Tossed Out

A Small down pour of rain greeted us the next morning...It was the first time it had rained since we'd been here..

 ''Wow I didn't think it ever rained in Hawaii." mused Paris , who was driving us to the Airport...
Yvette's firm, McCluskey Cozen Connor and Pratt had leased us Bob Crater's Private Jet to fly to Oahu State Prison.

Paris wasn't going , but he was driving us to the airport and was going to pick us up when we returned.

 "Oh it rains everywhere....Aren't you guys glad you got to hang out on the beach, do some shopping and see Honolulu before it rained?" asked Olivia, who was holding several folders in her arms.. Case Files.

 "Sure they are..And Now that it's raining..They won't feel so bad about the work that we have to do." I added.

 Beverly was oblivious to our conversation, she stared at her husband...Nelson, who was smiling..

"Why do you look soooo satisfied?" she whispered..

 |"Because I am." he whispered.

The two of them had found a part of the beach that was empty and separate from everything else...

practically abandoned and they had made crazy love,

right there on the beach up under the docks...

Josie was dozing off....

Paris

had kept her up all night ,making love....She didn't think he was ever going to cum...

Olivia and I had had quite a night too,

making love after we had come back from the beach! Practically all night long..

We drove up to the small air  strip....We gave our ID and our passes to the Pilot, waved to Paris as he headed back and boarded the plane..

It was a nice plane...

 "This is a nice plane...Ouuuuu Look at this..Too bad we are headed toward the prison."said Olivia with a smile..

"The Things we'll tell our kids right Auntay?" joked Beverly as the two women shared a conspiratorial laugh...

 "Nicest Plane I've ever been on, Small or large." I said..

 "Me too!" I said.

"I didn't know the Innocence Project had it going on like this."said Jackie Bleu...

"Oh they don't....and neither does my small law practice...My girlfriend Yvette's firm paid for that Air BNB we are staying in and this Private Jet rental...They're splitting our legal fees with her firm and our airfare home...That's it."said Olivia..

''Wow! ,Still Nice to have.." said Jackie.






II-

The rainy streets of Miami still yielded something else...A Homicide...

Crime scene forensic people and CSI were snapping photos of a dead woman...

 Gary Lockwood stood in the rain holding an umbrella over Jade as she looked at the body...

"Gary, that's Sunny Fairlaine..the gemstone of this case...The one who was taking the drugs and doctoring DNA evidence in the cases..." she said.

"How did you know she'd been murdered or rather was dead?" asked Gary..

"I can't tell you that...but my source hasn't been wrong so far..."said Jade.

"Okay....you have a pipeline...As a Detective myself, I respect that...but someone killed this girl for a reason...and that reason was to shut this whole show down.."said Gary, going on his instincts as a one time Homicide detective.

He and Jade identified themselves and spoke to the Homicide detectives on the scene..

'So You're an Investigator with the District Attorney's Office in Philadelphia and you mam are an Investigator for some ritzy titsy law firm in Philly...What has this got to do with you?" asked the Lead detective..

 "Nothing with me...I'm here with my girlfriend..She's one of the attorneys looking into some cases that were tainted by this woman's drug use and compromising of DNA evidence."said Gary...

"Yes...We were interested in talking to her."said Jade.

"Did you?" asked the other detective..

"No! We were on our way here to talk to her and we found her here on the sidewalk..That's when we called you."said Jade.

"Well according to eyewitnesses, she either jumped or was pushed out of that high rise... We found one needle mark on her arm....we suspect she was using again..."said one of the detectives..

The entire time they talked, they didn't realize they were being watched by D.A.'s investigator, Harry Swain...

A storm of another kind was going on in the courthouse..

The Press was all over embattled District Attorney James Swift.

"Is it true that a lab technician was using drugs and tainting evidence in five cases and you knew about this?" they asked..

"These allegations are false, I acted in good faith in all of these cases as you will see..." he said as he walked into the closed courtroom sessions..He was Livid, Beet red livid..

Because this wasn't a trial, there was no jury..It was being heard before a Judge, Judge Kim Hyung..

He had told the attorneys to come prepared to argue their cases...and they were.....

 Yvette had prepped and oversaw everything with meticulous attention to detail, Something that this Judge liked and respected..

 He was quite impressed with Young Keith Jones , who had his client with him and brought up his case as though he was the original trial attorney...  We had obtained DNA and chemical evidence and had an independent lab suggested to us by the Innocence Project do the tests... That and new witnesses that had not been heard before were presented...

It took the Judge one hour to vacate the original sentence and throw it out...Setting the defendant free..He had been incarcerated for four years..

 Bee Bee's case was even more ergregious.. She produced never before heard witnesses that placed the defendent at a different location...as well as proof of tainted and inconclusive DNA evidence..
She challenged the law used...Even brought up evidence of an illegal search and seizure...

DA Swift argued vigourously that this was all conjecture and that if indeed any wrong doing was done..The case detective did so without his knowledge..

Judge Kim shook his head in exasperation and tossed this conviction out also, freeing the defendant ,who had been incarcerated for three years.

He hugged Bee Bee..a Little too long..She had to pry him loose from her..but she understood his happiness...a little bit..

 Sofia's case was pretty much the same thing...She produced witnesses who said they had spoken to then case detective Harry Swain and said that their testimony had never been used... she produced proof that the DNA was inconclusive although Ms. Fairlaine testified that it was a match...She had reports from both the FBI and an independent lab that disagreed with Ms. Fairlaine's assessment...

It took two hours for Judge Kim to vacate this sentence and order the defendant to be immediately released from prison...He had been incarcerated for three years..
The defendant and his wife and his parents cried and hugged Sofia..

"You've done sloppy work counselor.." he said to DA Swift..

"Your Your Your Honor...I -I had no idea.." said DA Swift...

"This is three straight cases where you had no idea...I don't like having to do this..."said the Judge sternly....

Kahlil had the fourth and last case....Like the others, there were witnesses who gave statements to then Detective Harry Swain and the police, who were never called to testify...Falsified DNA evidence as well as other forensic evidence that might have cleared this client...There was known evidence on file that the defense in the first case was never privy too and perhaps more than the other cases...evidence of prosecutorial misconduct..

DA Swift tried in vain to argue, but Judge Kim was beyond exasperated...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDD MAN....I don't believe this...I don't believe YOU!  and you're running for public office???....You've ruined four people's lives ,Oh My god."said the Judge.

He vacated the sentence and released the defendant from custody...

The man, who had no prior arrests was greeted by his wife, his two daughters, his son and his ailing father...They all hugged Kahlil...

Yvette looked on  like a proud mother....

"Slam dunk!!!!...We won all four!! Yayyyy!" she said and then she got a phone call

....It was Gary..

''Bad News...Sunny Fairlaine!! She's been murdered." he said..

They were moving the body as he spoke..

"Oh My God!!!....We didn't need her!!!...We won all four cases...Judge tossed all four cases out and didn't even order new trials...Just set the guys free...I'm worried about Liv." she said.

At the courthouse...The press snapped Photos of Yvette and her victorious attorneys...

who smiled and waved with their clients as they walked out...

D.A. Swift was livid...he stomped his foot and kicked a chair...He railed at" That druggy bitch..She got caught getting high and stirred up this hornets nest..I'm ruined." he screamed..

"Boss....Boss..I think I know where those lawyers are staying."said Harry Swain..

"Oh it doesn't matter now...The Judge tossed out four of the five verdicts...They've won! It's too little ,too late..I just wished we could have gotten to Sunny Fairlaine before this happened.." said the DA.

"It's only five of em...Where is the rest?" asked Harry Swain...

"That's right!! Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West and that bunch...where are they?? They must be working on that murder case...we've got to shut this down...Get to that house where they are staying..Sit on it..Put a man on it and se if you can get a bug inside..We've got to stop the bleeding."said DA Swift..

Judge Kim was in the crowd...He overheard them talking.

III-

Oahu State Prison looked and smelled like every other prison I had ever been in except Ultra Modern Stanga in Pennsylvania or the Dolly Madison Women's Prison in Pennsylvania..Those were new, modern sanitized prisons..Oahu was just a step above Angola in my native Louisiana..

The ladies, Attorneys Jacqueline Bleu, Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West and Para legal Josie Boyd were subjected to the usual catcalls from men locked up and away from females for a long period..

Nelson and I cooly walked in between them.... They had all been in prisons before to see clients..They were used to it..

Our client, A Black man from Los Angelas , who was living and working in Honolulu was named. Ralph Clanton...He was just a little older than Beverly and Nelson...

He smiled upon seeing his new lawyer Jackie..

"Hi ya Jackie...You're looking good...I see you brought some company.." he said.. He was in good spirits for a man serving life..

"Yes...These are famed Philadelphia defense attorneys, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West.."

She said introducing them...


''I know who they are...I've heard of them...I didn't know you knew them..." he said.

"I didn't, prior to this case...I reached out to the Innocence Project and they reached out to them and some other lawyers from Philly... They're looking into all of the cases this woman botched that then ADA Swift prosecuted..."said Jackie..

"Him and that crooked cop, Harry Swain...They know I didn't kill that girl..Swain jacked me up as a favor to his cop friend."said Ralph Clanton...

''Wait a minute, this cop was his friend." asked Nelson...

"Oh let me introduce the rest of my team.."said Olivia.. "This is Attorney Nelson East, My niece's husband...He'll be assisting us in your defense..and my husband.. Donnie Ray Alexander, ex Homicide detective and my investigator.." said Olivia.

and this is our Para legal, soon to be an attorney, Ms. Josie Boyd."

She said introducing us..


He smiled..."Pleased to meet you....As I was saying..Her fiancé was a cop who had gone through the academy with Harry Swain..while Swain moved up the ranks to detective...his boy got into one mishap after another...Look at his record..." he said.

"I did...He's got enough write ups to have him booted him off the force.. He was eventually terminated from the police force and sent to prison for burglary..." I said.

"Yeah, I wish I could have gotten a hold of him.." he said.

"You said you and his fiancé had a consensual sexual relationship right?" said Beverly...

"Yeah...She worked with me...We slept together a couple of times...but there was no strings attached..I mean she wasn't my girlfriend or nothing... Somebody saw us and it got back to him." said Ralph..

''We have a recorded and signed affidavit from an ex-convict who did time with her fiancé who claims he confessed to him that he murdered his wife because she was cheating with you..."said Olivia..

"Yeah, well you better not make that known...Or whoever this guy is...He won't live too long..Witnesses have uh just left town and been known to disappear in ADA Swift's cases."said Ralph Clanton.

"Yeah, that seems to be the case I hear." I said..

I pulled everyone to the side..

"Gary just sent me a text...Sunny Fairlane is dead!  She was murdered!!!" I said.

 "What? She's the centerpiece to all of these cases."said Josie.

 "I know."said Olivia.

 "I got a text from both Bee Bee and Sofia.. They won their cases...Judge tossed out the verdicts and set their clients free."said Beverly..

"Yvette sent me a text...All four cases were tossed out, All four defendents were set free, no new trials were ordered..."said Jackie..

"Let's see what we can do for this guy."I said..

Ralph Clanton was arraigned in District court...

In District Court... Jacqueline Bleu, Olivia, Beverly and Nelson argued passionately for Ralph Clanton...They were well prepared....They produced the same basic argument-

"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 Jacqueline Bleu..

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 believed “These fivecases should be vacated and dismissed with prejudice.”

 Beverly continued

The prosecutor, Then ADA, Now DA James Swift  has been called on to fulfill his legal obligations and properly identify and notify the four  defendants affected by Sunny Fairlane's misconduct as well as our client ,Ralph Clanton , whose case is the most egregious of the five cases.

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. " she said.

The Judge read the statement. He was impressed with their arguments...The evidence in the Clanton case they presented ..It took him thirty minutes to say...

"This was an obvious miscarriage of justice...sloppy police work...the whole nine yards...I am vacating this sentence and ordering a new trial as soon as possible." he said..

It was a victory.... We were all ecstatic as we headed back to Honolulu...

Nelson and Beverly kissed passionately the entire flight back..

Jackie watched them and smiled.

"My My myyyyy, they must be newlyweds....All that kissing and making goo goo eyes at each other..I think it's sweet." she said to Olivia.

"They are newlyweds, but the three of us have been together for years..First in the public defenders office and now at my practice." she said..

I had my arm around Olivia's waist....

"This one here is going to squeeze me to death...He still thinks we are newlyweds"said Olivia, smiling..

''Awww that's so sweet.."laughed Jacqueline..

"Hate to be a Debbie Downer.. but we've got to find that guy....Jason Friante. The guy who says that cop confessed to him in prison that he killed his fiancé because she was cheating on him with a Black man."said Josie..

Jackie looked at Josie and smiled..

"She is a gem...She's going to be a great attorney,Liv and Bev...She's so sharp..  Mr. Friante is with relatives in San Francisco where they can't get to him...He'll only return here when the new trial comes up." said Jackie..

"You're pretty sharp too." I said, smiling..

IV-

We were all back at our Air BNB...

"I gave those cops my real number...but a fake address....I figured Old Harry Swain would probably get it from them in an attempt to find us.."said Jade.

 Olivia laughed...

"Good Job Jade...But it no longer matters if they know where we live...what can they do at this point?" asked Olivia..

 "True Auntay, but I like our privacy....Not being watched..."said Beverly...

 "I agree with Shortcake..."I said..

 "Yeah me too...It makes life a lot more comfortable.." I said..

 "I'm just hungry....where is that boyfriend of mine?" asked Josie... "I gave him cash." she added/...

 Jackie smiled.. "This little lady thinks of everything." she said..

 "Don't she though?  We 've got some great people working on this.." added Yvette, just beaming with pride..

 "With Great appetites."said Keith Jones.

 "Simmer down...That's Paris on the door now.."said Bee Bee....

 "Mmmmmm it smells good."said Sofia.

 "Smells like home.."said Kahlil.

"I'll say." added Gary.

"I'm back with the food." said Paris

who brought us Bugers, Fries and shakes.. We hungrily chowed down... Nice end to a week's work!

but meanwhile in town..

D.A. Investigator Harry Swain and DA James Swain stand in the empty hallway of long since closed Hotel....

"This isn't the right address...No way this place can hold 11 people..." said Harry Swain...

"It's empty you idiot!!....Plus we've got more bad news...The Judge tossed out Ralph Clanton's murder conviction today also."said James Swift..

"WHAT?" said Harry Swain...

"Your big case...That was the case that made you, that got you this cushy job....That cop friend of yours...Where is he?" asked DA Swift..

"He's around...why?" asked Harry Swain..

"You know...I've long thought that he really murdered that girl....I've even heard a nasty rumor that while he was in prison , he bragged that he indeed killed her...so he could get in good with a white  Nationalist prison gang....You know He killed his white fiancé for sleeping with a Black man and the Black man is taking the rap for the murder...You need to find him and shut him up....We've already suffered enough...Four cases thrown out...A spotlight on me that I can't afford...A racially charged murder case will all but sink my chances of a senate seat....Find Him Harry, Shut him up!"said James Swift.

"I'm on it boss."said Harry Swain.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)