The Burden Of Truth

PRELUDE:

It was a dark street in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia..You couldn't miss the address, the place was lit with L.E.D. light like a Christmas tree..Red Blue and Green...It was a garish looking wearhouse apartment...

Attorney Beverly West-East, my wife's pretty little niece, knocked on the door...Then she rang the doorbell..

A man, about a foot and a half taller than her with heavily tattooed arms answered the door...

He took a look at her shapely body and her form fitting black mini skirt and smiled broadly...

"What is a pretty little thing like you doing in this neck of the woods...This time of night?" he said..

Beverly responded..

"I'm representing Willie Clark...I'm an Attorney...and you are Joey Ganz." she said.

The man frowned..

"Yeah, I am...Willie huh?...He still up Graterford?" he asked..

"Graterford has been closed for two years...Where you been?"asked Beverly..

"Not incarcerated." he said..

They both laughed.....

"I have a court order here to take samples of your DNA...Saliva, Blood or Urine Mr. Ganz... See we believe Willie was falsely convicted of the crime he's been up for for ten years...We plan to make our case on DNA."said Beverly...

The man slipped a .44 magnum out of his pocket...

"Yeah...I figured someone would come around to me sooner or later.."he sighed..

"People know I'm here...Put that away!!!...Hurting me is not going to help you."said Beverly.

I put her behind me...I had my. 38 smokeless aimed at his head...I'm Donnie Ray Alexander, Investigator for my wife and her niece's law firm...I used to be a cop..

"I can't allow you to harm my shortcake..That would hurt me greatly.."I said..

He smiled..

"I didn't think you came here alone...That would have been foolish....It never crossed my mind to harm a hair on her pretty little head .. Now ME?...That's another story!" he said and put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger...blowing his brains out...

"OH MY GOD!" screamed Beverly in horror!

I put my hands around Beverly's eyes to shield her and pulled her away...She was shaking like a leaf...

But she's a trooper...A tough little cookie..After she got herself together..She took out a q.tip and swabbed the blood up that was running from his head....as his lifeless eyes stared into the sky..

A German Sheppard walked over to him and began to sniff him and then moan...Beverly petted the dog...

I got on my phone...I called 911

"911 emergency ,how may I help you?"said the Operator..

"When a person suddenly dies...What happens to their pet?" I asked..

"Sir..Is there an emergency?" asked the exasperated operator...

I looked at the man's lifeless body....

"Nah...Not anymore!"I said and hung up!

I looked at Beverly...

"You got your DNA sample?" I asked..

"More than enough."she said.

"Come on, let's get out of here.."I said and put my arms around her...

Surprisingly no one heard the gunshot and no one was anywhere near this little street..We left ,got in the car and pulled off.




II-

A WEEK LATER IN OPEN COURT-

We, Olivia, Beverly ,Josie, Myself

were in court with defendant, Willie Clark..A Black day Laborer convicted of the rape and murder of a young white woman.. He had served 9 years of a Life without parole sentence when the Innocence Project pointed Olivia and Beverly in his direction..

"Mrs. Alexander ,I am assuming you have compelling new evidence to present.."said the judge..A stern woman who looked like every school teacher I hated in high school..

"We do your honor...We have DNA evidence and fingerprint evidence that is a match for DNA evidence just discovered that was with-held from the defense attorney in Mr. Clark's original trial..

We had Mr. Clark's DNA taken again by two labs, The Medical Examiner's Office and a private lab..It is not a match for the DNA recently discovered...but it is a match for a recently deceased ex-convict named Joey Ganz....a known sex offender.." said Olivia ,passing the judge her findings..

The Judge looked it over..

"And you say the prosecution had this evidence during the first trial , evidence that would have cleared Mr. Clark and they never made it available to the defense?" she said..

"That's exactly what we are saying your honor.."said Beverly.

Willie Clark sat in between Josie and I...

 Josie rubbed his hands softly...and whispered to him...

"We are going to get you out of here today Mr.Clark.."

He smiled..

I patted him on the back.

One person was squirming...Former States Attorney, Avril Young..

He had been the ADA who had prosecuted the first case...He was known to play fast and loose in discovery and tamper with evidence...It was how he'd won a lot of his cases...

He was running for State Attorney General..He was sweating bullets.

 "Mr. Young...I don't like these kinds of shenanigans...I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!   This isn't the first time I've heard of you playing fast and loose with evidence..."said the Judge ,who looked at Willie Clark.

"Mr. Clark, it appears a great injustice has been done you....We took nine years of your life we can't give you back, but we aren't going to take nine more..I hear by vacate your guilty verdict....And you are free to go...I will personally see that you and your family are compensated fairly"she said and slammed down her gavel...

She stared angrilly at States Attorney Young..

who was sweating bullets and trying to ease down in his chair...He was as red as a beet....

Willie Clark's wife, his son and two daughters hugged him and cried tears of joy...

Reporters snapped photos and mobbed the newly freed man and his family as well as the attorneys who got him off, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West.

 Josie and I stood behind them...

Trying to wade through the crowd....

Avril Young was furious....Then he stared hard at Olivia...He walked over to us ,practically blocking the doorway to the courthouse..

"Bennett..Bennett.....You're married now....but I thought I recognized you....Last time I saw you, you were still in high school......You're Olivia Bennett, Alvin Bennett's daughter...Whoaaaa, look at this....You became an Attorney...Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!   I know ole Alvin is proud...How is he?" asked Avril Young..

"He died a few years back, but he did live to see me become an attorney." said Olivia..

He looked at Beverly....

"You!  You're the baby......His grand-daughter.....Oh My god, will you look at this..You're an Attorney too!"he laughed...

"Let's cut the stroll down memory lane..My father served six months  in prison because of you...You convicted him and sentenced him to 3-5 years for a crime you knew he didn't commit, Basically because he wouldn't give up the names of people you really wanted."said Olivia..

"All a matter of interpretation....That silver tongued lawyer he hired got his conviction thrown out...Much like you did Willie Clark's today.." he said..

"Yeah and much like YOU did with Willie Clark....You kept evidence from the defense..Evidence that would have freed my grandfather.."said Beverly...

"Win some lose some...."he shrugged... "I knew your father little lady..."he said to Beverly..."Big Jimmy West

.Hell of a football player...I'm surprised he didn't go pro..."he laughed..."Well I've got to go...Nice running into you two again.."he laughed...

 "I hate him!"snarled Olivia....

 "I gathered." I said..

"He's partially the reason I became an Attorney.."said Olivia.

III-

As I Drove us home from court....Josie asked what I had been thinking..

''So Liv you said that Avril Young is the reason you became an attorney?" she asked..

"She said partially the reason...What was the whole reason?" I asked.

Liv was sitting upfront with me...Josie and Beverly were sitting in the back...

"Not him...Louis Tillman Jr...."said Olivia almost dreamily...

"The Black Civil Rights Attorney? He defended my daddy too..Many times...Very Cool, Suave and debonair man."said Josie...

"Yesssssssssssssssss! "said Olivia almost dreamily..."My father was arrested on some trumped up charges involving a floating crap game that I must admit he did run..but it was a friendly game of cold cuts and friends..very little money involved....but some heavy guys were financing part of the game.."

Younger was an ADA at the time...and looking to make a name for himself, one trumped up charge after another....

My Father got arrested by some crooked cops and My Father wouldn't roll on the other guys....and Young used every dirty trick in the book to convict him and sentence him to 3-6 years...and then he came into our lives..

Louis Tillman Jr., so tall, so well dressed, so fine...I was in 9th or 10th grade...I was smitten...He was a friend of my mother's...She knew him from church... He was my first crush! She asked him to look into my father's case.

"And you looked into him." I joked..

''Yes she did! Auntay was smitten.All she talked about was how fine he was..His manners and how well he talked. We'd be in our room at night...And she'd be just gushing over how fine Mr. Tilman was...I was a little too young to totally understand at the time.."said Beverly...

''With Bev in tow..She was still a little girl then,only about 6...I was about 15,but my hormones were going crazy..I followed Mr. Tillman to court...I followed him everywhere, asking questions, observing..

Hung on to his every word....He was so worldly, so knowledgeable, so articulate and he knew the law....He disected the state's case like a fine diner carves up a turkey and handed it back to them...

He smiled at me ..He said.. "You know.. You could be a good lawyer yourself...You are observant, you ask all the right questions....You ought to consider it.."  I'm serious.." he said.

It was the first time in my life that I had a clue as to what I wanted to do...

He got my father exonerated and released from prison...six months into a 3-6 year charge....We were so glad to have daddy home.

I knew right then and there what I was meant to be...An Attorney..." said Olivia.

Mr. Tillman encouraged me...

''Read as much as you can about everything...and join the debate team...research your subject matter well and learn your opponent, study him or her and argue the way they would so you won't be surprised...prepare,prepare ,prepare...You can never prepare enough" he would say...I never forgot what he said...

I was in my early 20's and still crushing over him..." she said.

''This explains so much about you and how you prepare for trials."I said.

"I did what he said and I studied two languages, French and Spanish which I speak fluently..I researched my opponent and even argued their side of the story, The way I expected them to argue..So I was rarely if ever surprised.."said Olivia...

"I saw my auntay take part in and win a mock trial years later when I was in high school and I knew what I wanted to be...

An Attorney ,just like my Auntay."said Beverly...

Olivia smiled..

"As if she didn't already follow me around enough...She was following me and asking questions just like I had done years earlier with Louis Tilman.." she said and hugged her niece..

''And I told Beverly the same thing he had told me...''Read as much as you can about everything...and join the debate team...research your subject matter well and learn your opponent, study him or her and argue the way they would so you won't be surprised...prepare,prepare ,prepare...You can never prepare enough""said Olivia..

 "Boyyy did she...But she never steered me wrong..."said Beverly, beaming.

''Was he around when you graduated from law school?" I asked.

"He was...He and my dad were so proud of me when I graduated and passed the bar...He had retired by then...But he said..

"I know you're going to make a fine little Attorney..I've always known it.."

"He and my dad were still around when Beverly graduated from law school and passed the bar  too, but not much longer...They both died within three months of each other."said Olivia sadly...

''As for Avril Young..

I never forgot how his outright lies and his hiding of evidence from the original lawyer got my father convicted.  Those were the most horrible 6 months of my life, Seeing my father in that prison..Beverly was still too young to be allowed inside, so Alfreda kept her while me and Mama and Jimmy went to visit him."she said.

''So today was sweet, overturning one of his cases.."I said..

"Oh Yes...I didn't just want to free poor Willie Clark...I wanted to really stick it to Avril Young."said Olivia..

"And we did!!!...That was for you Pop Pop."said Beverly...

"He's running for Attorney General.."said Josie..

''Oh that's not going to happen...Not after today...Today his poll ratings took a major beating.."said Olivia..

Of that there was no doubt...A case being over turned with hints of prosecutorial mis conduct..oh most definitely...I mused.

IV-

We arrived at home where we found Beverly's husband  in the conference room studying a case file and watching a video of a woman confessing to murder on our 56 inch monitor on the wall of our conference room..

Nelson studied the woman in the video...

''She looks like she is high..and that detective is goading her ,leading her on with his questioning...I knew detectives who did that ,goaded a person until they said whatever you wanted ,just so you'd leave them alone and or let them go to sleep...I never considered that good honest police work." I said

''She's High as a kite...In that state she'd confess to anything.."said Alfreda...

"That's the meat of this case...She confessed to killing her baby...I've got medical records that say otherwise..."said Nelson..

"Let me look at that?" asked Olivia..She and Beverly peered at the forms..

"Says here the baby died of crib death...Says Homicide inconclusive..Highly unlikely..."added Beverly.. "Wasn't this in the original trial?" she asked.

."Never saw the light of day...I'm just now seeing this.. It was lost all these years..Her name is Hortense Jefferson. In her first trial, The Defense Attorney never saw any of this.Not the medical reports or a urine sample...I talked to Hazel Baylor at the M.E.'s office this morning...She found the urine sample and is re-examining it herself as we speak..."said Nelson.

''Defense never saw this huh?" asked Olivia.

''Who was the ADA?" asked Beverly..

"Some guy named Avril Young...I hear he has a knack for playing fast and loose with evidence.."said Nelson...

 ''We just finished tangling with him today.."said Olivia.

''We just beat him today..."said Beverly...

''Well in two weeks you'll get to kick him again...My client is coming up for a prelim...I hope to state my case and get her off.  I'd like you two to sit in with me.."said Nelson..

"Can you imagine his face when he sees us again?" I said..

"He'll want to kill himself.."laughed Josie..

"He's about to get zinged in two weeks for the same thing.."said Beverly...

''Won't be good for his campaign.."joked Olivia.

V-

And at his campaign headquarters....States Attorney Avril Younger is in the back office with his sexy blonde staffer....

"That Judge was pretty pissed at just the idea that you held back pivotal evidence that could have cleared that guy,Willie Clark...And between her and Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West getting him off and going to the press...your numbers have dropped increasingly ,especially amongst minorities, which you were already doing poorly with.." said the woman..

''Damn it...I was caught off guard today...but that can't happen again..It appears Olivia has a little axe to grind with me.." said Avril Younger..

"I wasn't aware you knew each other...You ever try a case against her? Beat her in court?/" asked his operative..

"No...Never...but years ago...I sent her father up for six years on a gambling rap....The family hired Louis Tillman Jr.. The Black civil rights attorney....He got the conviction overturned and her father exonerated in a retrial....Turns out he only served six months...

Olivia was a young girl...She was in the 10th grade...She was at every single hearing, hung on to Lou Tillman's every word..."said Avril..

"And her niece, Beverly?"asked his staffer..

''Oh she was a baby then...Maybe in the second grade...Olivia would lug her to court with her..."said Avril Young...

"Awwwwww how cute....They were close even then,and today they are both attorneys...Rumored to be the best defense attorneys money can buy." said his staffer..

''Maybe...But they're also big pains in the ass....Get me anything on them, the book and on the people around her..their husbands...That para-legal working with them..Everybody...I'm going to slow their little train down before it gets to rolling.." said Avril Young.

(TO BE CONTINUED)