Chapter Text
36 days.
It was like a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. 36 days from arrest to trial to conviction to sentencing to appeal. The fastest capital trial in history and he got to be a part of it because of course he did. He was a Winchester after all.
36 days and thousands upon thousands of dollars and Sam was still going to be executed.
Willful, malicious, heinous, deliberate, intent, vicious, premeditated. These are all words Dean has become reacquainted with over the last 36 days. Words he knew but never thought about. Words he never associated with his baby brother. He can’t remember any of the other details of the trial. It’s a blur and he seems to have blocked it all out, but he can remember those words. They run on a loop in his head.
The brutal murder of Jessica Moore was all anyone could talk about. The beautiful nurse hacked to bits by her attorney fiancée. Gruesome crime scene photos circulated the internet despite the best efforts of the police department to subdue them. The public was out for justice and blood and Sam Winchester was the perfect scapegoat.
It didn’t matter that Sam had maintained his innocence throughout the trial. Nor did it matter that he had the best attorney his firm had to offer. One of the best defense attorneys in the state if Sam was to be believed. He’d even taken the case pro-bono because he liked Sam. It hadn’t mattered in the slightest. Sam had lost. All 12 jurors had quickly come back with a guilty verdict and a recommendation for the death penalty.
After initial sentencing, Sam’s lawyer had told Dean in confidence that he thought the judge and jury had been paid off and that the cops were setting Sam up. He needed Dean to hire someone to sniff out the truth. The next day, the lawyer was found floating off the coast near the pier. He had been beaten to death and dumped in the water. No one from Sam’s old firm would take the appeal case.
Dean let go of his apartment and sold everything but the handful of clothes that fit in his backpack. He sold Sam’s condo and finally, sold Baby. Sam’s new lawyer required double his usual fee just to take the case. The half a dozen private detectives he hired also required double and triple fees, hazard pay they’d called it. Every single one ended up quitting (or disappearing) abruptly without ever finding anything. There was nothing left.
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37 days.
Application to Overturn the Verdict: DENIED.
45 days.
Automatic State Appeal: CONVICTION UPHELD
102 days.
Petition for Certiorari: HEARING DENIED, NO MERIT FOUND
276 days.
Writ of Habeas Corpus: DENIED
281 days.
Execution date set for January 24th, 343 days from the day Jessica’s body was found. Less than one year. In 62 days, Dean would be alone. Sam would be gone.