Just Collateral Damage

Judge  Tad Thornton , one of the city's youngest Judges found himself splattered all over the news on the eve of our hearings...

Disgraced and convicted Chemist Sarah Faulkner was suddenly talking long and loud about how she and Judge McClure had been lovers back during the days when she was using cocaine heavily and tainting evidence in cases...and lying on the stand...She said that Judge Mckelroy , ADA Mark Tate and Judge McClure, then an Assistant District Attorney were all bed mates of hers..

They all were aware of what she was doing and they kept silent about it...both to get a conviction and for her continued sexual favors..

She also said that Judge Thornton then an Assistant District Attorney did a lot of Cocaine with her and that he went to rehab, shortly after she was indicted and arrested..

If that wasn't bombshell enough she claimed that he had been romantically involved with three of the attorneys who would be retrying these cases.. Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West-East...both now married and Yvette Jones..

 Olivia spent the early part of the day talking to the press..

"I don't know Ms. Faulkner...I've never met her before...She does not know what she's talking about..I never dated Judge Thornton...I never had any romantic relationship with him whatsoever!....He and I were in Law school together..He was a year ahead of me...We both worked in the Public Defenders Office together and years later we both wound up at the same law firm, Bach and Bach LLC...but still ,we were just casual acquaintences.. Never romantic." she insisted.

 The press pillored her with more questions, but she maintained that she had never had a romantic relationship with Judge Thornton..

 Beverly also fielded questions..

''We went out to dinner once and maybe to a movie and out for drinks....but that was the extent of it..It wasn't romantic or sexual in any way...It was when we both worked at the Public Defenders Office.. After he left...I never saw him again for years until just recently when my aunt and I tried a case in his courtroom....I don't know Ms. Faulkner..I've never met her...She doesn't know me or my aunt or what she's talking about."said Beverly..

 The Press was having a field day with the fact that untouchable, unblemished Olivia and Beverly, Aunt and Niece were linked romantically to the same man...despite both denying anything ever  happened..

 Yvette Jones was also having a tough time..

"I've never met Ms. Faulkner...I don't know what she's talking about and SHE doesn't know what she's talking about.... I knew Tad Thornton in law school...We are both products of PENN LAW..
He was a year ahead of me...

We went out to dinner once and out for drinks twice...years ago when he was still at the Public Defenders office and again, We might have met for a Burger when he joined the D.A.'s office, but that was the extent of it...There was no romance , no sexual relationship of any kind..

Ms. Faulkner is just trying to stay relevant." said Yvette.

Like Olivia and Beverly..Yvette was caught up in the rumors and speculation also...

ADA Tad Thornton did have a documented drug problem and did take a six month leave of absence to go into rehab...

Returning clean and sober...He went back to practicing  law and became the second youngest Judge in the city's history...

His stint in rehab had been kept very quiet...Now it was out...Though he had done nothing wrong..He was asked to recuse himself from being the Judge in the hearings...

He also stepped down as Chairman of the Legal Ethics Board...

A major blow for him professionally...He was still a Judge though...That was one good thing..

He addressed the Press.. He vehemently  denied having romantic relationships with Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West or Yvette Jones..He called them his dear friends and said that while he did have a two year long romantic relationship with Sarah Faulkner in which they both did use Cocaine occasionally...He had no idea she was  tainting evidence and lying in trials.. He said none of her cases in which she testified ever ran through his court...  He said the public records would bare him out.. They did.

He said he had no idea she was sleeping with Judge Mckelroy and former ADA Mark Tate ,while she was dating him.

"Like a lot of what she has said , that is probably a lie also." he said..

He said he was clean and sober now after a stint in rehab, but stated since he is close to three of the attorneys in the case and did have a relationship with Sarah Faulkner...It was in the best interest of justice that he recuse himself from the proceedings...

He was in tears...This would have been a career making case for him as a young Judge...now sullied by controversy...

The scandal cost him his Chairmanship of the Legal Ethics Board...He was heartbroken and mad at the same time..

 ADA Karen Page called a Press Conference that featured

 Olivia Bennett-Alexander

 Beverly West

and Yvette Jones..

She said she had the utmost confidence in her attorneys and that even though losing Judge Tad Thornton was a set back she planned to have other Judges in place and that the hearings would continue as planned ..

They fielded a few questions from the press and then left...It was noted That ADA Karen Page, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Yvette Jones were all classmates at PENN LAW and all knew Tad Thornton while they attended law school..This had tongues wagging for a few days...

 Sitting in Sam Mother's Diner, watching the whole thing on the news was Lt.Tragg and he was laughing and enjoying the entire thing..

"Threaten me will you? HA!  Laugh that off Pretty Boy!" he said to himself... He had gotten his revenge.

He was actually sorry Olivia, Beverly and Yvette got dragged into this..This wasn't really aimed at them, they were just collateral damage...

He and his friend, Attorney Curt Jenson sat watching the whole thing in Sam Mother's Diner..

 ''Well Artie...Mission Accomplished...No way any of this comes back on you..." he said.

"My guy approached Faulkner in the Women's prison...He put 20K on her books...and her 18 month sentence  was reduced to 12 months....She's already served six....She'll be out soon...She said what we told her to say...It was easy, once we dug up the other dirt on Thornton..." said Jenson.

'' You're the man counselor...That punk's world has been turned upside down.."laughed Lt. Tragg.





II-

 Despite the drama that occurred the past few days...We had made a promise to Ten men..A Promise we meant to keep...

 Four of the men sat in the conference room awaiting their hearings...It was going to be a very long day..

 ''Despite what happened to poor Tad Thornton, we've got to go on...Olivia and Beverly are ready..I felt so sorry for them, having to go through that..." said Karen..

''I did too, it was just crazy...That crazy woman started spewing all that garbage at the time she did..It almost seems like it was orchestrated.."said Jessica.

"Yeah...How about that?" said Karen..

Judge Pierce agreed to hear Olivia and Beverly's four cases...

He moved his day up..

The First Day , he heard Two of the men's cases...

Olivia and

Beverly produced a ton of witnesses that had never been called..

Witnesses Jade, Gary and I found with help from the Detectives of the CID...and Agents of The FBI and ATF...

Nelson produced a truck load of real forensic evidence that was hidden from the defense..

And Josie had other evidence..Debit and credit card receipts and witnesses, never heard who placed the men at different locales..

We presented the rest of our case..

Last year, former Philadelphia drug lab chemist Sarah Faulkner was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison after it was discovered that for nearly five years she stole and used drugs that she was testing. In June, an initial group of the drug convictions secured through Faulkners 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 Faulkner's misconduct and drug abuse. Today, we on behalf of the Innocence Project And wrongful Conviction Unit of the D.A.'s office have filed a position stating the remainder of the convictions linked to Faulkner—estimated to be about ten—need to also be dismissed with prejudice to “restore integrity to the justice system.” 

The document—filed by Attorneys Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and Charles Burrows—states that the Superior Court found that the District Attorney's office “purposefully withheld exculpatory evidence about the timing and scope of Faulkners drug abuse, misled defense counsel about that evidence, and committed a fraud on the court in order to minimize the scope of the scandal.” We outlined that when Faulkner was arrested  last year—after she compromised the evidence in about 10 criminal  cases—the Superior Court held an evidentiary hearing. At that point, the defense counsel tried to obtain important evidence from the Commonwealth, but  former ADA Mark Tate, now serving a life sentence for five murders

 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, Mark Tate

 and then ADA , later Judge  Sam Mckelroy..who himself has been disbarred and is serving a life sentence for murder...

and 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 eight other defendants whose convictions are linked to Ms. Faulkner's testing or to educate them about their rights regarding post-conviction relief. For these reasons, states our petition, “all of Ms. Faulkner's remaining  cases should be vacated and dismissed with prejudice.”

Two of the complaintants contacted me and asked me to represent them....My husband and I later found out about the other eight...Judging by the scope of this investigation... We knew this needed you guys.The best of the best..

 As ADA and head of the Wrongful Conviction Unit, We are calling on ADA Karen Page   to fulfill her or the State's  legal obligations and properly identify and notify these ten defendants affected by Faulkner's misconduct. You can read the  entire petition .The Innocence Project joined the Wrongful Conviction Unit 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, who are now disbarred and in prison themselves ."

In two days...Judge Pierce tossed out all four convictions , setting these four men free...They had been locked up for four years...All four were African Americans...

 "This was such an egregious miscarriage of justice...I had no choice but to set these four guys free." he said. 'This was outrageous...It should have never happened.." he said..

 ''We did it Auntay...Somebody tried to smear us personally and professionally , but it didn't stop justice from being done.."said Beverly..

 "Yeah, I wonder was that aimed at us or were we just collateral damage.?" said Olivia..

 "I thought about that too...There is always a pattern...Lt. Tragg likes a woman, woman rejects him chooses another man...all of a sudden unflattering photos turn up , the man is charged with murder, goes through a long trial or in this case..Man is disgraced and has to recuse himself from these hearings and has to step down as Chairman of the Legal Ethics Board..I don't know.."I said.

 "If this is Tragg , he has some pretty powerful reach...You think this is him?" asked Nelson.

 "He's been around long enough to know people who have the reach..."said Josie..

Exactly what I thought..

But we reveled in our four victories and met with the Press and the four young men's families..No one was asking about rumors of Olivia and Beverly being romantically involved with Tad Thornton anymore..Just like that..It was old news.. Winning cases does that for you...

III-

Yvette

and Keith Jones gave great sumnations for all four cases...

Bee Bee presented witnesses never before heard ,who placed the men in different places..

Kahlil unearthed Forensic Evidence..real forensic evidence that cast doubt on the men's guilt..

and Sofia presented Credit, Card, Debit Card and two cases ,time stamped Street and Traffic cam videos that placed the men in different locations at the time of the crime..

Jade was angry that both Lt. Tragg and Detective Dominic Evans ,didn't even try to do a decent investigation...They just wanted to close a case as fast as possible. It was slap dash investigating as usual.

Yvette  and her associates,  Keith Jones, Beatrice "Bee Bee" Evans, Kahlil Ahmed, Sofia Garcia and their investigator, Jade Lee lucked out..They got Judge Percy Reynolds , who liked them as much as he liked us...He trusted them..

They presented their four men and  enough proof that exculpatory evidence had been hidden from the defense , Lying on the stand..DNA and Fingerprint evidence that might have cleared all four of these men and witnesses that were never called.. plus the fact that the chemist claims she was sleeping with both the Judge and the ADA, both of whom were now convicted felons themselves..gave him no choice..

He Tossed all four convictions out and set these men free.. Two were African American and Two were Latino.

"Yippeee, we did it guys...We did it!!" said a victorious and Jubilant Yvette...

"Wow..Olivia and Beverly two days ago and us today...And the week started off so bad, with the scandal and all."said Keith Jones..

''Somebody was trying to Sabotage this hearing..But we didn't let it happen."said Bee Bee..

''Yeah, How Ironic..Eight men are free and they aren't even the guys who brought the case to Jessie and Chip...I keep thinkin they should have gone first..."said Kahlil...

"Olivia ,Beverly and us got good judges..I wonder who Dabnis and Jazzy will get?" asked Sofia..

"I don't know..This Morning Karen told me she still hadn't found a Judge yet.." said Jade..

Yvette and  her guys and the four young men and their families met with the press and answered questions..Like us..Nobody was asking about Yvette's alleged romantic involvement with Tad Thornton...It ,like Olivia and Beverly's involvement was old news..

Winning  cases Does that for you!

IV-

 TWO DAYS LATER, Attorney Jessica Sanchez-Burrows of the Innocence Project presented the last two defendents...The Two men , who brought the case before her..

One was African -American and the other one was White... They were the ones the entire hearings was based on..

 Dabnis Coley outdid himself with his presentation and sumnation...

 His wife, Jazzy whispered in his ear..."I might give you some before we leave this building.."Which made him smile..

She acted as second chair..

She and Charles ''Chip"Burrows laid out how outrageous the case against both these men were..

He and Jazzy presented Traffic Cam and Street Cam Video, Credit Card and Debit Card receipts that all placed these two men in different locales...and shed light on their possible innocence..

They got fairly new Judge Judith Wong..who after looking at everything they presented and all the other foolishness attached to the Judge, ADA , Chemist and one of the detectives. .had no choice but to toss out both convictions and set both men free..

 "Wow!  We got all ten of those men freed...I am so happy .."said Jessica..

 "Slam Dunk...Perfect 10...."said Dabnis..

 "Let's go home baby...I owe you something good.."said Jazzy, seductively...

 Chip was basking in this victory...He felt a part of something good....

Jessica, Dabnis, Jazzy and Chip were victorious and posed for pictures with the two men and their families and fielded questions from the press..

 The Hearings had been a success despite the earlier scandal , Olivia , Beverly and Yvette

had just been collateral damage.. Judge Thornton

had been the real target..

 ADA Gil Garcetti put his arm around ADA  Karen Page and told an adoring Press..

"This is one of my best ADA's She has an impeccable 50-0 record of reversed convictions..She has hired some of the best defense attorneys and investigators to work with her and frankly..I'm happy when we are all on the same side as opposed to when we have to face them in court.." he laughed..

 Karen smiled

 as her boyfriend, B.L. smiled too.. he had run a live feed into all of the hearings and had ran the stories of all 10 men and their cases  live all week..His ratings were through the roof..

They kissed passionately away from the cameras..

Winning gets you that!


EPILOUGE-

 The Hearings were over...All of us were back to our normal routines... On HARD BOTTOM, B.L. had Judge Mike King come on and give his take on what had just happened...How it made history and set legal precedents...

He had nothing but praise for the attorneys involved..

"I thought all of the attorneys and their investigators involved were great, They were professional, they knew their law and they had cold hard evidence...not speculation...but evidence..They acquitted themselves very well... I think a few of them have tried cases in my courtroom...They were great B.L. and these hearings, this almost miscarriage of justice will be remembered for a long time...Those kids proved that the system can still work.." he said..

 The B.L. turned to Judge Tad Thornton , who was also a guest...

"You were almost a part of that...Sooo sorry about what happened.."said B.L.

''Well you know...That's what happens when the media insists of interviewing crazy people...People off their meds...Sarah Faulkner is certifiably crazy...You know something that wasn't touched on..
The Judge, Sam Mckelroy, now in prison for murdering his mistress... The Assistant District Attorney, Mark Tate, a serial killer, leading a double life and Detective Dominic Evans doing time for a double murder...of an ADA...all were responsible for this and there was one other person..The only one involved who is not in jail...He used to be a regular on this show..Crazy Lieutenant Tragg...

He was the other detective involved in all but one of those cases...My God..He was a Sgt back then.He's actually a Lieutenant now and still fouling up cases..

Not to take anything from Olivia and Beverly or Yvette Jones..

They are my dear friends and no, I did not have a romantic relationship with any of them, nor did I tell anybody I did..but they've won about sixty percent of their cases when Tragg was involved.. He doesn't investigate properly...He doesn't pay attention to details...He never recanvasses a scene and he continuously rushes to judgement and arrests the wrong person...My god, he arrested somebody, the poor guy was on trial for the very murder that was actually committed by the ADA  trying him...I believe Olivia and Beverly had just cleared another defendent of a triple murder that ADA Mark Tate was actually guilty of.. and Mark Tate, killer of five women was sitting right next to Lt. Tragg the entire time...He didn't have a clue..
And then there are the fights...The physical fist fights he has had with the press after these trials..The man is a disgrace to the badge and an all around goof!"

"You know the other ADA's won't admit this..and I shouldn't tell it.. but when a case comes up and they find out he's the arresting officer they pass it along..They try to avoid his cases.. I bet Olivia and Beverly and Yvette and her guys jump for joy when they know he's on a case..They know they're gonna win..The man is an embarrassment!" he said..

 Judge King cracked up laughing..

"Tell us how you really feel Tad..." he said..

"Awhile back...Artie Tragg had a problem with his hands...You know , he likes to stick his hands up a young lady's skirt.. Well one ADA had already slapped him a few months back...but recently This one ADA  slapped him so hard, he fell out of his chair and banged his head on the table...I had to recess the court..I couldn't keep order....The Attorneys were laughing, the jury was laughing...It was a mess."said Judge King, howling..

"WHATTT? He is out of control..." said B.L., howling with laughter..

And in Curly's Bar...Lt. Tragg wasn't happy at all..People were turning, looking at him and snickering..

 ''Damn Artie...They're killing you tonight..Want me to change the channell?" said Curly..

"Too late for that Curls, IT'S THAT DAMN TAD THORNTON!! HE DID A MASSIVE HIT JOB ON ME ON TELEVISION!!  I'M THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE CITY!" screamed Lt. Tragg...He was furious....

 "Relax Artie...None of those cases were all your fault...It was the Judge, The ADA and Dominic Evans...You were just Collateral Damage, that's all." said Curley...

 "This was taped....Tad Thornton is at home... I'm going over to his place and knock the hell out of him.I'll have my absolution.." said Lt. Tragg, who got up and stormed out...

 "Artie....Artie...He's a damn Judge...ARTIE!" said Curley , who shook his head...
"He's just like his father and his uncle...so wound up!" he sighed...

But once he got to the apartment building...He heard the bed squeaking outside Tad Thornton's door.


''Ouuuuuuuuuuuu....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Oh my god Abbie, you're driving me crazy..."moaned Judge Tad Thornton....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh work me , work me daddy, work me like a job...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, oh my goodness..." moaned Abbie Sleet.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" he yelled..


"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU OUUUUUUUUU HOOOOOOO HOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, OH MY GOD!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she yelled..

''Abbie please!!! I have neighbors and the windows are open...you want everybody to know we are in here doin the nasty?" said Judge Thornton

"I don't care if the world knows how good I feel...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" she moaned..

He laughed...

''Glad you're enjoying yourself..but I do care....I have to live here...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, lawd...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" he giggled..

The bed was squeaking out of control and the headboard was slamming up against the wall so hard, the paint and the plaster was coming off...

''Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...oh Tad...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu give it to me, give it to me strong....YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" she moaned...

''Ouuuuuuuu baby..." he moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU OOOP! WOWWWWWWW...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOO HOOO HOOO HOO." she yelled..

" Abbie, keep it down!" he said again...

The bed stopped squeaking...

"Hey, what's the matter? Abbie...Come onnn, don't leave me like this...Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!" he said..

"Where are you going?" he asked..

"I'm too loud for you....I orgasm too much!...I think I ought to take my orgasmic self back to my apartment..." she said and got dressed...

 "Good Bye Tad..." she said..

"Abby, baby...Come back...Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, don't be like that....Come onnnnnnn, I'm sorry....I'm sorry....Come onnn.." he begged as she walked towards the elevator..

"You can keep my panties...I won't be coming back.." she said, sobbing..

Lt. Tragg was hiding in the back stairwell laughing so hard , tears were running down his face...
Sometimes things worked themselves out...he thought...

There was Tad Thornton naked in the hallway begging Abbie to come back....

 "Babbbbbbyyyy I'm sorry...I love you.....I don't care how loud you scream...It actually makes me more excited..Now come on, come back to bed..." he said in a soft voice..

 "Okay and I'll try to keep it down..." she said and stared at his still hard erection...
"You just keep that thing UP!" she giggled..

 "Not a problem!" he said..

They started kissing again...passionately and walked back into his apartment...

 They kissed and fondled each other in the corner...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOOO HOO HOOOOOO HOOOO! I'm sorry...You're right...I am loud.."she said...

"I don't care...It's turning me on...You can be as loud as you feel.." he said.

They wound up back in the bed again, making sweet love...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" now you've got me moaning...." he said..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU TAD.....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" she cried out!

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BABY!" he moaned even louder...

"Who's excited now? WHO IS LOUD NOW?" she asked..

"I AM...I AM..I AM;OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed..

""UMMMMMMMMM" she laughed..."YES YOU ARE....YOU REALLY LIKE IT DON'T YOU?" she asked..

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" he cried out...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...HOOOOO HOOOOOOO
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU......I'M CUMMING SO HARD...
OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!"she screamed...her legs shaking furiously, her head turning from side to side...

"I'M ABOUT TO BLOW MY LOADDDD,AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed..

''TAD PLEASE....THAT'S PERSONAl..." she giggled...

As they laughed and continued kissing....

and making sweet love!

Lt. Tragg stood outside the door...He was flabberghasted...He couldn't believe what he had seen, what he had just heard....

Maybe he was just collateral damage in this whole caper himself!