"GUILTY" displayed at the bottom of the screen. Frustrated, Bob snapped his laptop shut and stood up. There was something he was missing. He threw himself on his bed, closed his eyes, and thought back through his program structure.

His premise was solid. The basic idea was a software program which accessed court records online and analyzed past legal proceedings to identify successful defense strategies. That part worked fine. But the Holy Grail, the niche that was going to make him millions, still eluded him. His software was going to craft a defense strategy that would guarantee acquittal. Just think of the money defense attorneys would pay for a program like that.

Bob and been working on this throughout the night and half the morning. It wasn't long before his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. Which was where his stepfather, Jimmy, found him when he got home that evening.

"You sleep all day and play on your computer all night and you wonder why I am upset? Look, I can understand that you don't want to go to college but you ain't gonna lay around all day. You been doing that for the last three months since you graduated high school. Get a job. Either you find a job and start paying rent by the end of the month, or you're outta here."

Over the next couple of weeks things got pretty tense in the house. Bob started fixing a plate and eating dinner in his room just to try to avoid confrontation. Unfortunately, that just seemed to infuriate Jimmy even more. Bob used the time to completely overhaul his program code. With four days to go before the end of the month, and his imminent eviction, he had a breakthrough. Every past losing case he back-tested came back with a "Not Guilty" verdict. He was ebullient. Now he needed access to a lawyer for a live case. Court records are not made public while the trial is ongoing. He spent the whole day calling law offices. No one wanted to give him access, not even for free. Finally, a sympathetic secretary asked if he tried the public defender's office. Rather than risk another phone rejection, he went down to their office and stalked the halls. Finally, he caught a harried young lawyer by the name of Ralph Westover who admitted he could use any help available. They made an appointment for Friday morning.

Thursday night Jimmy barged into his room. He told Bob he had been given fair warning but had done nothing. Bob tried to explain that he had a computer program almost ready to sell but that just seemed to make Jimmy angrier. He seized the computer and told Bob he would get it back when he got a real job.

"Thank you for joining us on 11-Alive morning news. In breaking news this morning a teenager was arrested last night for killing his stepfather. He claims his defense will be managed by a computer program."