Judgment Day --- Will Jason and Courtney be torn apart by a jury... or Sonny?! --- ABC Soaps In Depth Cover Story

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place! This week on GENERAL HOSPITAL, Jason faces a murder rap on one side and a murder threat on the other! If Sonny gets wise to his pal's love affair with hi sister, will the accused killer welcome the chance to don prison stripes in lieu of cement shoes?

With the outcome of the trial looking pretty grim, Jason prepares to go on the lam with Brenda. Sonny and Carly understand his decision. But Courtney... she's another story. "It's a heartwrencher for him to say that he's going to leave Courtney," says Steve Burton (Jason). "I know it's not forever, but I don't know how long it's going to be."

Courtney can't beat the thought of being away from Jason even for a moment. "She makes the decision to leave everything and go with him," reveals Alicia Leigh Willis (Courtney). "That's how much she loves him."

Unfortunately for her, Jason tells her that he can't go for that. No can do. "There's not time to set it up," explains Burton. "if we had a week, maybe she could come. But we have five hours, so she can't."

Later, it becomes clear that something Courtney said strikes a note in Jason. "He doesn't want to take her away from her life," Willis relates. "But she just tells him, 'You don't understand. I don't have a life without you. I want to be with you no matter what.'"

Privately digesting her words, he changes his mind and opts to stay in PC to face his day in Court. When he at last tracks down Courtney at the docks, she is elated --- she thought he'd be long gone by then. "At the same time, it's also kind of scary," Willis says. "She knows he's putting himself at risk."

As Jason and Brenda's trial get under way, Courtney is right there, giving silent support to her beau. But commotion erupts when she faints dead away!

Concerned for his sister, Sonny wonders why she could be reacting so strongly to Jason's predicament. If only he knew! "I've tried to tell Sonny things he said he's got to do this or that," points out Burton in character. "I haven’t chased after him to make the point (that Courtney and I are an item), but I am definitely not hiding anything from him. Why would be so upset, anyway?"

Once Courtney is revived, the proceedings continue. After the jury files out, Brenda urges Jason to spend time with Courtney. After all, it may be his last chance to do so. Clearly, Mrs. Morgan is on the surreptitious sweethearts.

By the end of the day, the jury's verdict comes in. As a horrified Courtney looks no, Jason and Brenda are found guilty! "It's funny," suggests Burton, in character. "For all the crimes that I do, you always get caught for the one you don't! People's time runs out, and it's my time."

Ditto Courtney. "Her whole world is going to fall apart," Willis previews. "She's so in love with Jason [that] she's going to feel like she's lost everything. As if that weren't bad enough, now that Brenda has seen the truth in Jason's eyes and Sonny has witnessed Courtney's odd reaction in court, it seems like it can only be a matter of time before he too figures out that his best friend is sleeping with his baby sister. If and when that happens, will he make good on his remark that if Jason laid a finger on Courtney, he'd have to kill him? Stay tuned!