She froze at the stand, with eyes pressed hard on her. She tried to hide her heavy breathing but her body trembled ever so slightly at the end of each exhale. The trial wasn’t going in her favor, being bombarded with this picture made up to demonize her, as if it were a set up.

After the longest 15 seconds ever had passed, she stood straight and looked up, then straight on taking a scan of the people deciding her fate. She began to testify for herself with a grasp of her necklace that read “if it is to be it is up to me.”

“It’s so crazy to me, that my future and life is in the hands of people who have never known me. I have never seen myself as a criminal, as a bad person. This is all new to me. How can strangers know my intentions, my morals, my beliefs purely off of speculation and a sad excuse of evidence. I have a clean record, I work 2 jobs waitressing, I am an artist, I do real estate part time, I have 3 little sisters I love and amazing parents. I have my pets and plants and a loving boyfriend. I go to the gym and swim and cook; if I am putting my energy into these things, how could I have anything left in me to enact evil and pain. People walk away with a lot more against them and people can get locked up for a lot less. I guess it just depends on how much money you have BEFORE you commit the crime right? What if we all decided to come up here and play human?

Lawyers and attorneys have their benefits yes, they help us; but we shouldn’t let them fight the battles FOR us. Anyone can be a saint under the right protection but how many of you would be able to come up here and defend yourself? Flip the coin now, how helpful would this all be if a real dangerous ill intentioned criminal came up here. You the people summoned here by civic duty should be able to come up here and ask this person personally, looking them in the eyes, reading their body language, and getting your questions answered. Don’t let people on the stand be prepared for every question asked that their lawyer drilled into them. That’s when you catch the slip ups not only of the person on trial, but from the people who put them there wrongfully so too. Anyone can be evil if you frame it right. So I hope as I begin to tell my story and my side, that you remember what I said and put yourself in my shoes.

And before I begin just a reminder, my name is Mantaya Breann. Try and remember it while you decide if I kil….”