My Father, Judge Keith Morrison was presiding over this trial...I was shocked.....
''Your dad is the judge? we got it made Keith my boy.."laughed Jason Pale, our client on trial for murder.
Bee Bee sensed how uncomfortable I was in this situation and she took my hand in her and rubbed it softly..
Sofia and
Kahlil walked in ahead of Ms. Yvette and Patricia Reynolds..
He stared daggers at Patty Reynolds...He now held no leverage over her at all...He wondered what she was going to say...
She saw him....She knew he had no leverage over her....She smiled...
"Touch my legs again and I am going to request that you sit somewhere else...NOW KNOCK IT OFF!" she said loud enough for us to hear it..
Lt. Tragg was red as a beet...He had a pleased as punch look on his face..
"He's at it again." laughed Bee Bee..
"Yup!" agreed Sofia.
Ms. Yvette whispered advice in our ears..she was after all a master at Voir Dire and was teaching it to Kahlil and I...
Katie Beck next called policemen at the scene and people from the M.E.'s office... Normally we don't question these folks because they are just presenting facts...but
Ms. Jade and two detectives had determined that....
"They do make life easier....I handpicked them because they had good grades and high LSAT scores and they did so well on the Bar...They're good kids.."said Ms. Yvette..
"Yes they are." said Patty...
ADA Katie Beck next rolled out a 50 inch Monitor and showed the jury fil footage culled from Street and Traffic cams of the actual hit and the crowds of people..
and you see Jason Riding away...
Ms. Yvette, Bee Bee and Kahlil used the same video ,slowed down to show Jason riding by...not moving his hands from the handlebar...and unaware of the shots being fired and they even showed another figure, a shorter , more sinister figure with black gloves on walking away from the car on the other side...
On Voir Dire, we knew what kind of juror we wanted, young, millenial...didn't matter what race, specifically someone new to jury duty....
Our ADA, a strikingly beautiful new woman named Katie Beck
was hip to what we were doing was doing everything she could to block us..after two days we only had six jurors picked...Three for her and Three for us..
As expected, Lt. Tragg was enthralled with her and like before, his hands were wandering...On her legs...up her legs..up her skirt....They were removed...three times....The the fourth time she said "Excuse me your honor.."
What she said was very helpful because we got the next six jurors....
which made Bee Bee and Sofia quite happy...
"Alright...The jury has been picked...Trial begins Monday Morning at 9:00 AM..Be ready for trial."said my dad!
II-
MONDAY MORNING , 9:02 AM
ADA Katie Beck gave an opening argument detailing the Tarnick murder , explaining how it was so cruel...How this man was a father to a son and a daughter and six grandchildren and how he was robbed of his life by this young punk in the employ of persons unknown.."
It was a very convincing argument and then it wasn't.
Ms. Yvette argued that not only was our client innocent, but that before she was done ,she would prove it...
Katie Beck showed the jurors huge photos of the death scene....She produced the murder weapon and called several witnesses...
If Bee Bee and Sofia had wanted to sink their teeth into juicy cases soon after our honeymoons were over, they got what they were looking for..Our Wrongful Conviction Murder Case, Their Deportation Case and now this murder case was enough...Kahlil and I both sat up at night watching them in their underwear leafing through witness statements, autopsy reports and the original arrest report..
They were more than ready to cross examine every witness and compare what they had originally said to what they were saying now...
Kahlil and I questioned them all and disected their testimonies like surgeons...We were up late at night too....We got one of the experts to admit that the shooter was left handed...judging by the angle the bullets entered the body and the way the body had fallen..
Jason Pale was right handed...
"Yvette you have trained four very good attorneys....I'd be pleased to have any one of them practice in my courtroom if I was a judge or to work alongside any one of them.."said Patricia Reynolds watching us..
You see Jason riding down our street
You see the shots...
We didn't get a facial....but we all knew who the shooter more than likely was..
ADA Beck closed , telling the juror this was contract hit without offering any evidence or reason why it was...
"The jury looks like it's 10 to acquit and 2 unsure....No one to convict."said Kahlil..
"Gooood , let's begin our defense..."said Ms. Yvette.
III-
At the office...
Jade passed a folder to Robert Connor..
"Excellent Work...so James Cole cooked the books...He was guilty as hell , but with his accountant dead, there was never a chance of him losing that lawsuit..Wellllll the Assistant U.S. Attorney might be interested in this..Heh Heh heh." laughed Partner Connor.
"Sir, Leonard Biggs is one of our Attorneys, why would you be so interested in destroying his case?" asked Jade.
Charlotte took a tumble out of a window to her death...It was written up as a suicide...but Gloria screamed that it was murder...That Charlotte was Helped out of that window....It looked suspicious..butt it was never proven...
Biggs didn't lose any sleep over it...He went on to win a huge settlement for his client, who I later found out was just as dirty as James Cole...
She's not the first witness to mysteriously die right before one of Biggs's trials.. Another man , a witness against one of Biggs's clients was found shot to death under mysterious circumstances a few years back...Murder was never solved....
I've long suspected Biggs is a cancer..A Psychopathic monster that this company can do without.. This is the first time he's framed someone....That's why I was so passionate about you guys defending that boy.
Leonard Biggs is a psychopath...A Monster!" said Robert Connor.
In court,
Ms. Yvette began her defense of Jake..Arguing that he had absolutely nothing to do with the shooting and that the ADA did nothing to prove that he did.. She said he was not a hired hitman and this murder was not carried out by some mob boss, but perhaps someone closer.
Bee Bee called Patricia Reynolds to the stand..
She asked her if she was out on the street when the shooting occurred.
"Yes I was... I was very depressed and lonely that day because my husband was away and I'd had more than a few drinks.. The Bartender was nice enough to see to it that I was okay.." she said..
"Did you see anybody near that suv that was shot up?" asked Sofia.
"YES...I saw my colleague, Attorney Leonard Biggs near the SUV , when the shots were fired.." she said.
The Jurors were shocked..
"You didn't see that man do anything....You were drunk!" screamed ADA Katie Beck
Patricia Reynolds, an Attorney herself was not rattled... She spoke clearly and consisely..
"I was not drunk....I said I had had a few drinks....Maybe I shouldn't have been driving, but I was not drunk...I didn't hear any shots...I heard glass break and I saw that man, my colleague, Leonard Biggs walking around the side of the SUV..." she said.
"DID YOU SEE HIM OR ANYBODY SHOOT MR. TARNICK?" asked ADA Beck.
"No...I did not...but that kid was a block away by the time the shots were fired ." she said.
"MOVE TO STRIKE!" said ADA Katie Beck.
"Strike that last remark from the record."said my dad...smiling at Patricia....He realized what she had done...Struck from the record or not...The Jury had heard it..
Everything was actually going as we had hoped...Ms. Yvette and I called Leonard Biggs to the stand..
He looked at both of us like he wanted to kill us...
"You knew Mr. Tarnick didn't you?" I asked.
"I knew him only because he was my client's Accountant.." he snarled..
Ms Yvette pulled out a book..
"This is a ledger...This is the type of book Accountants and Book keepers keep... Your client, My company's client allegedly was cooking the books.. This man was going to testify to that..."said Yvette.
Sofia showed the jury a 50 inch monitor which had the figures on the screen so they could see... and on another screen she had the fake figures....
"Mr. Cole thought he had gotten rid of the actual book, but Mr. Tarnick's widow had the original book which he had the foresight to hide." said Bee Bee, smiling..
"You couldn't have this man testifying....You'd of lost this case...a big money case...and a client that has now hired you to work in Dubai...You weren't going to throw all of that away were you?" asked Yvette.
"How long have you been practicing law? You've got no proof missy...Fine example you're setting for these young attorneys.." snarled Leonard Biggs..
Kahlil showed the jury a monitor...
"These shots were taken by a street cam and by the ATM cam across the street from where our client lives..That is clearly you dumping a plastic bag in his dumpster....with the murder weapon in it more than likely....At any rate...Explain why you're even in his neighborhood?" said Kahlil..
He shook with seething anger.....
Ms. Yvette and us had poked enough holes in this case to plant more than just reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.
IV-
So when he saw a smartly dressed Black woman walking toward him, he thought nothing of it..He figured her for another American Attorney working here.
"James Cole....I'm Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Williams from Philadelphia....I'd like to thank you for being the reason I finally got a chance to visit Dubai....Now I'm going to have to take you back to the United States...To face charges of Insider Trading, Wire Fraud,and an assortment of other charges" she said and smiled..
FBI agents surrounded him, read him his rights and handcuffed him..
"I don't believe this....This is Horse shit!" James Cole mumbled and stomped his foot..as he was marched away...
PHILADELPHIA, FOUR DAYS LATER-
To everybody's surprise, The Jury had taken four days to come to a decision...
"Is this Normal? A Jury taking this long? I mean Ms. Yvette knocked it out the box.." said Jason Pale, our client.
She was new..She had won her first 19 cases...She would like to win an even 20...
My dad called for the bailiff..
"Alright Bailiff hand me the verdict." he said.. He read the verdict, his face betraying no emotion..
"Read it!" he said.
"IN THE MATTER OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS JASON PALE ON COUNT ONE- CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE- NOT GUILTY!
COUNT TWO- USE OF AN INSTRUMENT OF CRIME- NOT GUILTY!
AND THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE- MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE- NOT GUILTY!" HE SAID.
The jurors were polled and all 12 said "NOT GUILTY"
"YAYYYYYYY!"said Bee Bee..
"RIGHTEOUS!!! THANK YOU GUYS!"said Jason Pale ,who hugged and kissed Sofia and Bee Bee on the cheek...
He Hugged Jade a little too long..
"You gotta get a car to get any more of this love.."joked Jade....
He and I high fived....
So did he and Kahlil...
"We brought in a good case...You guys still got it eh? Back from honeymoons and you got the rust out!"
laughed Ms. Yvette...
Leonard Biggs ,who had now resigned from our firm was on the phone to Dubai...
laughed Ms. Yvette...
"WHAT? Arrested by the FBI?? When??? Four Days ago!!!.....Insider Trading??/ Wire Fraud??? Other charges....WHATTTTTTTTT? Well what about my offer???, I was promised a position as Counsel with your firm...It's been filled? I don't believe this...I just quit my job....I put my house up for sale...You can't do this.." he said.
(CLICK!)
The Press was giving it to Lt. Tragg as usual..
"You arrested a kid Artie...A kid? accused him of being a Mafia hitman?? Boyyyyyy you really watch too much TV." said one reporter...
"The real killer was probably that creepy lookin guy in court, that woman saw standing by the car and was in the photo puttin the gun in the trash."said another reporter..
"Hey I never said he was a Mafia Hit man and we don't have any proof he killed anybody that was all circumstantial..."said Lt. Tragg.
"Well it holds more water than arresting that kid." said another reporter..
"Damnnn how did you become a Lieutenant?" asked another reporter..
"Worse, how did he become a Detective with his track record?" said another reporter..
A familliar sight...
We all ducked out the side door... Our job was done...
EPILOUGE-
Leonard Biggs was ruined...He had resigned from McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt.
The sweet job he thought he'd have in Dubai was gone...Another Attorney was quickly hired.
He understood that he was a suspect in the murder of Edward Tarnick. An indictment was just days away.
He sat in his home and drank a bottle of Tequila and swallowed Cyanide tablets...He was found dead two or three days after the trial...
He never paid for the murder of Ed Tarnick or the murder of Gloria Jannsen or the other murder he is suspected of..
Welllll, maybe he did in a higher court!
James Cole was convicted on several counts of Embezzlement, Wire fraud, Insider trading and other offenses and sentenced to 25 years in Federal Prison.
He is currently serving his sentence at the federal prison in San Deigo, California.
Patricia Reynolds did not got to a therapist for Sexual Addiction...She went home to her husband,
Judge Percy Reynolds...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU PERCYYYYYYY OUUUUUUU!"she cooed.
"It was a long shot...but I had to go with it...We needed proof."said Jade..
"Wow! It was nice having such a big case as well as our other cases to get us back in the groove, after being absent for awhile.." I said.
"Yes...it helped us get the rust out.." laughed Bee Bee...
"That's what Ms. Yvette told us.." laughed Sofia..
"Oh she's around somewhere..." I laughed..
Ms. Yvette's office door was closed....She and her husband, Gary were in her office, If you walked close enough to her door you could hear heavy breathing and the sound of kissing...
and had the most guilt free sex imaginable...Every night and sometimes two times a day....For the time being, both are very happy!
A little while later we were all at the office with Partner, Robert Connor
"Thank you guys....Thank you all for a job well done...You defended that young man and got an acquittal....Shame we couldn't save Biggs's other three victims, but at least we avoided him having a fourth.." said Mr. Connor.
"I heard his client ,James Cole was arrested by the FBI and charged with Wire Fraud, Insider Trading and an assortment of other crimes." said Kahlil..
"Yes , If that Accountant, had testified, he would have exposed all of that, plus how Biggs had been complicit in a lot of that and he being one of our top attorneys would have not only made us look bad, it would have made us susecptible to a slew of lawsuits....You guys helped us dodge a bullet..Thank you Jade..That was a stroke of genius, checking with the widow for a copy of the ledger.."said Robert Connor.
"By the way...Where is Ms. Yvette? I thought she'd be here..."laughed Robert Connor.
They were enjoying a passionate kiss..
A nice ending to another story...
FOR DANYEL!
..
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