Against the Machine: A Single Mother's Desperate Fight for Justice and the Dashcam That Proved It All

Chapter 16: The Deposition

The conference room at Omni-Haul’s headquarters was all glass and intimidation. Michael "Big Mike" Kovic sat at the head of the table, looking small despite his size. He was sweating. Silas Vane sat next to him, looking cool and detached.

A videographer stood in the corner, recording every blink.

"Mr. Kovic," Marcus started, placing a digital recorder on the table. "You stated in the police report that Ms. Rossi slammed on her brakes, correct?"

"Yeah," Mike grunted, not making eye contact. "She stopped short. Nothing I could do."

"So, your brakes were functioning perfectly?"

"Perfectly. Truck was tip-top."

Marcus smiled. It was the smile of a shark sensing blood in the water. "Then can you explain this?"

He pressed play on his phone. The audio clip echoed in the silent room. "The pedal's dead! It's dead!"

Big Mike flinched so hard his chair rattled. His face went gray. He looked at Silas, panic in his eyes.

"That..." Mike stammered. "I never... that's not me."

"It sounds exactly like you, Mr. Kovic," Marcus pressed. "And the timestamp matches the crash down to the millisecond. You were driving a death trap, weren't you?"

"Objection!" Silas shouted, slamming his hand on the table. "This deposition is over. That audio is inadmissible. It’s a digital fabrication. An AI deepfake created to harass my client."

"It's from the dashcam!" Marcus shouted back.

"A dashcam you claim was destroyed?" Silas sneered. "We will be filing a motion to exclude this 'evidence' immediately."