The courtroom --

The family walked into the courtroom, Ric and Alexis followed them in and they all took their seats. Sonny was yet to arrive to the courtroom, only his attorney was sitting at the defense table. The side door opened and the guard walked in with Sonny by his side. Sonny handcuffed in front and led to his seat at the table with Victoria. The guard sat him down in the seat hard and it took all of what Zander had in him not to snicker at the thought of Sonny spending the next 20 years of his life in prison. It was what his family had been waiting for for the last 15 years.

All got quiet in the courtroom as the bailiff asked everyone to rise from their seats as the Honorable Judge Cooper walked in and took his seat on the bench. Cooper struck down his gavel to open court and then looked out across his courtroom at all who were there to witness the verdict.

Carly, Jason and Elizabeth sat behind Sonny, as Zander and Emily along with Elenore sat waiting on the opposing side. Judge Cooper looked sternly at Sonny before he began to read what he had written down for himself.

"I must say, I am not surprised to see my courtroom filled this afternoon. Mr. Corinthos you must be a popular person to have so many people wanting to hear what fate I will be dealing you today." Cooper began as he looked down at Sonny, who just smirked in return. "Well, now as you all know I have reached my decision about Mr. Corinthos and the charges that have been pressed against him. And I won't leave you in suspense any longer. Mr. Corinthos, please rise."

Sonny and Victoria rose from their seats as Judge Cooper looked down upon them from the bench. "Mr. Corinthos before I put forth this verdict on you, do you have anything to say in your defense?" Cooper asked as Sonny looked up at him.

"No sir I don't. I don't think anything I would have to say would change your mind, you obviously have reached your decision, and I don't think I or anyone else can change it." Sonny spoke up.

Carly leaned forward in anticipation of the verdict and reached out her hand to her husband for support. "Okay then, I guess I will continue. In the case brought against you Sonny Corinthos, you were charged with Murder in the first degree and I have reviewed all the evidence and the testimony brought before me over the last few weeks. Taking into consideration all that I have heard from both sides and the witnesses that have testified in this court, I find that you, Sonny Corinthos are innocent of the charge of Murder in the first degree. After reviewing all of the evidence, I am ordering this case to be a case of justifiable homicide."

"You have got to be kidding?! Sonny killed my father, your honor! I was there!" Zander rose from his seat and protested the judge's ruling.

"Mr. Smith, sit down!" Judge Cooper demanded as Ric rose from his seat and tried to calm down a very angry Zander.

"We'll get him another way... trust me." Ric whispered to his brother as he sat back down next to Emily.

While there were outbursts from Zander, Sonny embraced his wife who sat behind him, along with Jason and Elizabeth. A smirk came across Sonny's face and Zander noticed, which made him more angry and it took all of what was inside him to stay in his seat and not cause mass chaos in the courtroom. Zander flinched forward and Ric and Emily both reached for him to keep him in his seat as they both noticed why he was so anxious to get up.

Elenore slouched down in her seat and held her hand to her head, she knew now she would never be able to be with her family, she still was in danger, and now more then ever.

Judge Cooper rapped his gavel on the bench and brought his courtroom to order once again. "This is not the time or place for explanations of my ruling, but I would like to see Mr. Smith and company in my chambers. Mr. Corinthos, you are free to go." Judge Cooper ordered and struck his gavel down for the last time. "Court's dismissed." the judge got up from his seat and stepped down, he waited by the side door for the bailiff as Sonny and his family celebrated as they walked out of the courtroom. All Judge Cooper could do was shake his head at the spectacle he was witness to.

After exchanging glares with Sonny and those with him, Zander and his family, along with Alexis, did as they were ordered to do, they went to meet with Judge Cooper in his chambers. Zander stormed into the judge's chambers and voiced some harsh words before Ric could stop him.

"You do realize you just put the most wanted man on the east coast back on the streets?! Sonny is guilty as sin and you know it!" Zander shouted leaving off some steam still inside him.

Ric came up behind him and tried to get control of his brother before he got himself arrested. "I'm sure Judge Cooper has a very good explanation as to why he left public enemy #1 back out onto the streets." Ric said to his brother and then glared over his shoulder at Judge Cooper. "Let's hear what he has to say before we go throwing around accusations." Ric continued as Zander listened to him.

"Okay let's hear it! Do tell ... I'd like to know why you left my father's killer loose!" Zander still shouting as Emily and Elenore stood just inside the door with Alexis. Ric trying to regain some control of the situation.

"Would you have a seat and perhaps I will tell you why, Mr. Smith." Cooper said as he took off his robe and sat down behind his desk.

Zander reluctantly took a seat and Ric did too, their mother taking a seat as well next to Ric, waiting hear the explanation too.

"My reasons for my decision are this .... I had a meeting this morning with two federal agents who have been working on a case for the past 5 years, and though I cannot tell you the details, my decision was heavily weighed on what they had to tell me. Along with a few other discrepancies in the testimony, I had to rule the way I did. As I understand it, with this verdict, Mrs. Smith you are still in protective custody of the federal government, however, after what I heard this morning, your paperwork for release is underway. That is IF you are willing to move here to Port Charles to be with your family. Even though I don't agree with your son's choice of business and wish myself that I could sentence him to 20 years, Zander is one person who could protect you better then any one else. With that said Mr. Corinthos may be out on the streets, but he won't be for very long."

"Okay that's all well and good, your Honor, but how do we know that the fed's case will stick. This isn't the first time Sonny's been under investigation by the FBI." Zander questioned knowing he'd be in the same boat had it not been for some delicate handling of the situation by his attorney.

"I can't answer that for you, Zander. I don't know and I can't guarantee you that Mr. Corinthos will be seeing the inside of a jail cell. I can't discuss the case the federal government has nor can I predict what will happen. I can tell you that I can keep your family together, if that's what all of you want?" the Judge replied as he looked towards Elenore.

"Mom? That's what you want isn't it? To live here in Port Charles with us?" Ric asked as he reached for her hand and held it.

She seemed to be off someplace else in deep thought and was snapped back at the touch of Ric's hand. "Oh, yeah that's definitely what I want. I want my family together, we've been apart way too long."

"Good, then if that is all, I have some work to do before the next case." Judge Cooper said as he tried to empty his office so he could get some work done.

The family left the judge's chambers, still questioning his decision and it now became a wait and see situation. Zander had some calls to make to his men, he needed to add more security now that Sonny was back on the streets, for how long he didn't know, but if the federal government couldn't rid their lives of Sonny, Zander was ready to make it happen.