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“I just… I’ve always felt that you’d be a great defense attorney—”
“There’s no way you can know that,” Jackson interrupts him again.
“Why? You ask—Good question even if it’s actually weird that you don’t know something that I know,” Stiles says.
Jackson snorts. “Didn’t you say you were tired and sleepy?” Jackson waves his arms.
“Yeah, until a certain someone woke me up and then, accused me of exaggerating.”
“Fine, just say whatever you were going to say,” Jackson shrugs.
“Okay, so, the way I see it, we’re living in an environment where the government is motivated to put as many people behind bars as possible for all kinds of different reasons…”
“People assume this idea of innocent until proven guilty, right?" Stiles says.
"Yeah, obviously," Jackson nods.
"Yeah, but from the practical standpoint," Stiles continues, "virtually everyone in society says well, ‘he was arrested... So they have to at least have some grounds for it…' I mean, there’s an assumption that the state is highly competent. For example, there’s an assumption that the state agency—They have integrity, they’re out for justice, they’re out for good, they’re protecting us, this is the normal American way of thinking about things... And they're not corrupt, and they’re out to catch the bad guys and protect society from the bad guys and so, when they figure out this is the ‘bad guy’ and they put him on trial, it almost feels like American to convict him when you look at it from that perspective.”
“But shit," Stiles shakes his head, "even if you know they're absolutely guilty, they’re still entitled to a defense and if the government is seeking to take away your life, either they’re seeking to delete you or put you behind bars for the rest of your life, they better be prepared to prove that, don't you think? Not for your guilty soul but for the next guilty person that is charged… The government really has the power to kill you... So they better be put to a solid proof to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did it because the next guy that comes along that didn’t do it... That power of the government to take away your liberty, your life, is a huge, huge power... so, all I'm saying is that they better be prepared to meet their burden of proof to do that.”
"Well, there's nothing you've said that I don't agree with." Jackson shrugs.
“Well, good," Stiles nods. "Then you'll understand why I don’t like the idea of you being part of that government. I don’t like to see you in that position. Some prosecutors win all the time because they can pick the case and have all the money to do it. And you’re someone who likes to win. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve always wanted to be the best or at least do your best, and looking at the number of people who are wrongly convicted every year, I’d say that prosecutors don’t do their best quite often, don’t you think? I’d say they fuck a lot for all kinds of reasons… and I don’t know how you’d deal with the idea of convicting somebody who later is found to be innocent. I mean, other people who don’t give a shit might get over it, but as I said, you’re not one of those people and apart from all the shit I’ve said, I do think that your calling is to help people prove their innocence, not put them in jail, okay? But that’s a feeling I have and I don’t have the smart argument to prove it… it’s just how I see it… it’s how—”
“No, okay…” Jackson interrupts him. No smart argument to prove it? Where did all that come from? “That was…” Jackson licks his lips. He didn’t know Stiles had such a strong opinion about this but it’s better to find out now rather than never. “I get what you mean and I can’t say you're wrong—”
“But you can’t say I’m right either?” Stiles frowns.
Jackson sighs, hiding his face between his hands for a moment. “I don’t know,” Jackson’s muffled voice says. “Fine,” Jackson licks his lips, “Everything you said is obviously true. But having somebody’s fate in your hands is also a huge responsibility. If the client is innocent and they’re convicted, I guess... I think I’d probably feel exactly the same way.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Stiles shakes his head, ”I think it’s totally different. Maybe it could be hard at first, I won’t say it won’t be… but I think that if you do everything in your power to win and you don’t, you shouldn’t have the same regrets. From what I know, prosecutors lose their job if they don’t have a certain level of success in their prosecutions... They lose their jobs… but defense lawyers... They get a not guilty verdict and it’s high fives for days... You’re just not expected to win… so if you win the feeling of accomplishment is higher. Then again, this is all my opinion, my theory, and this is your decision and you have to do what you want—What you prefer... So, maybe you shouldn’t listen to me and my feelings because sometimes feelings can’t be explained… that’s why they're feelings… you know,” Stiles adds. Waving his arms.
“Yeah, I know what feelings are…” Jackson nods. “like the ones I’m having about murdering you right now…”
Stiles snorts, raising his eyebrows. “You mean with your teeth?”
“Shut up,” Jackson shakes his head, licking his lips.
“Why didn’t you tell me all that shit before?” Jackson runs both hands through his hair.
“You can’t be seriously asking me this?” Stiles shakes his head with disbelief.
“We should have talked about it,” Jackson admits to himself.
“Let’s see… what about the fact that you never asked me what I thought?”
“Stiles—”
“You accepted the job and then, proceeded to inform me during dinner. So, what was I supposed to do? Of course, there was some… rage and disbelief because you didn’t bother to mention it before you got it but you know I hate to argue with you and you seemed very happy with your decision, so I didn’t want to ruin it for you.”
(To be continued...)