Chapter 15 - A Twist in the Evidence
On the third day of the trial, Mark's defense team made a desperate move.
They called a surprise witness: an associate of Mark's named Victor Vance, who claimed to be the Chief Technology Officer of Mark's startup company.
Victor took the stand and dropped a bombshell.
"Naomi Carter was never an innocent victim," Victor testified under oath, holding up a piece of paper. "She was a secret co-founder in our company. She willingly signed her house as collateral to secure our corporate loan last March."
The courtroom erupted into loud murmurs.
If true, this meant Naomi had committed perjury, and Mark's loan was legal.
Mark grinned broadly at the defense table, giving his mother a victorious thumbs-up. Elaine gasped, clutching her hands in hope.
Prosecutor Jenkins requested an immediate two-hour court recess.
Inside the prosecution room, Naomi was furious. "I never met that man in my life! That signature is a fake!"
"Don't panic," Daniel Mercer said, stepping into the room with Ray Miller. "We knew they might try something like this. Ray, show them."
Ray Miller opened his laptop, connecting it to the room monitor.
"Victor Vance submitted a digital PDF scan of the supposed contract," Miller explained. "I ran the document's metadata through a forensic software program. The contract wasn't signed in March. It was created four days ago on a computer inside Victor Vance's home."
Miller zoomed in on Naomi's signature on the document.
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"Look at the pixels around the signature," Miller pointed out. "It's an exact, high-resolution cut-and-paste of Naomi's signature taken from an electronic birthday card she sent her mother on Facebook two years ago. The metadata even includes the original card file name!"
Prosecutor Jenkins let out a fierce laugh. "They didn't just commit forgery—they just submitted fabricated evidence in a court of law!
