Tracy in the dock

This photo is misleading. It is from the brief alternate ending to Tracy's trial. There used to be a Youtube of it but it looks like most of the Corrie clips have been removed for copyright issues. I wrote awhile back about how alternate endings are rarely written and how i believe, as most veteran soap watchers to, that Tracy would be convicted of Charlie's murder regardless of whether i already knew the outcome or not. Which i did anyway. Canada will find out this week but as i said before, you would have to be a complete newcomer to soaps to believe she might get off.

What did you think of the trial? I tried watching it as if i was one of the jury, with no prior knowledge of the storyline at all. Mind you, that's not easy because we didn't see all the evidence, only as it pertained to the testimonies of our characters. But going from that, and a bit that Peter and Blanche might talk about back at the house after, would you have convicted her or was there reasonable doubt? Would you have believed her story about being abused? Or would you see a manipulating, bad tempered woman scorned who could very well have planned the murder?

The evidence about her cut hand came out. No blood on the statue but could she have picked it up one-handed and clubbed him hard enough to kill him if she were pumped up on adrenaline? She couldn't do it in court but could she have done it that night, with a man allegedly coming at her with a knife? Not so sure. Reasonable Doubt #1.

David got the hands mixed up as to which one he saw her use. That alone was enough to discredit his testimony but his smirking smug attitude on the stand more than helped, too. David also insisted that Tracy stopped in the middle of it all to turn down the music. Tracy coached David but i don't think she told him to say that. It would have been smarter to say that she turned down the music before he came at her, not in the middle. It just wouldn't happen that way. She did coach him about the left hand but he messed that up in his cockiness. Reasonable doubt #2.

Peter mentioned about an expert witness that said he thought Charlie was sitting down when he was hit but, when badgered, allowed that he *could* **possibly** have been standing up for the first blow and then fell back onto the settee. But look at her height and Charlie's. The angle of impact just wouldn't be there if he'd been standing up. If the second blow had obscured the angle of the first one, then the expert wouldn't have been able to say what he felt about charlie being sat down. Charlie could hardly have been running at her with a knife if he was sitting on the settee, could he? Reasonable Doubt #3.

Deirdre's testimony was all over the map, poor woman. She wasn't handling the stress at all. She contradicted herself a few times and made a few passing remarks that weren't followed up that made it clear she was hiding something. Reasonable Doubt #4.

Then there was all the various statements by people like Maria who claimed Tracy was having a go at her when she found out about the affair. Jason said Charlie was going to finish with Tracy which contradicts Tracy's statement that she was trying to leave and he wouldn't let her. (Even Steve said that though he wasn't asked to testify). Why didn't Jason say he saw her and David practically canoodling on the cctv? Maybe that's hearsay since he didn't have the tape to back it up but they could then have questioned Deirdre about what she did with the tape if Jason had said he gave it to her.

I don't know that, in real life, her past deeds could have been brought out. Sometimes in trials they aren't allowed as evidence if they aren't directly related but it's too bad. It sure would have shown what Tracy's really like if the jury could have heard about how Tracy tried to cancel Steve and Karen's wedding and all the confrontations subsequent to that. Then there was the whole baby selling incident where she bedded Roy on a bet and used it to cover up her pregnancy by Steve. Scheming cow! Any jury would have decided it was an open and shut case after hearing that. Guilty, Yer Honour, lock her up!

All that aside, yes, if i was on the jury, i think i would have had enough reasonable doubt to find her guilty. As i said before, it's a soap, and someone that cold bloodedly plan a murder *always* get found guilty in the end.