The hearing continues;
Justin argues, in her mind, Hope was protecting herself and her family from a
man who presented an imminent threat.
He makes a heart-tugging plea, and asks the court if they were in her
position, what would they do? He
discusses the circumstances that lead up to Hope’s appearance at the mansion
that night; he says there are things the court must take into consideration
before a fair sentencing can be made.
He presents a file on Steffano DeMira; 13 depositions of witnesses
attesting to the time Steffano held Hope prisoner, tricking everyone in Salem
into thinking she was dead, and accounts of officers of the law and court being
bribed by Steffano to have charges dropped, or disappear altogether.
The prosecuting attorney objects to anything
in that file being used, but the judge says she will give all of the information
careful consideration before making her decision. Justin stresses the need for the court to recognize “reasonable
belief” as a result of Hope’s prior mental condition, which was verified by
doctors to be a factor resulting from the past threats of Steffano DeMira; he
says her actions, that night, were matters of pure instinct and
self-preservation, not premeditation.
He calls Hope Brady to the stand.
Hope tells the judge that she remembers going to the DeMira mansion that
night, but she doesn’t remember pulling the trigger; still, she knows she did,
and she is willing to face whatever punishment she has to. Andre testifies next and tries shaming the
court into sentencing harshly; Chad then gets on the stand. He says his father is not on trial today,
and points out that Hope isn’t either, because she already confessed to
shooting his dad. He talks about his
son, and how his love makes him feel; imagining that he could have reached his
father someday, but says Hope robbed him of that chance…says he was unarmed,
and frail and no visible threat (other than the memory of what he had done in
the past).
He then tells Hope that she
is his family too, but he can’t sit back and watch silently as she gets away
with what she’s done; he asks for an appropriate punishment, leaving it in the
court’s hands. The judge adjourns to
deliberate. It doesn’t take long for
her to come back with a ruling; she agrees there was no pre-meditation and
charges her with second-degree murder, sentencing her to twenty-five years in
prison with no possibility of parole. An
emotional goodbye ensues. He friends
and family say they have to fight this; it can’t end this way.
Teresa packs to leave the hospital; her dad comes to
get her. He hugs her, saying he
couldn’t bare to lose his sweet little girl; she apologizes, saying Brady’s
love is just stronger than she ever could have imagined. She tells her dad that she now knows what she
has to do. Brady is apparently
oblivious to her overdose… he is on the phone, looking for her. Nicole comes in and asks Brady if he is
okay; he says no, because he has realized that he doesn’t even know Teresa at
all. Teresa tells her dad she’ll have
to thank Kayla for checking her in under a different name so Brady hasn’t found
her – her dad tells her that she needs to thank Andre because he’s the one who
found her and brought her in. Teresa
says she set all this in motion a long time ago and she has to pay up; old sins
cast long shadows, she says. Her dad
hugs her as she dreads having to break things off with Brady and leave her
son.
Brady tells Nicole he just can’t believe
that she would be doing this, he can’t believe almost any of it; Tate wakes up
and Nicole asks if she can get him. As
she holds him, Brady reminisces about how Teresa used to hold him like that,
and dote on him, adding that it all changed a couple of weeks ago – she’s been
avoiding him lately. One minute she’s a
loving mother and the next she’s full of resentment and anger; he wants to know
what triggered it. Nicole offers (or
rather begs) to watch the baby, while Brady goes out to look for Teresa; Teresa
is now on the phone with Mateo, standing in the park with her dad… Mateo has a
suggestion of something that would make Brady hate her, and not want her
back. It does not reveal to us what
this suggestion is.
Teresa is home now
it appears, leaving pictures of her family and a note with a motel name and
room number where she will be meeting someone.
I guess the idea is to make Brady think she’s screwing around on
him. Brady comes home and finds the
note; he goes to the hotel, where he
finds Teresa on the bed, in a nighty, cutting up lines of coke with a credit
card… she smiles at him. Brady grabs
the man when he plops down on the bed next to her and slams him up against a
wall.
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