And Sometimes The Stars Align

My wife, Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander

and her niece, Attorney Beverly West

have both had and won some cases where everything went wrong, where nothing broke their way until the very end...

This case was not going to be one of them....Shame Beverly was not here to take part in this...

First off, The ADA, James "Straight " Shooter was an imbecile...He carried a loaded .45 in his shoulder holster at all times as if he was a detective...and like ADA Keith Wallace, he often went out with the Detectives when they made a bust...

Unlike ADA Keith Wallace...James "Straight" Shooter was  a nuisance who often got in the way...

On two occassions ,he had fired a  shot into the window of a house not involved in the bust...Once he shot out the tires of the lead detective and a uniformed officer's car....

Detectives preferred he not go along when they made a bust...

He was a current commentator on Law and Order TV shows and was thinking about leaving the District attorney's office and getting a Television Talk show...

The way he was messing this case up was classic...

I've heard that sometimes the stars align....They certainly aligned for this case...

Olivia and Bee Bee out dueled him and won bail for Jason Trope... His Church, His mother and former girlfriend and mother of his two children all put up the money and for the first time in five years....

Jason Trope walked out of prison, a free man....At least until the trial....

Michelle's ex-boyfriend, Rufus McClain...The father of the murdered Cynthia refused to co-operate with me...Especially since I was no longer a Homicide Detective...

We had his DNA , which was all we needed...Despite his many arguments with both Michelle and Jason...His DNA was not the DNA found on and inside the murdered girl's body....His alibi for the day and time of the murder was solid too...He was in jail!

Neither was Jason Trope's DNA...It belonged to someone else...but who?

II-

That notwithstanding...

Olivia , Bee Bee and Larry North put on a splendid show....Attacking the numerous inconsistancies in the original trial...including the prosecution's failure to tell the jury that there was no DNA match or otherwise forensic evidence to tie Jason Trope to the crime..

ADA Shooter argued that detectives said that the window was broken from the inside...

I produced evidence to the contrary and an expert to back it up...

Olivia and Bee Bee produced Dr. Goggins

Who's independent lab discounted Jason's DNA and Dr. Hazel Baylor,

Who represented the State and who's lab also discounted Jason's DNA....

ADA Jim Shooter was no Rockland Cambridge , Definitey not a Keith Wallace who wouldn't have tried a case so weak or at least been better prepared...

Olivia remarked to Josie...and Bee Bee...

"I'm so sorry my niece isn't here...She'd eat this guy for lunch..."said Olivia..

''Oh My God wouldn't she?" laughed Josie...

Bee Bee was doing her best imitation of Beverly West...Eating ADA Shooter for lunch,

making him so frustrated he kicked the table several times...

 Olivia's softer approach lulled him into a state of false comfort, only for her to lower the boom on him....

He was on the verge of tears near the end of the week...Visibly shaking at recess....

Larry North was cracking up...For the first time since he'd learned that Beverly and Nelson were engaged and now married ..He appeared to be enjoying himself in trial..

He momentarily forgot about them...and how hurt he was..and was loosening up, enjoying mutual laughs with Olivia , Josie and Bee Bee...

and they in turn enjoying this trial...




III-

Olivia told me often...Our job isn't to solve the case, just to prove our client innocent...but I needed answers, closure...

ADA Shooter theorized that Jason Trope had raped and murdered Cynthia in the Melton home and then carried her body to the Tacony Creek. A semen sample was recovered from the victim’s body but was deemed insufficient for DNA testing.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, Steven Hayes, testified that he had found several marks on the child’s body that he believed to be bite marks. Hayes called in Dr. Michael Glassic, a forensic odonotologist, to analyze the marks. Glassic concluded that 19 marks found on the victim’s body were “indeed and without a doubt” inflicted by Trope. He further asserted that all 19 marks were made only by Jason's’s top two teeth and that somehow the bottom teeth had made no impression. Glassic claimed a degree of certainty that exceeded the limitations of bite mark analysis, which has never been scientifically validated.

 Olivia and Josie's research turned this up...
Glassic was already discredited by the time of Jason's first trial, as the first member ever to be suspended from the American Board of Forensic Odontology. Regardless, the court allowed his testimony when they shouldn't have.

In response, Bee Bee and Larry North introduced Dr. Richard Server, a licensed dentist and founding member of the American Board of Forensic Odonotology, who testified that the marks were not human bite marks at all but were insect bites that the body sustained from being left in the water for days. Server argued that it would be all but impossible to leave repeated bite mark impressions with only the top two teeth.
Jason had been was convicted of capital murder and sexual battery on March 24, 2015, and sentenced to death. He had maintained his innocence in the crime, and his conviction was based almost entirely on the questionable bite mark evidence. Other physical evidence included various small blood spots on Trope's clothing, a stain consistent with feces on a dress near where the victim slept, and a blood stain on a blanket found next to where the child was sleeping. However, the state’s forensic scientist was unable to identify the ABO blood group through serological testing in order to determine the source.

 Dr. Goggins and Dr. Hazel Baylor's advanced DNA testing was conducted on semen recovered in 2012 from the victim’s body. Both of their tests produced results excluding Jason Trope as a possible perpetrator and revealed an unknown male profile. The prosecution conducted further testing on two of Jason Trope's friends, who were also excluded. Y-STR testing also excluded many of Jason's relatives. No subsequent effort was made to identify the real perpetrator.

 I then remembered Michelle telling me about another man...Pete Packard...who was a little too touchy feely with her on several occassions...He was a friend who visited her several times despite the fact that he knew she was seeing Jason....

He had a prior conviction for sexual assault and his DNA was on file...My hunch proved right ..a check proved to be a match....

Pete Packard then confessed to Cynthia Melton's murder when confronted with the DNA Evidence.

With this new evidence....The case didn't have to go to the jury, which spared Jim Shooter an embarrassing loss...

Jim Shooter was forced to dismiss all charges....Jason Trope was a free man....

 ''Olivia and Bee Bee high fived  the same way She and Beverly did when they won a trial..

 "Wow, Donnie Ray, you are the truth!" said Bee Bee..

'That's why they pay me the big bucks.."I laughed...

"I've got some additional payment for you when we get back to the room.."whispered Olivia in my ear...and winked at me...

Josie turned to Larry North...

''Wow, you didn't get to do your sumnation...."she joked..

"Oh that's okay....At least Mr. Trope is free and vindicated...Liv , you and company did it again..Thank you.."said Larry North...

Jason Trope, Michelle and his children were reunited...They smiled and hugged all of us....

Olivia turned to Larry North...

''Well I guess you'll be headed back to San-Francisco huh?" she said, hoping he would leave tonight..Beverly and Nelson were due back tomorrow and she really didn't want him around when they got back...

"I'll be leaving in a few days...I've got a few things to wrap up with the office here " he said..

"Damn!'' she said under her breath..."

He looked at Bee Bee.. He smiled..He whispered in her ear seductively...

"Now that this trial is over..Why don't you and I get on the right foot again?How bout you and I go out and have a celebratory drink and some Pizza? I know a nice place a few blocks from here...It's called The Brewery.." he said..

"That's a good idea.." she whispered seductively to him...

"You'll like The Brewary....and afterwords..."he said before she interrupted him-

"OH ,I'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE!!!!THAT'S A GREAT IDEA...GUYS YOU WANT TO GO? TO THE BREWERY TO CELEBRATE???" asked Bee Bee slyly...and loudly!

Olivia smiled...

"SURE, WHY NOT?" she said..

''Great Idea...You down Josie?" I asked..

"SURE AM!" said Josie...

Larry North gritted his teeth...He was furious...

Bee Bee, just like Beverly would have done, had the most innocent look on her face....

''Let me call Keith... He can take me home from there.." she said just as innocently....

Game, Set, Match....She had blocked all of Larry North's routes to her...

He was steaming now....You couldn't help but notice it...

I cracked up....I liked this girl.. We all wound up at the Brewery, enjoying Beers and Pizza.

Larry North sat quietly ,not looking Bee Bee's way...fuming...How much like Beverly West she was...No wonder Olivia picked her as the back up chair...he thought...It was like having her niece here..

 "This was a great idea Larry.."said Bee Bee innocently...Larry drank his beer and barely nodded....He was furious!

 Olivia giggled...

So did Josie, who knew what Bee Bee had done...

''Here comes the Beers and our Pizzas" she said..

Larry North stomped his foot... He had really wanted to try and get Bee Bee alone and perhaps in the bed...

Bee Bee was younger than Beverly, but no fool...She knew Larry was trying to put the moves on her and she wasn't having any of it!

Her boyfriend, Attorney Keith Jones joined us within the hour...

Larry North's mood got sourer and sourer.....He didn't talk to any of us..he drank his beer quietly and sulked...

Oh well....End of another long case..

EPILOUGE-

The next day...Olivia and I stood in the Airport looking for Beverly and Nelson.

"I don't see em Donnie Ray....Their plane emptied a few minutes ago...I wonder if they missed their flight?" Olivia mused..

"Relax Liv...THEY DIDN'T MISS THEIR FLIGHT." I said and pointed to them..

Beverly and Nelson were standing in the corner by baggage claim kissing passionately....

I scooped up their luggage...

"Ahem!  You guys got anything else?" I asked..

''Donnie Ray.!!!!!..Oh My Goddd!  Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" said Beverly, who rushed into my arms and hugged me...''Where is Auntay?" she asked..

''Right behind you." said Olivia...who hugged her and kissed her....

"Missed you so much girl..." said Olivia...Who then hugged Nelson...

"How you doing ?  Did you and my girl have a great time?" she asked..

Nelson kissed Olivia...and hugged her..

"The Greatest....I'll never forget this ,the rest of my life...Thank you soooo much for introducing her to me....I love her so much." he said...and grabbed Beverly and kissed her again..

Beverly smiled..and giggled like a school girl...

''This is everything...Let's go home..." she said...

I loaded their things into the SUV...

On the way home...Beverly asked..

''So how did the case go? "

''We won in the preliminaries...And Donnie Ray helped catch the real killer...It was another ex-boyfriend...not the baby;s father.."said Olivia..

"Nice..."said Nelson..

''Bee Bee did the best impression of Beverly West-East I've ever seen...Even fighting off Larry North's advances...but nobody takes the place of you Shortcake.."I said.

''Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww." laughed Beverly...

"I gotta tell you what he tried to pull the last day of the trial and how Bee Bee shut him down, you'll die laughing..."said Olivia..

as we drove home...

When we got to the office...Josie was there...

She hugged both Nelson and Beverly...

"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GUYS....I MISSED YOU!!!" said Josie..

 ''We had such a great time.." said Beverly...hugging Josie....

''Oh My God...Paris..."said Nelson..who kissed Josie on the cheek...

"You gotta take Shortcake over the threshold.." I said...Remembering taking Olivia over the threshold after we got married..

Just then Larry North walked in...

''And we were having such a good time.."said Olivia sarcastically...under her breath!

Beverly heard her aunt and giggled..

He looked at Nelson and Beverly, then he addressed Olivia..

"Thanks again Liv...We brought in a good case...I uh...I'm on my way to the airport,Uh turns out I uh didn't have as much to take care of here as I uh thought...So I'm uh going home!...I may have a case for you guys in San -Francisco in a few months......Who knows...?"he said..

"Have a safe flight back..."said Olivia...

He looked at Beverly one last time..

''Uh Congratulations on the uh wedding...Best of luck to you both..."he said and then walked out and got into the waiting cab and pulled off..

"You okay sweetie?" asked Olivia...

 "Never been better Auntay!" she said and kissed Olivia on the cheek...

Beverly then leaped into Nelson's arms...

" Okayyyy take me over that threshold Husband!!!..."she said..

Nelson smiled sheepishly...

"I can't wait..wife!" he said...And he carried her up the stairs..... She opened the door with her keys, giggling and he took her over the threshold..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....Nelson....Close the door...." she giggled..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm...." he moaned....

''Our Girl is back!!" I said.

"YES...Yes she is..."said Olivia, smiling...

''The team is back together..."said Josie..

For L. Chantay