We all had a great first night and a sleep....We woke up to for us, Unseasonably warm breezes coming through our windows and a nice view of the beach, which was a block away.....
Olivia, Beverly, Josie, Bee Bee and Sofia were already up and in the kitchen preparing breakfast and talking...
''After we go to court today, we've got to show you the shopping center and the nice Bistros around here."said Olivia.
"Oh Yes...You'll love it.."said Beverly...
"I'm eager to get to that beach..."said Josie..
"Me too!"said Bee Bee..
"Look, here come the sleepy heads.."said Sofia..
The Rest of us slowly walked in...
"Good Morning ladies."I said..
Gary yawned...
"Heyy Guys..." he said.
Yvette was hanging off of him, looking blissful...
"Heyyyy" was all she could manage to say...
Keith Jones was energetic and Happy... He hugged his girlfriend, Bee Bee...
Who Blushed....and kissed him softly..
"Ummmmm hi boo." she said softly..
Paris yawned...
"Good Morning!" he said.
Khalil smiled..
"This is incredible...Good Morning."he said..
Jade, who had been to Hawaii probably more than all of us smiled..
"Gooood Morning.."
We all piled into that massive kitchen.....
Pancakes
Omelettes to order
Hash Browns
Bacon
Sausage was served...
This was too good to be true...We chowed down....
"Vettie, since we are here as guests of your firm....You run the show...We are here as your consultants...What would you have us do?" asked Olivia..
Yvette was so used to Olivia running the show she was shocked...but grateful to her best friend for turning the reigns over to her...
''We are going to have three teams....Investigators....That will naturally be Donnie Ray, Jade,Gary and Josie..
"Team Two will be investigating the drug cases and team three will investigate the murder case." she said..
"To make it fair..we'll flip a coin...."she said and pulled out a quarter...''Heads gets the murder case, tails gets the drug cases.."she said.
"I've got tails."laughed Olivia..
Nelson flipped the coin.....
"Rats....It's heads..." he said..
"Babbbyyyyyyyy you're supposed to be on our side.." laughed Beverly...
That meant we got the murder case...
"My guys get the four drug cases...There are four...You'll take one a piece..."said Yvette..
''Sounds like fun."said Keith Jones..
"Yeah..."said Bee Bee..
"Sounds pretty pedestrian.."said Sofia..
''We might wind up helping you guys with the murder case if these drug cases are as pedestrian as they appear."said Kahlil..
''Well at any rate...We need to get down to court today and begin our initial appeal, which Bev and I wrote up before we left."said Olivia..
"You guys are so thorough, that's why I love working with you and I love my kids working with you...They are learning so much." said Yvette..
II-
We drove to the courthouse.....
"This is the courthouse?? It looks like Steve McGarrett's office on those old Hawaii Five O reruns."said Nelson...
His wife, Beverly laughed...
"You watch too much television....goofball...but I must admit...You do have a point...It does Look like like that..." she laughed..
"It does " said Yvette as we all entered the courtroom....
Inside the Honolulu district courtroom...
District Attorney James Swift sat with his assistant, Investigator for the District Attorney's Office, Harry Swain..
The Judge, Kim Hyung smiled...
''We would like to welcome our distinguished friends from Philadelphia to Honolulu..." he said.
"First of all, I don't know why I was called here...Second of all, who are these people? I've never seen them before...I know they're not locals.."said D.A. Swift..
"I don't know who they are...but I'm gonna get to know them." said Harry Swain...Investigator for the District Attorney's office..an ex detective,
"I'm Attorney Yvette Jones from Philadelphia Your Honor.... My associates and I are here on behalf of the Innocence Project and McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt law firm.... They are as follows,
Attorney Keith Jones
Attorney Beatrice Evans
Attorney Sofia Garcia
And Attorney Kahlil Ahmed...
This is our investigator, Jade Lee....
The Judge stared at Jade, almost like he knew her...
Jade smiled back...They did know each other...from a long time before....
"Also with us are members of another law firm from Philadelphia... Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West -East, Attorneys at law..
This is Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander....
Attorney Beverly West-East, her niece...
Attorney Nelson East, her niece's husband..
Their Investigator, Donnie Ray Alexander, Olivia's husband.
And Para Legal, Ms. Josie Boyd." said Yvette..
"You five I have heard of...I am honored to have all of you in my courtroom."said Judge Kim Hyung.
"Philadelphia? Why are all of you attorneys and investigators from Philadelphia here in Honolulu...Vacationing?" asked D.A. James Swift..
"That is what they are here to tell us."said Judge Hyung..
"No we aren't vacationing Mr. Swift.....The Innocence Project which first got a hold of this wanted to bring in attorneys who weren't from this area, not prejudiced to look at four to five cases we feel should be dismissed without prejudice." said Olivia..
"Is that right?" said D.A. swift..
"That is right." said Yvette..
"In 2016, former Amherst drug lab chemist Sunny Fairlane
was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison after it was discovered that for nearly a decade she stole and used drugs that she was testing.
In June,2015 an initial group of the drug convictions secured through Ms. Fairlane's testing were dismissed based on documentation that she’d tampered with evidence and that prosecutors knowingly concealed information from the defense counsel as well as the Superior Court about the extent and length of Ms. Fairlane's misconduct and drug abuse.
Recently San Francisco Attorney, Larry North, filed a position stating the remainder of the convictions linked to Fairlane—Five, we believe—need to also be dismissed with prejudice to “restore integrity to the justice system.”
The document—filed by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the ACLU of Hawaii and attorneys Larry North and Robert Copeland of The Innocence Project—states that the Superior Court found that the District attorney's office “purposefully withheld exculpatory evidence about the timing and scope of Sunny Fairlane's drug abuse, misled defense counsel about that evidence, and committed a fraud on the court in order to minimize the scope of the scandal.”
Furthermore attorneys North and Copeland ,who did a fantastic job outline that when Sunny Fairlane was arrested in 2016—after she compromised the evidence in four criminal drug cases and one Capital Murder Case—the Superior Court held an evidentiary hearing. " said Yvette..
Olivia continued-
"At that point, the defense counsel tried to obtain important evidence from the Commonwealth of Hawaii, but the attorney general’s office suppressed that evidence and falsely told counsel and the court that all exculpatory evidence had already been disclosed.
In 2016, a six-day evidentiary hearing was held to explore why that evidence was withheld.
The Superior Court found that the two assistant district attorneys working on the case engaged in misconduct that “improperly influenced and distorted [the court’s] fact finding and legal conclusions and it unfairly hampered the defendants’ presentation of defenses. Their conduct constitutes a fraud upon the court.”
To make matters worse, states the petition, the Commonwealth has failed to identify and notify those four defendants whose convictions are linked to Fairlanes testing or to educate them about their rights regarding post-conviction relief.
For these reasons, we believe “These four cases should be vacated and dismissed with prejudice.”
Also, the prosecutors or you sir are called on to fulfill their legal obligations and properly identify and notify the five defendants affected by Sunny Fairlane's misconduct, Including one serving a life sentence for murder.
You can read the the entire petition and the ACLU’s statement on the filing here. The Innocence Project joined the ACLU in filing a friend-of-the-court brief regarding the prosecutorial misconduct issues in the case and later filed bar complaints against the two former prosecutors.
As Ms. Jones stated, We are here because this case needed outsiders, People not from Hawaii to look into this with Fresh eyes..." she said..
"Surely we don't need outsiders to clean up our dirty laundry, we can handle these problems ourselves.."said D.A. Swift..
"Apparently you haven't...That's why we are here..."said Beverly....
''We've got five cases....Five cases you tried D.A. Swift...Five convictions that need to be looked on..All based on faulty Drug and DNA evidence used in the trials.."said Bee Bee...
"This was just a heads up ..us giving you a courtesy visit to let you know what we plan to do."said Nelson..
"We'll be filing motions soon on all four drug convictions and the murder case involved.."said Yvette as we all filed out..
"I'll give you three days...Then we'll begin hearing arguments into these cases...Meanwhile , enjoy your stay in Honolulu....If you need anything...My door is open."said Judge Hyung..who eyed Jade..
Jade eyed him.....
District Attorney Swift smiled but he was not pleased...
"Damn it...This couldn't happen at a worse time...I'm planning to run for State Senator in a few months..One faulty case is one thing...FIVE is a scandal that can be used against me... I've heard of Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West...but not the rest...." he said..
"Don't worry...I'll get on it...I'll get you the book on all of em…" said Harry Swain...
III-
Honolulu was beautiful....We all drove around the city..We did a little shopping..Scoped out a few night spots to consider later..
and just hung out until the late afternoon....
We walked along the sunny beaches....It felt so good, the cool breezes felt so good..we hated having to return to our Air BNB and go to work...but we had to remember...This was work..
We returned reluctantly....Paris and Gary were the only two who didn't go to court with us...….
"Only he says he and the victim were having an affair...A consensual affair..."said Beverly..
"Husband says that's a lie and that he raped her and murdered her and had been stalking her."said Nelson...
"The detective who made the case is Harry Swain...He was in court today." said Josie..
"Yeah? Detective Harry Swain was the case detective on my drug case."said Keith Jones.
"Mine too...He made my case..."said Sofia..
"You won't believe this...but Harry Swain was the case detective on my case also."said Bee Bee...
"Oh My God...He was the case detective on mine too..."said Kahlil...
"Apparently he was working Narcotics when he made those four cases...Then moved to Homicide.."I said
"That was him in court today...He's now an Investigator for the District Attorney's Office.."said Yvette....
"Interesting."said Gary with a wry smile...He too was a Detective who moved to being an Investigator for the D.A.'s office...
"James Swift....Then Assistant District Attorney Swift prosecuted all four of these Drug Cases and that Homicide...Now he's the D.A."said Jade.
"Looks like Swift and Swain moved up the ranks together." said Olivia..
"I'm going to get the book on both of them..."I said.
"Jade and I will see if we can scare up Sonny Fairlane..." said Gary...
Just then the doorbell rang..
"The doorbell? Who outside of Philly Innocence Project and Your firm knows we are here Yvette?" asked Olivia..
"Nobody." said Yvette..
Paris answered the door...
A very attractive Black woman with Glasses walked in...
"Hello everyone...I assume you are the delegation from Philadelphia...Larry North told me you guys were coming...He gave me this address...I am Jacqueline Bleu, Attorney Jacqueline Bleu...I'm a Public Defender...I am representing Ralph Clanton...I was the one who first noticed the faulty DNA evidence and the drug testing and usage of Ms. Sonny Fairlane...I started looking at other cases in which she was used and I tried three times unsuccessfully to get my client's case looked at as well as four others which were tried by my colleagues...It was such a miscarriage of justice that I contacted the INNOCENCE PROJECT in San Francisco and got Mr. Larry North and Mr. Copeland Involved...They came out and got the ball rolling.. He told me about you ,Olivia and Beverly..." she said..
"My team will be working with you on this murder case."said Olivia..
''Everybody else will be looking into those drug cases."said Beverly..
"Mr. Johnson of Philadelphia called me and gave me this address...Nobody knows you guys are staying here...I suggest you keep it that way as long as possible..This place is listed as belonging to a Bert Crater.."said Jacqueline Bleu...
"He's an attorney from our firm...I'm Yvette Jones from McCluskey Cozen, Connor and Pratt and Associates.. We'll be working on the four drug cases...These are my guys...
Keith Jones
Bee Bee Evans
Sofia Garcia
Kahlil Ahmed
and our investigator, Jade Lee.." she said..
"You know my niece
Beverly West
Her husband, Attorney Nelson East
My Husband, Donnie Ray Alexander, our Investigator...
And our Para-Legal, Josie Boyd."said Olivia...
"GREAT...you've got a super team....I'll stop by tomorrow...Just a word of caution...Keep this place your secret for as long as you can...D.A. James Swift is as ruthless and cut throat as they come, I don't trust him...He's not above having his stooge, Harry Swain try to bug this place." she said.
"Gary and I brought equipment with us to sweep this place..which we'll be doing daily.."I said.
"Hi...I'm Gary Lockwood..I'm not really a part of the team...I'm here with Ms. Yvette Jones, but back home...I'm an Investigator with the D.A.'s office.." said Gary..
"Super you guys got three investigators...and a para-legal...That's more than I have ever had all at one time.." said Jacqueline..
"My niece and her husband and I all began our careers as Public defenders, believe me...We know."said Olivia..
"Oh yeah...Not being able to afford an Investigator...."said Beverly...
"And a Para-legal was a distant dream.."said Nelson, hugging Josie.
Who smiled..
''We have plenty of space...Why don't you pack a bag and come stay here with us...Hang out? It's cool with everybody isn't it?" asked Yvette...
Investigator Harry Swain brought several folders with photos of all of us...
"I got you the book on all of em...They're all from Philly...All of em graduated from University of Penn Law School with the exception of Nelson East...He graduated from St. Johns...Innocence project from San-Francisco called Innocence Project from Philadelphia , Jones, Evans, Jones, Ahmed and Garcia and their investigator Jade Lee come from McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt....The others are from Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West's law firm...East is Beverly West's husband, Donnie Ray Alexander, Ex-New Orleans cop is Olivia's husband and their Investigator..The other girl is a Para legal..She's a second year law student.."said Harry Swain..
Jack Swift looked over the files...
"The Innocence Project reached out to two private law firms in Philly and sent them here....Somebody put a bee in their bonnet...It was someone from here...It Had to be Ms. Bleu...Go By the Public Defender's office...She was told to butt out of this case...Talk to her supervisor..Do you know what hotel these guys are staying at?" he asked..
"That's the thing...I've checked all of the hotels and motels on this rock...They're not registered at any of them."said Harry Swain..
"That's 11 people....They've got to be staying somewhere..If they're not in a hotel, they must be in an Air BNB..." said James Swift..
"I checked with all of the local owners...None of em are entertaining a group that large..." said Harry Swain.
Bert Crater, who owned this Air BNB we were staying in was away on business in Singapore...He had not been contacted...
Harry Swain wouldn't know that and wouldn't know he was a McCluskey/Cozen, Connor and Pratt Attorney...
"Stay on them...I need to know what their strategies are and what they will be planning.."said D.A. Swift..
"Got'cha...I'll find em.."said Harry Swain.
Meanwhile...We had all gone out to a nice restauraunt we had been to the last time we were here..
"Does everyone here like Sushi?" asked Olivia.
''Sofia and I love it."said Bee Bee..
''Ouuuu Yessss."said Sofia..
"Then you'll love this place.."said Nelson..
As plates of hot food was brought to our table...
"Nice.."said Keith Jones..
"I knew you'd like it, Mr. Sophisticated...This is like that place you took me and Auntay to when we worked that case..."said Beverly..
"Oh I know that place...Peiros by Penns Landing..."said Kahlil...
"Yeah they loved it."said Keith Jones..Who had taken Olivia, Beverly and Josie
to this place after they'd worked a case...
Nelson and I didn't go...I was helping him with another case at the time...
"Yessss...the food was delish...but not as good as this.."said Josie..
"Yeah...This is the real thing." said Paris.
"Glad you like it..."I said, enjoying my food and looking over at Jade , who was enjoying herself...This was so close to her native food..
She didn't talk, She just ate...
"Mmmmmm you enjoying this honey?" asked Yvette..
"Sure am.." said Gary...
Despite the fact we were being paid and working on not one but five seperate cases simultaneously...This was more like a vacation than work...We all were enjoying ourselves but the seriousness of this was soon going to come down on us...
It was a nice night out....
Jade excused herself and left early....
"I know some people here from when I was here before...I said if I was ever in Honolulu again..I'd check them out...I'll see you guys later."she said..
Jade was the only one of us who had a car to herself...The rest of us were coupled up...she headed for an apartment in mid town Honolulu and knocked on the door..
Judge Kim Hyung came to the door..he smiled.
"Jade" he said.
"I knew you'd return to me.." he said. Jade smiled and he took her in his arms..
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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3 comments:
Lisa
said...
With the Exception of Nate and Monica , all of your charactors live in the same universe.
3 comments:
With the Exception of Nate and Monica , all of your charactors live in the same universe.
Loving this story...The Hawaiian Backdrop!
Love these crossover stories!
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