Hii how do you think Martin’s trial had an effect on the whitly’s? (Jessica ainsley malcolm?) Like how do you think they handled the situation? (Thinking that in the end he wasn’t really imprisoned but put in st claremont psychiatric)
great question! I’m super excited for prodigal son to explore the legal side of martin’s conviction bc rn…it’s kind of confusing lol. I first assumed that martin used his connections in the government and legal system to strike a plea deal; if he plead guilty, they’d declare him mentally unfit to stand trial and let him serve his life sentence in a psychiatric hospital rather than in prison. but now we know there was a trial, so I’m assuming he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and that’s why he was sent to claremount (which is VERY hard to do and I have trouble believing a jury would give that verdict to someone who killed 23 people and terrorized NYC for years, regardless of whether or not martin actually fits the definition of legally insane). or there’s some like TV twist ™ and he got a deal after being found guilty that let him stay in a psychiatric hospital rather than prison. the podcast also states martin “brings in money” for claremont by doing medical consultants over the phone which stretches my suspension of disbelief to the max but wtv he’s rich and white, so that also might be a reason he avoided prison. either way, I doubt the NYC public were happy with the sentence, especially since his cell has just gotten nicer over time lmao.
as to the effect on the family, obviously it was not a good time for anyone. a case like this would take months to reach trial (I’m thinking 6 or more, basing this off the OJ simpson trial, which started about 6 months after his arrest, since chris and sam have referenced that case when talking about martin’s trial). the trial also probably lasted for a long time (the simpson trial lasted from january to october) and jessica didn’t attended any of it. she might have been asked to be a witness but I feel like she would refuse to even be in the same room as martin by then and the prosecution could prove their case without her so she never was subpoenaed. malcolm on the other hand…I’m guessing had to testify. idk if that’s the direction the show is going to take bc I feel like if he did testify at trial it would have been brought up by now (talk about being retraumatized) but in my headcanon for now, he at least was called to testify about his 911 call. it just would have SO much drama potential; gil trying to fight against malcolm having to take the stand bc the kid went through enough already, jessica still not being able to be inside the courtroom bc she didn’t want to see martin but waiting in the lobby terrified the entire time malcolm was on the stand, martin telling his lawyer to go easy on his son during cross examination but his lawyer saying fuck that and martin standing up and screaming at him half way through it, malcolm shutting down again like when shannon interrogated him just the Angst ™.
and even if none of them were directly involved with the trial, it still was probably some of the worst months of their lives. it was the trial of the century, the GP hates the entire whitly family, the press never leaves them alone, malcolm is already dealing with PTSD and night terrors and the news being everywhere does nothing to help (jessica just straight up gets rid of cable and only lets ainsley and malcolm watch VHS bc she’s so worried they’ll accidentally find a news channel), ainsley has no idea what’s going on but she’s still so upset bc mommy is crying and drinking all the time and her brother never wants to play with her, jessica never sleeps and this is when she starts REALLY getting into alcohol as a coping mechanism, gil can’t even help that much bc he’s too busy with the trial himself, jackie comes over a lot to try and offer support but it’s just…by the end of it jessica doesn’t even care that her husband is somehow avoiding prison, she’s just so grateful it’s all over (or so she thinks, cut to 20 years later lmao).
