Christopher Mallon

Professor Coulter
UW 1020 Section M42
17 April 2014
Slip Through The Crack
A forgotten convicted felon catches a lucky break, only to have his past catch up with
him when he least expects it.
Act One:
Michael Owen, 20, has finally decided to make a purchase he has been contemplating for
quite some time. After a bit of small talk with the storeowner, he informs the man that he
will be purchasing the Beretta 92A1 semiautomatic pistol in the glass case directly in
between them. Michael leaves the shop with reading the brochure that the storeowner has
thrown in with the gun for other Beretta models. After completing the short drive back to
his apartment, he throws the brochure in with a pile of paper on the kitchen counter.
Michael relaxes himself into an armchair in front of the TV before finally retiring to bed.
The next day, Michael faces a difficult customer at the garage that currently employs
him. After the manager is forced to break the two men up from a physical altercation,
Michael is told to pack his things and not return for work the next day. A few weeks pass
in which Michael searches for other sources of employment so he can maintain his rent
payment. Already behind on payment, he comes home to an eviction notice on the door.
With the help of his friend, Daniel Anderson, he moves all his belongings to Michaels
girlfriends apartment. After they finish, Daniel and Michael decide to make a run to the
fast-food place just down the street. They show up late, only to notice that the manager is
transferring a cashbox to his car, ready to deposit the days profits at the local bank. After
weeks of hopeless job searching and numerous runs for fast food, Michael becomes
desperate for cash and sees an opportunity. With the accompaniment of Daniel, Michael
decides to steal the cash box from the manager. Using his Beretta, Michael threatens the
manager as he goes to get in his car. After an altercation that leaves the manager
unconscious and Daniel bleeding, the two assailants flee in Michaels car to the local
park to ditch the gun and the car. During their escape, a local witness calls in the license
plate number of Michaels car. Days later, cops confront Michael and arrest him in front
of his girlfriends apartment.
Act Two:
Michael, sitting on his bed in the county jail, is summoned to stand up by the officer in
charge of the cells to be walked to his trial. Michael enters the courthouse handcuffed and
is told to sit at the defendants table with the state-issued defense attorney. After being
presented with insufficient evidence for a conviction, the jury still rules Michael guilty.
The main pieces of evidence are the witness ID of the cars license plate as well as the
Beretta brochure that was found in Michaels girlfriends apartment. After being returned
to his holding cell, Michael requests to see his attorney. After a long discussion with the
attorney, Michael decides he would like to appeal the court decision based on the unfair
assumption that the brochure means he owns a gun. The next day, Daniel posts Michaels
bail and he is released back into the world to wait on his appearance in his appeals case.
In the next few months, Michael is left by his girlfriend and forced to move in with
Daniel. Eventually, Michael appears in his appeals case and loses by a slim margin in the
jury and he is told he will be returning to jail. Michael returns to Daniels apartment,
waiting for the authorities to come take him back to prison. Only, they never show up.
Weeks go by without a single word from the corrections department or police officers, in
which Michael searches legal databases for another way to appeal his case. After three
months pass, Michael finally convinces himself that he has been forgotten by the justice
department and decides to pick up the job search again. He applies and receives a job at
the local hardware store. He soon makes enough to rent an apartment for himself again,
moving out of Daniels apartment. One day, a customer walks in that Michael becomes
attracted too. Anna is attempting to redecorate the bedroom of her apartment, causing her
to make several visits to the hardware store. This gives Michael an opportunity to get to
know her better and she asks him if he would be so kind as to help her with the
redecoration when he has a day off. He says he will and shows up that Saturday and
Michael decides that there is something special about Anna. They soon start dating and
move in together. Michael finally feels like he has buried his past and is able to build
himself a new, happy life for himself. This is until on his way home from work one day,
he is pulled over for speeding. Michael, completely baffled on how he should approach
this situation, gives the officer his full name. Fearing that this will finally be the moment
he is brought back to serve his sentence, Michael contemplates fleeing. It is only after the
officer wishes Michael a good day and drives off is Michael able to relax. A few weeks
later, Michael gets the great news from his boss that he is being promoted to manager of
the hardware store. That night, Michael decides to propose to Anna. The two become
happily married and eventually buy a house together. It is only a few months later when
Anna tells Michael she is pregnant. Michael is overjoyed. He cannot believe that he has
been so lucky as to start a whole new life for himself. Days after Anna makes her
announcement, the judge from Michaels appeals case walks into the hardware store.
Michael, with no other option but to ask if he can help with anything, assists the judge
with the items he is looking for. Throughout the whole endeavor, Michael is on edge.
Fortunately, the judge never recognizes Michael and he is able to relax as the judge walks
out the front door. Another day while he is at the hardware store, Michael receives a call
from Anna. She has gone into labor and needs Michael to meet her at the hospital.
Michael rushes to the hospital and makes it just in time for the birth of his baby daughter,
Jessica. The two, plus the newest member of the family, return home and spend their first
sleepless night of many, talking about all the things they think little Jessica will grow up
to do. At 3 AM three days later, Michael awakes to check on his baby daughter. As he
walks back from the babys room, he hears a loud, consistent knocking on the front door.
He opens it to reveal six United States Marshals that immediately put him is handcuffs.
To the utter bewilderment of Anna, the marshals take Michael away to the local jail.
Act Three:
The marshals hold him in the jail for a week before he is brought before the court to be
sentenced once again to thirteen years in prison. The judge informs Michael it is because
he was not found in the prison system when they went to release him at the end of his
original sentence that the warrant for his arrest was issued. After returning to the jail
before being sent of to the county prison, Michael is able to come clean to Anna about his
past. To the surprise of Michael, Anna is not angry with Michael for keeping his secret
and is willing to do whatever it takes to free her husband. Anna starts a petition around
town to free Michael. Because Michael has become such a prominent, good figure in his
town, the community whole-heartedly backs the petition. One of Michaels regular
customers at the hardware store turns out to be a private attorney who is willing to help
Michael fight for an appeal. Together, they are able to figure out that because of the large
time period in between the conviction and the service of the conviction that the state
justice department is violating Michaels Fifth Amendment right to due process of law.
After a long time, the jury presents their decision that Michael is no longer required to
serve his sentence and is allowed to return to his family.