying very hard not to smile when he gives his reasons for judgement. “Having reviewed the evidence provided by both sides I find I must heavily discount the reports by the doctors for the Department of Education and I also note all future reports by these doctors should be heavily discounted because their written reports and statement are at odds in many major respects to what actually took place in the event they reported on as the basis of their evaluations. The reports from the other doctors, which match all of the evidence available and the behaviour of Kim Majors in this court make it clear to me he is sane and in full command of his faculties and he appears to have been in such command all along.” With that matter settled a lot of the other items arising out of that confrontation are also resolved.

The judge gives both tables a few minutes for internal discussions and says, “I think this is a suitable time for us to break for an early lunch since we missed morning tea. With this first matter settled I strongly suspect some of the other matters can be easily settled out of court. I suggest you have some suitable discussions along those lines during the break. It’s now eleven forty, I’ll reconvene at one thirty.” He rises, the court rises, and he leaves while everyone bows to him.

Amanda and Madison are soon besieged by the solicitors from the other table, and they settle down for some heated discussion while Kim moves away from the group.

One Settlement

An older solicitor who’s having trouble to get in amongst the crowd around Mandy and Maddi is looking around, so Kim waves for him to come over. Shrugging, he walks over and holds out his hand while he introduces himself as Mr Ryan Schultz, attorney at law.

Kim picks his brain and smiles while he says, “As I’m sure you know, I’m Kim Majors. If my spies tell me right you’re representing Judge Bean, having come out of retirement to do so because your sister asked you to represent her husband in this.” He’s very surprised as he nods yes.

With a sudden grin Ryan says, “If nothing else, that statement says you’re sane and know what you’re doing as you obviously have good intelligence people and listen to them. I’d like to get some sort of out of court settlement on the writs against my brother-in-law, any chances?”

Kim smiles, “Look, Doomben Dave is being taken out of the picture so Judge Bean is losing his extra income. If all this other stuff goes the full measure he’ll lose a lot more. He’s entitled to retire now and the Court Clerk’s Office has the paperwork so he can register the application. Have him fill it in, pay you a dollar for your services, pay me a dollar compo, and agree to never seek to sit on a bench or practice law again and we’ll leave it at that. Have all the paperwork ready for signature by Amanda, Madison, and me by the time court sits and we’ve got a deal. They’ll do as I want on this.” Ryan smiles, shakes hands again, thanks Kim, and leaves to get his brother-in-law out of this hole he’s dug for himself.

Twenty minutes later he’s back with all the papers and the retirement is registered as well. Kim leads them back to where Amanda has got the others sorted out in some type of order and places the papers before her while saying, “One lot sorted, please sign, thanks, Mandy.” She scans the papers, signs them, and hands them over to Maddi, who scans and signs them as well. Kim takes them back, signs them, and hands them over when Judge Bean hands him a dollar coin, followed by handing his brother-in-law another dollar coin.

Judge Bean turns to Kim and says, “I knew I should retire, but I couldn’t with Dave pressuring me. By forcing it this way he can’t object to my retirement now. Even if I don’t he still loses my influence. Thank you. My wife will be glad of this.” Kim reaches out to shake his hand and they part, not as friends but not as enemies, either.

Kim smiles when he watches the two men leave the court, and he turns to see Madison smiling while she slips her copy of the agreement in a folder which she then slips into her court file case and out of the way.

Another Settlement Done

While the solicitors are arguing Kim introduces himself to some of the solicitors from the Attorney General’s Office. Four are in agreement with the aims of their political masters, the fifth, the most junior, isn’t in agreement as she’s on board simply for her legal knowledge. Kim talks to them and convinces them to accept an agreement which will require approval from the Attorney General. They’re to pay Kim a dollar each and agree not to handle any future cases against children, cases about sanity, or defend cases against a personal compensation claim while employed by the government. It takes them a while to get approval from their boss, but he’s on hand and they soon get him to agree. The papers are soon prepared and signed by all of the parties involved. That makes six dollars compensation for Kim so far today.

Kim moves away from the table when he spots the doors open and his lunch arrives, along with food for the rest of his people. Two bailiffs, both with huge grins, are escorting five armed people in combat armour carrying meals for all of Kim’s people at the court. Kim agrees it must look odd, but the circumstances aren’t ones to take risks with.

The other solicitors aren’t happy when Kim insists they break up for fifteen minutes while Amanda and Madison eat their lunches in peace. The Attorney General starts to argue, but he shuts up when Kim says, “I think it’s time you realised I’m the one calling the main tune here! The longer you tire out my legal representatives the more it’ll cost you and your party in money, prestige, and people. Now shut up, and go get your own lunches. We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.” Gasping for air the stunned people stand and file out.

While everyone eats they discuss the situation between bites. After some discussion Kim says, “Look, my main concern is with the power people and the Departments. I’m happy to let a lot of the lower level individuals off with a dollar and retirement from public employment. That allows us to get a lot of the stuff out of the way to reduce the list of respondents to the politicians and the Departments. Oh, the Attorney General is on the politicians list. So we can use this to close out the cases against Mrs Whitty, the Education Secretary, and the secondary cases.”

More Decks Cleared

After the short break the other solicitors are back, and pushing to sort out what they can. Amanda deals with most of them while Maddi takes the representative for Mrs Whitty aside to get a quick agreement for Mrs Whitty to retire, admit culpability, and to pay one dollar. Failure to put in retirement papers within a month will incur payments of a thousand dollars for each day of delay. The terms are accepted and the agreement is signed by all concerned. With the signed paperwork in her hand Mrs Whitty is quick to leave so she can go to the Department headquarters to lodge her retirement papers today.

A similar deal is worked out for the Secretary of the Department of Education. However, the penalty for not resigning within the month is a daily cost of ten thousand dollars.

Harry’s solicitor is very fast to agree to a settlement where Harry acknowledges all of his past criminal activities against Kim’s family where he admits being at fault in writing, pays Helen fifty thousand dollars by bank cheque, will lodge papers for a divorce within a week, and is to never see Helen, Lee, or Kim again. The family will take no further action for any of the matters mentioned in his written confession so long as he takes no further action against them of any sort.

By one twenty in the afternoon the legal situation has clarified a lot with settlements being reached for the secondary cases along with some of the initial cases. Everything else has been rolled into one case around the responsibility for the original matter with all remaining respondents being seen as partly responsible for causing the incident. The amount of compensation being asked is now five hundred million dollars from the government and two million dollars from each of the individuals named in the new list of respondents: the Queensland Government, the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Education, the Treasurer, and the Attorney General.

Everyone breaks up to prepare for when court sits again and the matters get restarted.

Disrupting Dave

When Kim gives Jim the photos he’d marked Jim takes them outside to speak with Jungle about the task. They both agree this is one for Jungle’s people to deal with so he takes the photos and walks off. Jim is heading back inside when Tim arrives with the stuff Kim gave him, so Jim and Tim go to their mobile headquarters to discuss the action.

Jungle takes the photo album to his mobile headquarters which is a coach bus converted to his needs. Inside it he stops to talk to his armourer, “Guns, how many of those purse popguns did you get locally, and how many of them are converted?” He’s asking about some .25 ACP sub-sonic pocket pistols he was getting ready for use in special situations.

Due to the differences in state laws about guns they had to buy some locally. These small pistols are short barrelled ones designed as pocket pistols and for ladies to carry in their purse for self-defence, the only problem with them is they’re so underpowered and short range they’re only good if the person is right on top of you when you fire and hit them with a few shots or you switch to ammunition you aren’t supposed to use on people. They look more like toy guns than looking like real ones. But with a couple of modifications and loaded with hollow point rounds they make damn good assassination guns. The low powered round and short barrel means they’ve no accuracy beyond ten metres or so. The low power also means the rounds won’t pass through the body of the target to hit someone behind them. Using hollow points ensures the hit is painful and it removes any risk of a pass through shot with any part of the body. A solid round can pass through an arm to hurt the next person. The modifications ’Guns’ does to the pistols is to remove the sights, small as they are, and to attach a very small laser targeting sight. Next is a small handmade cover to clip over the ejection port to catch nine .25 ACP cartridge cases to allow room for the magazine, one in the chamber, and leave a bit of space. This attachment curves out and over the hand if the gun is held in the right hand. The hardest modification is the handmade sound suppressor fitted onto the barrel. This changes the sound from a low pop to a soft sigh that’s hardly heard at all.