Her Own Rhythms

Josie sat by herself, going over her notes and looking at the case file in a small Boho coffee shop near the courthouse..

A second steaming cup of coffee arrived in front of her..

She looked at the waitress..

"I didn't order a second cup." she said..

"No. but cutie pie over there did...Gurrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you are one lucky woman..." she said and winked..

Darryl Jordan, her fellow law school student and the one she was going up against in this trial smiled and walked over and sat down with her..

"Well Hello Ms. Josie Boyd...Nice seeing you again...You been busy these past two weeks?" he asked.

"If you mean preparing for this trial today...I have...How bout you?" she asked.

"Oh yes...going over witness statements, evidence....you name it." he said.

"Evidence? What Evidence? You haven't....."then she stopped herself, He was fishing, trying to get her to play her hand....

Olivia told her , never get friendly with opposing counsel...

Beverly made it plainer...

"They'll try to buy you coffee or a drink, get you to talking , trying to find out what your strategy is...You keep your distance until after trial.."

Josie remembered them saying that one of the times they faced Miles Ellis and another time facing Ron Harper...two smooth ADA's who saw themselves as ladies men...They had the gift of gab and were very manipulative...Liv and Bev were hip to this and kept their distance...

Darryl was cute and he was smooth...Josie found him very seductive...

She laughed and drank her coffee...

"Nice Try!" she said..

"What? you've got to be more trusting Josie.." he said..

"I'll be more trusting after the trial is over." she said ,laughing...god, he was so fine, she thought.

He had on a nice fragrance...Why did he have to be so cute? Josie mused and why did she have to have a man? She thought...




II-

"Liv, your husband is the best thing that ever happened to your legal career.."laughed Dr. Hazel Baylor, Deputy Medical Examiner and Forensic Investigator..

 "He's the best thing that ever happened to me period!" said Olivia, hugging me.

"Just doing my job!"I said, blushing...

"The Gun, The .38 smokeless is a ballistics match for the murder weapon....and that blood and the DNA we found on the gun, plus the smudged fingerprint is a match for Wallace Jenkins.." said Hazel..

"Josie has a slam dunk here...Her first case....I'm so happy for her.." said Beverly...

"She's been studying you two for years....I was with her last night when she was running through her cross examination questions...I swear, when I close my eyes..one minute I hear Liv and then sometimes I hear Beverly..."laughed Nelson...

"She'll find her own voice...Nelson ,remember Beverly's first few cases? She used to sound just like me." laughed Olivia.

''Sure did!" laughed Nelson..."Her voice, her movements...Everything...Then slowly and surely she developed her own voice, her own rhythms...." said Nelson..

"And you love my rhythms don't you?" said Beverly seductively...

"I sure do babes....I sure do.."said Nelson..

"Ronnie's already inside...

Where is Josie?" I asked..

"She went over to that coffee shop..Probably last minute jitters." said Olivia.

"Look at em, laughing and congratulating themselves..."snarled Lt. Tragg..

"So what? They can't laugh and talk?  Relax...They will be sitting in the visitors section.. Even Donnie Ray. Only Nelson East will be assisting her." laughed ADA Ron Harper..

"Why is Dr. Hazel Baylor talking to them?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Will you chill?  You act like you're trying the case..."laughed ADA Harper.

Josie and Darryl came walking up together....

 Beverly whispered to Olivia..

"He is a cutie pie...I hope he didn't get Josie to laughing and talking and accidentally giving up her game plan."

"I know...An attractive man with the gift of gab will have a girl telling her life story...But I think Josie is more disciplined than that..."said Olivia..

"She'll be just fine.."I said..

"Well I would stay, but I have work to do...My assistant will testify for Josie." said Hazel..."I wish her good luck...Call me Liv, let me know how she does."said Hazel.

"Okay. .Bye Hazel and thanks for everything.." said Olivia..

"Well, let's get this show on the road." said Nelson..






III-

The trial began...

Darryl Jordan was good...A very slick young man with the gift of gab....but no match for Nelson when it came to picking jurors..

Like the tricks he had played on so many other ADA's with way more experience than Darryl Jordan, Nelson played the old bait and switch...Picking a juror he knew Darryl and Ron Harper would reject..

while accepting the juror he actually wanted...He was so good at it now that even Olivia and Beverly had caught on as to how to do this..

The three of us sat and laughed as Nelson got 11 of 12 jurors he wanted.. Six African Americans about Ronnie Mo's age and 3 Latinos and 2 whites, all working class, all young and street wise..

With that done, Nelson's role was simply to advise and support with documents and whispered advice..It was Josie's show now...

Ronnie Mo studied the crowd...then he studied the jurors....They were people just like him....He looked at Josie..

"What do ya know..a jury of my peers." he said sarcastically...

"As close as we could get." said Josie.

Darryl played to the females ,Black and White who were bowled over by his good looks...He weaved a tale of romantic rivalry thatexploded into homicidal violence and murder..He was very well spoken and like the best attorneys ,could tell a good story...We were all impressed..

Josie likewise played to the males....Asking how they would feel if the woman they liked was playing them, but they liked her too much to step off....and adding...My client didn't kill this man, Why would he? He had so much more going on...He never saw him as a threat...Car or not...

An odd argument, but one that seemed to resonate with the males in the jury pool...0

It resonated with Ronnie Mo too..

He laughed.

"It's almost like she's in my head..that's exactly how I would have worded it,." he said.

Nelson smiled.

''We know that!" he said.

Darryl paraded 28 witnesses from Josie's , Aqua Bar and Stoleys...They all testified that  Allie Boy, Ronnie Mo and Peaches were involved in a triangle that at times was as comical as it was pathetic..They all knew about each other..and yes...Both Allie Boy and Ronnie Mo had threatened to kill each other over her on several occasions...

These were ironically the same people I had interviewed...I gave Josie a list of questions to ask them on cross examination...

On cross examination...Josie did her best imitation of Beverly West and Beatrice "Bee Bee" Evans..

She smiled, she was soft spoken and conversational and she slyly cut all 28 of these people's testimony to pieces...

Most of what they testified to was second or third hand information...They never saw either man react violently and even though they had both threatened to kill each other...Neither man had a reputation for violence and none of them credibly believed that either one of them would retaliate violently..

In other words they wouldn't crush a grape in a fruit fight!

Score Josie..

"Nicely done...Nicely done Josie girl...Ouuuuuu.She's got you and Bee Bee down pat."said Olivia.

 "Yes...For a minute I thought I was looking at myself up there..She's going to be fierce when she becomes an Attorney." said Beverly, laughing...

Olivia and Beverly couldn't contain their joy...

I sat back like a proud father smiling..

"Atta girl." I said..

From his seat, Lt. Tragg was fuming....even though we weren't taking part at all..He felt as though Josie was Olivia and Beverly's little proxy....I guess in a sense, she was..

Nelson looked at us and used his hands to say 10-2,meaning10 to acquit, 2 undecided...

ADA Ron Harper was surprised...He couldn't believe what had just transpired in the past week..He whispered in Darryl's ear and feverishly wrote notes..

Darryl called Policemen and forensic experts....They gave expert nearly unimpeachable testimony...

Josie now went into her Olivia Bennett-Alexander mode and cross examined them too..

They were forced to admit that they had no murder weapon and the DNA at the scene was not a match for Ronnie Morrison...

Lt. Tragg was livid...His entire case was falling apart in front of him and a damn law student was tearing it apart...

He was called to the stand next.....Josie asked him if he hadn't rushed to judgement..

He flatly said no because 28 people had told him that Ronnie Mo was the killer..

Josie had laid a trap and he walked into it..

"28 people told you the two didn't like each other and they had clashed verbally over Peaches..They never told you he killed him...It's not in their testimony from last week and it's nowhere in any of the witness statements." she said softly...

She looked at the jury the same way Olivia would to verify the point she had just made...She was being conversational...Not combative...

"You have no matching DNA, You have no fingerprints...You don't even have a murder weapon...Why did you arrest my client?" she asked..

The Jurors stared at him...

He was so angry, he was shaking..

"Never mind...You don't have to answer...That will be all Lieutenant." she said softly and purposely reassuringly as though she was a friend...

 "Ouuuuuu...I couldn't have done that better myself."said a proud Olivia, who enjoyed every minute of it..

''She's got you down pat Auntay.....Auntay, she's gonna be fierce.."said Beverly...Smiling and jumping with glee..

I Just laughed...

A few reporters had shown up...

Someone had tipped them off that two students were trying a random murder case..It was a human interest story until they found out who one of the students worked for..

 Olivia and Beverly, to their credit refused to be interviewed.. They didn't want to take any of the spotlight off of Josie.

I naturally had nothing to say...

Darryl had a very good closing argument...Very eloquent...A bit long..a bit over dramatic, but very convincing..

Nelson, who was excellent at polling jurors said it was still 10-2...

"What you gotta do is convince those other two Jo.." he said to her..

IV-

Josie gave a different opening argument...and she promised to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that her client was innocent..

A Uniformed officer whispered something to Lt. Tragg… He got beet red and stomped his foot..

"WHAT? WHY WASN'T I TOLD? THAT WAS MY COLLAR." he bellowed...

Josie called Hazel's assistant...He produced Defense exhibit one..A .38 smokeless . He revealed this to be the murder weapon...He showed the Ballistics report..

He stated that the gun was the illegal property of one Wallace Jenkins, known on the street as "Killer"

He stated that "Killer's fingerprint was on the gun...

He showed my torn jacket sleeve with blood on it...The DNA which was a match for DNA found at the scene and DNA belonging to Wallace "Killer" Jenkins..

He showed them a copy of Wallace's lengthy and violent arrest record..

Darryl had unsuccessfully argued to surpress this, but the Judge had over ruled him...

Josie called 15 people , 15 people who knew Killer was the violent boyfriend of Peaches ..The stripper who both men had been fighting over...They testified about his violent behavior and hair trigger temper..

Darryl asked them if they had ever seen him and the defendant in any kind of altercation...

They said they hadn't ..but all of them had seen or heard of him asking around about Allie boy...

The jury had heard enough...

It took them 35 minutes to find Ronald "Ronnie Mo" Morrison, NOT GUILTY of 2nd Degree Murder..

 Ronnie Mo jumped for joy and hugged Josie and Nelson...

"Damn girl, you're the truth...You fine and you gonna make a great lawyer...damnnnnn!" he said with glee

 "I told you to roll the dice with me..."said Josie who hugged Nelson...

"Thank you Nelson....I couldn't have done this without you.." she said, nearly in tears..

"Sure you could have..." said Nelson..

 "I'm so proud of you baby.."said Olivia, hugging her..

 "My girl!.." said Beverly, kissing Josie on the cheek and hugging her..

I hugged her too and kissed her..

 Darryl Jordan walked over...

"Nicely done Ms. Josie...Lucky for me....I plan to be a defense attorney anyway..." he said..

"Don't let one loss disuade you...I was a Defense Attorney myself once.."said ADA Ron Harper...

"Nicely done Missy...Liv you've got another winner there in your stable of young attorneys...First Round of Drinks are on me at  Stephen Bristol's joint...."said ADA Ron Harper.

Some of the reporters gave it to Lt. Tragg as he attempted to exit the courtroom...

"Just can't win the big ones eh Artie?" joked one..

"Maybe you should let that student work for you...She did a better investigation than you did."said another..

This was met with guffaws of laughter..

"THAT'S IT LOU....I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU! " he screamed in anger,....

Lt. Tragg's anger and frustration bowled over....He attacked both  reporters...Fists were flying..and a full on melee began....

"Oh My God!" said Darryl, who hadn't been prepared for this...

ADA Ron Harper sighed...

"You'd get used to it." he said..

Several uniformed policemen came in between Lt. Tragg and the two reporters who were getting the best of him it appeared..

"Oh Ronnie....We were able to get you off without Peaches or your mystery woman having to testify...So out of curiosity...Who was the woman you were with that night, who's name you couldn't give up?" I asked...

Ronnie grimaced and looked at me...

"Peaches mama.....Mrs. Horton...She's fine man, as fine as Peaches, just a little older...and she treats me real good.. I'm serious...I'm over Peaches..." he said.

 "Ouuuuu!" said Beverly..who had heard the conversation..

 "Men!" said Josie, smiling..

"You're right...Men!" said Olivia,laughing and patting Nelson on the back..

"I know, present company, not included.." he said.


EPILOUGE:

Wallace "Killer" Jenkins was arrested and convicted of Second Degree Murder...He was sentenced to 15-25 years in the State Pen.

ADA Ron Harper was as good as his word...He treated us all to drinks at Stephen Bristol's rooftop bar.

"It was a good case and I wrote you both glowing recomendations and I'm sure Art Caplan of the Public Defenders Office will write you both one too...You're both on your way to being fine Attorneys." he said.

 "Thank you Mr. Harper.." said Darryl

"Thank You Mr. Harper." said Josie..

"You can call me Ronnie Baby." he said seductively to Josie..

Beverly looked at her Aunt...

"Don't you say a word...Not a word." said Olivia..

Nelson and I cracked up laughing...


FOR MONIQUE-