Hung Jury

 We all stood in the courtroom awaiting the Jury's decision...This had been a long and drawn out court battle..,

The Murder Trial of Socialite Ellery Hammner,for the murder of his wife... Not the kind of case we had been taking on lately..But he was what we needed..A Paying client , who was paying top dollar nd upfront...

We stood with him anxiously awaiting a verdict...This had been our second time defending him on this charge...His first trial had ended in a Hung Jury with 10 to convict, 2 to acquit.....

Now with a second jury, we awaited the judge's decision. We had certainly come back with a better case..

"Oh My God, this is sooo exhausting...I think we've pulled this one out Neicey Poo."said a Hopeful Olivia...

"I think so too.." said Beverly...

I hugged both of them....I didn't feel like I had done enough...damn if this wasn't the most baffling case we'd had yet...

Nelson didn't feel as confident as he usually feels during this thing...He said nothing..He just sat tight lipped..

Josie looked hopeful... 

"I think we have this one guys.." she said , but with little conviction.

We were once again up against one of our toughest adversary's Assistant District Attorney Yvonne Harris.

She is  very good attorney, who was every bit as smart and articulate as well as capable as Olivia and Beverly.

She looked confident that she had gotten a conviction on this case..

Lt. Tragg who had made the arrest and the headlines sat with a smirk on his face...He was certain they had won this case this time..

The Judge, who had been the same Judge in the first trial asked the Bailiff for the verdict..

"Your Honor, the Jury is hopefully deadlocked once again...7 to acquit, 4, to convict and 1 totally undecided either way!" he said.

"Damn it...Well, you've all deliberated for three days..I'm not going to hold you any longer...I have no choice but to declare another mistrial...I am going to order another trial....I'll be contacting you attorneys to let you know when the new date is...Let's get out of here." he said..

"Ohhhhhhhhh my god!" said Beverly....

"Ohhhhhhh I don't believe this." said Olivia, heartbroken...

"Ohhhhh hell...I thought I'd be done with this dreary business....I did not kill my wife..I didn't.." said Ellery, who was free on bail...

''We did better in this trial...7 to acquit and 1 unsure...That beats 10 to convict, 2 to acquit any day."said Nelson, trying to put a good spin on it..

''What would have been even better would have been 12 to acquit."said Olivia..

"Whewwwwww, back to the drawing board.." said Beverly.

"You guys have done an extraordinary job so far...At least I'm not in jail...but I can't believe these jurors, after the argument you gave."said a very disappointed Ellery Hammner.

"We've got to give a more convincing argument.."said Olivia..

"I've got to locate your two alibi witnesses...both of whom were duly subpeoned and neither of whom showed up in court.." I said..glaring at Lt. Tragg..

who was addressing the press as was his forte.

It was a calm press conference...No fighting as we were acustomed to.. He was supposed to be looking for both suspects...I had as much faith in him finding them as I did in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy being real.

ADA Yvonne Harris stood to the side...She had no comment on this case...She seemed as frustrated as we were...She was tired and just wanted it to be over and done with...

Two long drawn out, well argued trials...She didn't feel like talking to anybody or being around anyone..

"She looks as exhausted as us."said Nelson.

"She does.." said Josie..

"Come on...Let's get out of here.."I said.

"I'll drive."said Olivia.

''Ellery can we drop you off somewhere?" asked Beverly.

"My car  is in the lot across the street..Thanks doll."said Ellery...A wealthy socialite who owned several beauty parlors and stylish barber shops in the Queen Village and Chestnut Hill section of the city...

He was more known at one time for his many romances...He had gotten married ironically, the exact same day that Beverly and Nelson had gotten married a few years back..but remained constantly a constant figure in the tabloids and society pages for his rumored romances...

When his wife was found murdered in her car off a side road...He became a prime suspect....The fact that he was seen driving the same car her body was found in hours before and that she was strangled with his belt...pointed everyone to him...

He had two people he said who could verify his whereabouts...One a woman...The other a man...Neither had shown up in court and both were missing...

Lt. Tragg promised a city wide manhunt for both of them...but there had been two trials, both ending in hung juries and no sign of either person had been found.. 

 II-

A Friday Afternoon, We all sat up in Olivia and I's Domicile..

"I know you're excited Ms. Yvette...You're getting married in two weeks." said Beverly...

"I remember when I was up here with your auntie getting you ready for your wedding."said Yvette..

"I heard you had another hung jury..I hope you guys are finished in time for my wedding.." said Yvette.

"I hope so too...They're going to set another trial date soon...This case is so damned complex...There is no DNA, No fingerprints and no eyewitnesses...Usually Bev, Nelson and I can take that and run with it..but these jurors seem to want to believe he is guilty.." said Olivia.

"She was strangled with his belt Liv and she was driving one of his cars....And we have people who heard her tell him she was drawing up divorce papers..."said Nelson...

"Had she drawn them up yet? You talk to her attorney?" asked Yvette.

"Her name is Kay Norman...She's his alibi witness....He swears he was meeting with her in her office at the time of the murder to get her not to go ahead with the divorce..She's his attorney of note too...We asked her to appear during the first trial...We had a written affadvit from her...She never appeared..We gave her a subpeona for this trial and she's appeared to have dropped out of sight."said Olivia...

"We had another person...A guy he regularly drank with named Frank Barber....We Suppeoned him for this trial..He gave him a ride back to his condo because his fiance had taken his car...He too has dropped out of sight..."said Josie..

"Ouuuuu you guys are real cloak and dagger with this one....

"Enough about this case.....How are you? I'm sure both you and Gary are excited.."I said.

"Oh my godddd, My whole office is excitement...after our wedding and our honeymoon, The week after we return, Little Mamasita (Sofia Garcia) is getting married to Kahlil..

They've been working on lightweight cases....and getting their bridesmaids and groomsmen together..She's so organized...

And after they return from their honeymoon...The next week,

Bee Bee and Keith are getting married...

Gary has sublet his house to Ron Harper

Who is tickled pink to move in there..."

and he ,Keith and Kahlil have already moved some of their furniture and a great deal of the girl's furniture from their apartments into their new homes..

"So it's just been wedding central around our office and afterwords... I just wish the kids would go out , maybe to Aqua Bar or Stoleys, have a good time."said Yvette.

"We haven't been out in awhile either.."sighed Beverly...

"Yeah, I know...Reminds me of when I was moving my things in here.."laughed Nelson, glad that all of that was over for him..

The doorbell rang...It was Paris, with our food..

"Heyyyyyy that's who I want to see.."said Nelson..

"Heyyy Booo!"said Josie.

"Time to feast guys." said Paris..

He had Hoagies

and Cheese Steaks...

and Cokes on Ice to wash it down...

"That's what I'm talking about.." I said.

"Ohhhh Paris..I'm soo glad to see you." said Olivia.

"So Am I" said Beverly...

"I'm Starving.."said Nelson..

"Smells good."said Josie..

"Just what the Doctor ordered." said Yvette.

An odd Friday Night...A  2nd Trial we expected to be over was once again hung....and none of us felt like going out for a drink..We all were home, having hoagies and steaks and sodas.

III-

I had said that some of the best sex I'd ever had was when Olivia was upset or emotional about something...Tonight was no different....

It was that kind of night....

Everyone had gone home....Olivia and I wasted no time getting out of our clothes and winding up on the living room floor..going at each other in reckless abandon...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....Donnie Rayyyyyyyyyyyy....Ummmmmmmmmmm husband........." she cooed...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDD OLIVIA!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I cried out loud as I held her petite body in my arms and long stroked her..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU HOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO

OUUUUUU...OHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDD DONNNIE RAY...AYYYYYEEE..AYYYYEEE...

OUUUU AYE Yi YIIIIIIII!"screamed Olivia..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! DON'T STOPPPPP!!! DON'T STOPPPPP!

OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"moaned Olivia, who had had several intense orgasms...moving up and down on me and kissing me as if she was trying to absorb my lips...

We finally made it into the bedroom.....We made love like this the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

Olivia was very passionate..she was letting all of that pent up anxiety, all that disappointment, all that frustration out in the bedroom and I for one was enjoying it.

Monday Morning..

We had breakfast at Beverly and Nelson's place..

"Come on In guys...Breakfast is ready.."said Beverly..

"You're right on time."said Nelson.

"Yes."said Josie , who had spent the night....

I was exhausted...I was glad not to have to cook...I spent the morning, gathering boxers, panties , a bra and other things we left around the apartment up and putting them in the hamper..... Olivia had worn me out..

For her part, she looked dazed...She had an angelic smile on her face....She said nothing..She just watched me cleaning up...

"Smells good." said Paris..

"Come on in ."said Alfreda, Beverly's mother, who had helped her whip up breakfast...

Pancakes

Hash Brown

Sausages

Orange Juice and 

Hot coffee was enjoyed by all..

After breakfast, we all went downstairs to our conference room.....

Our client, Ellery Hammner arrived on time , just as Olivia had requested...She wanted him with us so that Lt. Tragg couldn't harrass him or arrest him on some trumped up charges as he'd done some of our other clients..

"Okay guys...We start again....Forget everything we've done before...We begin this case fresh as though we are just starting it...Neicey Poo, I need you to look at all of the witness statements...Compare the statements made to Lt. Tragg and police officers to what was actually said at both trials, Find me any discrepancies..

"I'm on it..."said Beverly....

"Donnie Ray and I are going back over the Autopsy Report."said Nelson...

"I'm checking out the alibi and the predicates....but we don't have an alibi witness.."said Josie..

The Attorney...She did make a statement...We have it right here, except that she never appeared in court...Did the prosecution see her statement?" I asked.

"Yes...everything was in discovery..."said Olivia..

Two police cars parked outside of our door..

Lt. Tragg was getting out of the car...

"Liv, the little pain in the ass is getting out of his car.." said Alfreda...She was talking about Lt. Tragg..

"Let him in Alfreda...Bring him back."said Olivia...

Alfreda opened the door before Lt. Tragg could ring the bell....

Lt. Tragg smiled..

He was surprised she didn't stop him at the door..She said nothing, but let him walk in...He walked into our conference room and to his surprise..Ellery Hammner was sitting with us..

Ellery saw him and smiled..

"Lieutenant Columbo isn't it?" he said drolly...

Beverly cracked up laughing...

"Good Morning Lieutenant."said Olivia, with an innocent smile..

"Has he been here all morning?" he asked, glaring at Ellery Hammner, who he personally despised..

"All Morning..." said Nelson..

"Where were you last night Hammner?" snarled Lt. Tragg..

"In My Condo...You check my pass key record of when I came in and when I left...plus I have three witnesses who saw me, plus a young lady who I entertained most of the night...I can supply you with the names."said Ellery..

"I intend to check...but I would like you all to come with me...I found one of your alibi witnesses...Unfortunately for you...I don't think she'll be at the next trial either!" said Lt. Trial..

I was a Homicide Detective Once...I knew exactly what he meant....

IV-

We all went to the Medical Examiner's Office..

Dr. Hazel Baylor met us when we walked in...

"Hey Liv, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie.." she said...

She pulled the tray out holding the body and uncovered it..

"Oh my god... Kay? Kay?? Oh My god...She's dead!" said a very hurt and distraught Ellery Hammner.

"That's her.."I said..

"Oh My God!"said Olivia..

"Well strike one witness....It's going to be harder and harder to try this case."said Beverly..

"She was our best witness." said Nelson..

"We've got to find that other witness."said Josie.

I felt the body....Rigor was just starting to set in....

"How long has she been dead?" I asked.

"We fished her out of the river this morning..."said Lt. Tragg.

''Somebody choked her out.. and then tossed her in the river...They tried to weigh her down...but it was a rush job, the body came floating right back up.."said Lt. Tragg..

He had been at the crime scene with Assistant District Attorney, Yvonne Harris. He put his arms around her...

"It's okay baby...I'm here for you.."he said.. His hand slipped further down her back and rested on her behind...

She swiftly removed his hand...

''I want you to contact Olivia and Beverly and their people and make sure they know you've "FOUND" their witness.. I hope you're working on finding that other witness before he winds up dead too!" she said and walked away...

We signaled that we were finished and Hazel closed up..

"I put the time of death at around 4:00 am this morning..whoever killed her was very strong..They really rung the hell out of her neck..." said Hazel... "Because she was in the water so long, there was no prints or DNA on the body..."said Hazel..

"No eyewitnesses at the pier or Marina either that time of night..."said Lt. Tragg..

"Doesn't this prove my client just might be innocent?" said Olivia.

"Nice Try Liv....If your client's alibi checks out and I will be checking...Then it proves nothing...This will be listed as a seperate unrelated murder.."said Lt. Tragg.

Beverly was furious, but she held her tongue...She walked out of the morgue..

Nelson followed her down the corridor, caught up with her and hugged her......

"Come on Josie , it's back to the drawing board..."said Olivia, putting her arms around her..

Josie sighed....

''What are we going to do now?" asked Ellery.

"I think whoever killed her ,also killed your wife..I'm going to find out where she was all this time ,who she talked to and who might have done this...I'm also going to try and find Frank Barber too!" I said.

"Well Old Boy, you've got your work cut out for you."said Ellery..

"Indeed" I said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)