At an outdoor Cafe, near Penns Landing, Judge Elise Cummings and Assistant District Attorney Alice Bourdain were enjoying a light breakfast..
As they enjoyed their breakfast...
Two hot steaming cups of coffee were ordered..
Lieutenant Tragg spotted Alice Bourdain...He hadn't seen her since they worked a case together...
She was with Judge Elise Cummings, who he despised. He had arrested her once...She was defended by, who else? Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West and company..The bane of his existence...
They had also represented a man he arrested who was unsuccessfully prosecuted by Dr. Alice Bourdain..
He felt bad about that....He thought maybe she had forgiven him for lousing up that case...
He arrested a woman who was defended by Yvette Jones and her snot nosed young attorneys in Judge Cummings courtroom..
Because he was the arresting officer, They got the benefit of every doubt...they got every ruling and they eventually won the case...Judge Cummings never forgave him for arresting her...And she stuck it to him every chance she got..
How Happy he was that they all were out of town...On Vacation in Cancun...La deee Dah!!
"I'm hearing a case at the Wrongful Conviction Unit over there in the Bridge Building this morning...I understand you've been subpeoned to testify in said case."said Judge Elise Cummings with almost childlike glee.
''So what are you uh ladies doing in this neck of the woods." said Lt. Tragg.
He hated this woman. He had a feeling of dread, knowing she was going to be overseeing this case..
"I was curious about this case after I saw a segment on Hard Bottom about it...I called ADA Karen Page and asked if I could observe the hearing. She said yes...I didn't know you were involved Arthur."said Alice Bourdain..
"You couldn't wait to tell her that could you...YOU COULDN'T WAIT!!!" bellowed a now angry Lt. Tragg.
"It would have come out eventually..." said Judge Cummings..
"We aren't going to try this case out here in the street....You know, you're very uncuth and unprofessional..How you got to be a Judge is beyond me."snarled Lt. Tragg...
"That's funny...A lot of people say that about you...As a Detective!" said Judge Cummings...
Lt. Tragg stomped his foot and angrily stormed off..
II-
The Conference Room was set....
"I've got a litigation down town...but everything is ready for you Karen.."said Kayla.. "Oh and I talked to Liv and the gang last night...They told me they wish you all good luck." she added..
"Good Morning Ms. Page." she said..
"I 've waited a long time for Justice for my father...I know he wasn't a perfect man, but he was not a murderer either..." said Angela Allen.
The man turned and looked at his one time colleague, Arthur Tragg Jr.
"I uh got a P.I.'s license and was a P.I. for years....I had an office downtown...Worked for a lot of lawyers , saved up enough money and with my pension, I opened a Bar and Grill...It's pretty good..It's called Eddie K's...It's in South Philly near the sports arenas...I get the overflow of crowds that got to see the Flyers, Sixers ,Eagles and the Phillies...I make pretty good money and I live on top of it...
While Down on the street, Lt. Tragg runs into somebody he used to know..
''Eddie...Eddie Kolpack, What do you know? What do you say?" asked Lt. Tragg...
"Holy cow..Artie!!!....Artie Tragg....How long has it been? You made Lieutenant huh? Wowwww! and I heard Eddie Cantrell is what? A Captain now? Boyyyy it's been a long time since we all were in the Academy...Huh? I made Detective Sergeant before I left..." said Eddie Kolpack....
"What'cha been up to Eddie, since you left the force?" asked Lt. Tragg...
My first wife died as you remember and I got married again...That didn't work out...I'm by myself kinda..I got a girlfriend, but you know..It aint super serious. How bout you? I see the uh expensive suits..The rank and all, you're doing well...You married?" he asked.
"Nah, not married...I got a nice house in the Mayfair section...What are you doin here? I got subpeonaed to testify in a case in the uh Wrongful Conviction Unit, that's housed in this building.." said Lt. Tragg..
"Yeah...he got himself involved with the wrong broad...She's been executed for that crazy caper...At least he got life.."said Lt. Tragg..
Both men got on the elevator and headed towards the 7th floor ,where the huge conference room was , where the hearing would take place..
Attorney Jessica Sanchez-Burrows, Angela Allen and Attorney Charles "Chip" Burrows sat patiently waiting for everyone to come..No one was late...
Just then, a loud boisterous man walked in..
"I'm F.O.P. Attorney Louis C. Brown...Brown is my name, defending cops is my game!" he said.....
Jessica ,her husband, Chip and Judge Cummings all looked at each other and smiled..
Jessica began her opening statement..
"Good Morning...Let's talk about why we are here...How did we get here? This is all about a 12 year old girl named Angela ..Angela Allen...A 12 year old who was now a grown woman...Who still mourned the father possibly unjustly taken away from her by the State of Pennsylvania. This is about this girl, now this woman..
Betty Ann Parlor's body was discovered in the basement of her home the next day...nude, with her panties on her head and her bra in the corner...By now she and Big Jack , who had a number of restraining orders filed against him had seperated and a divorce was pending.. Sean Allen always maintained that he did not see Betty Ann at all that week, but a pair of his boxer shorts were found near the body ,loaded with semen, semen that was never tested for DNA....Nor was the saliva on the panties..
Detectives Arthur Tragg Jr. and Dominick Evans made the arrest .... Sean Allen confessed, but he later recanted and said that his confession was beaten out of him...By your partner, Dominick and another Detective...Not you!
His lawyers , now both deceased appealed his conviction in three State appellate courts and in the state Supreme Court saying that a DNA test of the boxer shorts, the panties and the bra would exonerate their client..It was met with deft ears...
Sean Allen was executed by Lethal Injection in 2006!!
Angela Denise was 12 years old... Her mother died when she was 15...Liver Cancer...She went to live with a grandmother until she was 18...
She went to Temple University, getting a B.A. and a Masters Degree...
Today she owns three Beauty salons and Three Barbershops...She's doing quite well..She never got over her father's unjust execution..
She went to several attorneys , none of who would listen to her.. She found someone who would..
That someone was me..Jessica Sanchez-Burrows of the INNOCENCE PROJECT...
My husband and I went on Television and Radio and began to talk about how the state of Pennsylvania just might have executed an innocent man...This led to public calls for the case to be re-opened..
And Attorney Slim Johnson of The Innocence Project got involved...
They Approached McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt law firm for help and got the help of
Attorneys Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Keith Jones, Beatrice Evans-Jones, Kahlil Ahmed and Sofia Garcia-Ahmed and their investigator ,Jade Lee..
And Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West-East's law firm..
In which Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West-East, Donnie Ray Alexander , Nelson East and Josie Boyd also agreed to help out in the research of this case.
Olivia allowed us to use her Duplex/Office for the first three days researching this case from top to bottom, Witness Statements from the first trial, trial transcripts from the three State Appellate court appeals and the State Supreme court appeal, Autopsy reports and tracking down living witnesses..
The next three days we worked here in this building doing pretty much the same thing..Looking up other like minded cases, predicates , drawing up defense strategy..with the help of Assistant District Attorney
Karen Page, being assisted by
and Attorney Kayla Bennett....
We were seated in this very conference room
and a Catered Lunch...
Then we all returned to the law library upstairs....For more looking at witness statements, trial transcripts from the actual trial and the appeals in three state courts and the state supreme court...as well as autopsy reports and evidence...
For Six days...This was our life.. I say that to say this...We have put together an extensive argument that you are going to hear today....My husband and I took this case very seriously." said Jessica.
III-
Lt. Tragg's lawyer was no slouch...He came off as a bit of an eccentric, but he had a strong legal mind..
He pointed out that Sean Allen had had a lengthy sexual affair with Ms. Parlor...and that it was the basis of his and his wife's divorce...he brought divorce papers to prove that..
Jessica and Chip argued that the affair was long over and that on the day of the murder he came to pick up his daughter, then 10 year old, Angela Allen...
He took her to get Burgers and Fries...He used his debit card and they had a receipt, He then took her to his house...
They produced Sean's then girlfriend, who testified that she watched Angela as Sean went to a neighborhood bar to have a few drinks, supported by credit card and debit card receipts and original witnesses...All around the time of the murder..This proved he wasn't at the scene, just as he stated.
No witnesses from the bar or the Burger joint were ever called..
They asked why her husband, John "Big Jack" Parlor , now deceased , was never brought in for questioning..He had a record and she had numerous restraining orders against him, including one for forcible rape.
Lt. Tragg sat back and smiled.. He had no idea the rabbit hole he was about to fall in...
"And besides, this man confessed....he confessed...That's why he was convicted.. He recanted I know, but the jury didn't look at it like that...They felt he recanted on the advice of his lawyer..Abe Goldstein, god rest his soul...he was a friend of mine.."said Louis Brown..
Lieutenant Tragg smiled.. "She hired all those fancy dan defense lawyers and this was the best they could come up with eh? Hahahahahaha." he thought.. He almost wished Olivia, Beverly and Yvette were here to see their case, the case they worked sooooooooo hard on fall apart at the seams.. Louis Brown was a beast in court, he thought..
Chip called Eddie Kolpack ...
"He wouldn't talk to em much...He kept tellin em he didn't kill that woman...He told em he was nowhere near there and then he laughed at em..He told em they had nothing and that in another hour, they were going to have to cut him loose..They had him for close to 8 hours..
"Artie's Uncle, Jack Tragg was watching the whole thing...He pulled his Nephew aside..
''Artie...Artie..what is wrong with you? You don't let no skell talk to you like that....Go grab some coffee and some uh eggs and spuds and sausage from Sam Mother's joint..go on...It'll all work out.." he said.
"For the next hour, they beat that poor guy senseless...He was handcuffed to the table, so he couldn't fight back...They beat him until he wrote out a confession..It made me sick on my stomach."
''All these years....All these years it's bothered me that that guy got a needle and he might have been innocent..Why couldn't they do a DNA swab like he and his lawyer asked...?? It might have made all the difference in the world." said Eddie Kolpack...sobbing.
"Hear say...You should have said something then ,IF YOU ACTUALLY WITNESSED THIS!" said Louis Brown..
Jessica smiled.. She produced Jack Tragg's police record..
Lt. Tragg smirked..
Dr. Goggins of the independent Goggins Laboratory testified..
'We examined it at our FBI labs in Quantico and came to the same conclusions they did."said FBI/ATF Special Agent in Charge, Sharon Hopkins.
Attorney Louis Brown hung his head...
"That concludes this hearing... I'd like to thank Jessica , Chip and all of the attorneys not here for the great job they did researching and helping to prepare this case.."said Karen Page.
Assistant District Attorney, Dr. Alice Bourdain was congratulating Jessica and Chip..
His Late Uncle, Jack Tragg
Beers
and drinks were served...
"Easy for you to say...That girl's father lost his life....He was innocent!! You and your former partner weren't thorough..and you terrorized those atorneys across the room to the point where another ADA had to take a cease and desist order out against you...My god Arthur...Who are you? A man died, an Innocent man died because of you and your partner and that brutal uncle of yours..Don't you care at all?" she asked..
"Uhhhhh I don't think so...Everything I've learned about you kind of turns me off..I thought about me and you possibly for a little while but the moment has passed." she said and she removed his hands from under her skirt again...He had been tugging at the waistband of her panties.
"Awww come on...We got off on the wrong foot..Let's start over....You're looking very good tonight and don't think I haven't noticed it...I've been watching you since I saw you come in.." he said and put his arm around her waist..
"John "Jack" Tragg had a record 27 brutality complaints sworn out against him as a patrolman and three disciplanary actions taken against him.. It was suggested that maybe detective work would be better for him...but as a Detective, Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain..he racked up 18 more brutality complaints...It wasn't until he got into a scuffle with some unknown man later that same year..who broke his jaw, his nose, his hand and put him in the hospital for nearly 18 weeks that his brutality ended.." said Jessica, passing around copies for everyone to see.
"A beaten confession....That's bad enough..but the question remains...Why? Why didn't you order a DNA test? The man's lawyers asked for a DNA test..."asked Jessica.
"Three lower courts and the State Supreme Court ruled that that was not necessary..."said Louis Brown..
Charles Burrows produced at least 20 cases that had been turned around by DNA evidence....And said "Since DNA evidence is far more sophisticated now than it was 15 years ago...We are going to reveal who the real killer was.." he said.
"Yeahhh right." he said silently..
IV-
"We took DNA from Sean Allen...We exhumed his body....And we also exhumed the body of James "Big Jack" Parlor.." said Jessica.
"We took semen from her panties, saliva from her bra and a load of semen from boxer shorts at the scene and compared the DNA , taken from it to DNA from Sean Allen..It was not a match...but it was a 99.9 percent match to James "Big Jack "Parlor...He is more than likely your rapist and your murderer." said Dr. Goggins..
"That's lowgrade DNA...Is it even good after all of these years?" asked Louis Brown..
"It certainly is and with the sophistication of DNA technology...it was as easy to get a match now as it would have been then..." said Dr. Hazel Baylor of The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office.. " We observed it and we came to the same conclusion...The killer was more than likely James "Big Jack" Parlor, the woman's estranged husband..but definitely not Sean Allen"she added.
"A beaten confession and refusal to give this man a proper DNA test...The State of Pennsylvania executed an innocent man...but if not for sloppy and I do mean sloppy neanderthal police work, this man wouldn't have been arrested in the first place. There was another suspect.. An even more viable suspect , who was never looked at..."said Jessica ,glaring angrily at Lt. Tragg.
who was beet red...
"You weren't there...You didn't take part in the beating...That was your late uncle..and your partner..who is in prison himself ,doing life for multiple murders...but the two of you really screwed the pooch on this case.. In fact...This very Wrongful Conviction Unit has overturned eight cases you two were involved in to date..If they rule in our favor today....That will make nine..."said Chip, who knew that he and his wife had now joined all of the other Attorneys and Investigators on Lt. Tragg's hit list..
"What a revoltin development..I'm Louis C. Brown, Bown is the name..Losing cases is not my game and boyyyyy did I lose this one...That's for sure... A shot of Jack Daniels is the cure." he said and grabbed his briefcase and walked out!
The whole thing appalled ADA Dr. Alice Bourdain, who had lost her first case ,due to Lt. Tragg's sloppy police work... He had the nerve to try to hit on her after the trial was over..She couldn't believe his bungling went back so far..This was a pattern with him...She looked at him with pure disdain..She hoped she never had to work another case with him ever again.
"I have heard enough....I am vacating the original conviction of Sean Allen and he is declared legally innocent by law.. Of course Ms. Allen, that won't bring your father back...but at least he is innocent by law..I am going to see that the State of Pennsylvania compensates you.."said Judge Clemmons, who banged her gavel..
"Thank you guys so much...And tell Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie, Yvette, Gary, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia ,Kahlil and Ms. Jade. I said thank you so much.."said Angela..
"You are welcome...I hope you find peace.." said Jessica.
"Go out, have some fun...Don't let this burden you.."said Chip..
A thoroughly frustrated Lt. Tragg turned..
Both his Attorney, Louis Brown and his one time associate, Detective Eddie Kolpack had left and gotten on the elevator and caught the fastest thing smoking out of the area..
"You two did an excellent job of presenting your case.. Considering who you said was helping you..I'm not surprised.." she said, smiling..
"I wish they were here to see this today...They're all on vacation in Cancun.."said Jessica.
"Yeah...living the good life.." laughed Chip..
Lt. Tragg didn't even bother to say anything...He simply walked out toward the elevator...The world was just different than it was when he began...soo different, he mused..
FOR SLC
EPILOUGE-
ONE WEEK LATER!-
At Curley's Bar- Everyone was watching HARD BOTTOM on the television...
B.L. Benz , the host and a lawyer himself had Angela Allen and her lawyers, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband, Charles "Chip" Burrows on his show..
They were discussing their big case and the exoneration of her late father, who was executed falsely by the State of Pennsylvania for a crime he didn't commit...And the almost 13 million dollars paid to her by the State of Pennsylvania..
He was exonerated by DNA, the DNA tests his lawyer asked for , but was refused..The Judges in all three of the lower courts who denied the appeals for DNA testing were removed from the bench as was the State Supreme Court Judge....
and his former partner, Dominick Evans, now serving a life term for four murders were dragged for sloppy police work and for beating a confession out of the suspect..
Surprisingly, Lt. Tragg was not mentioned at all and he was glad.. He wished they'd turn the damn TV to something else.
He peered across the bar-
Olivia Bennett-Alexander, her husband, Donnie Ray Alexander ,her niece, Beverly West-East, her husband, Nelson East and Josie Boyd and her boyfriend, Paris..
had taken over a table...
Yvette, Gary, Keith Jones, Bee Bee Evans, Kahlil Ahmed and Sofia Garcia-Ahmed had taken another table..
Jade Lee and Lieutenant Danny Ho joined them..
A birthday cake was in the middle of the table.. It was somebody's birthday...
He was furious that they had played a part in this...but he decided not to bother them...
He spotted ADA Alice Bourdain, she appeared to be sitting by herself.. He walked over to her table and as was his way, he invited himself to join her.
"Lieutenant Tragg....I didn't expect to see you around anytime soon especially after that hearing.." she said.
He smiled and ran his hands across her legs, then up her skirt...She smiled and removed his hands..
"Please stop...." she said softly...
"It was 15 years ago..Water under the bridge...I had forgotten all about that case.." he said.
"Apparently YOU care. That guy was a stone loser.. If he didn't go to jail for that, he would have gone for something else eventually... Now Baby , Here's what I care about....I'm a cop with a huge penis, who would like very much to put it inside you..." he whispered while running his hands up her skirt...feeling her legs and leaning over for a kiss.. She moved away..She was repulsed by the way he was talking to her and the way he was acting.
"You've been drinking....I asked you to stop one time before..I don't like being talked to like that and I want you to take your hands from up under my skirt. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she said and removed his hands again!
"Look Baby, I've had a rough couple of weeks...Let's get out of here and go someplace quiet, have a few drinks, some quiet conversation and then we'll talk about me ,putting my big penis inside of you..We've been playing this little game for weeks now.. You know I want you....You know I want you bad..I'm tired of playing games." he said..
"Now come on baby, loosen up..." He said and softly rubbed her legs and slipped his hands up her skirt once more, feeling her lacy panties.. He kissed her on the cheek....
"Ummmmmm Loosen up Alice..." he said.
He rubbed her leg... "Baby, I'm hotter than a firecracker in a gas station.." he said and ran his hand up under her skirt yet again...This time slower.
"Seems like you're very hot tonight.." she said.
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm" he moaned..
She poured her drink on his head..
She removed his arm from around her waist...and his hands from up under her skirt..
"YOU NEED TO COOL OFF!" she said...
Dabnis and his wife, Jasmine were just coming in and witnessed the entire thing..He howled with laughter...
and then slapped him so hard...the liquid went flying.. and he left his seat..spinning around and hitting the floor..
"OOOOF!" he said.as he hit the floor..
"OH MY GODDDDD!" he screamed...Laughing so hard he was shaking..
"OH MY GODDDDDDD!!!!" said Jazzy...
"OHHHHHHH LAWDDDDD!" said Kayla..
Her husband, Ray was howling with laughter..
"DAMNNNNNNNNN!!! SHE SLAPPED THE HELL LLLLLLLL OUTTA HIM!" he howled...
"OHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!" screamed Olivia, laughing mightily...The tables where Olivia and Beverly and company were and Yvette and her crew were exploded in laughter...
..So was her boyfriend, Paris...
Gary,like me usually didn't laugh, but he was dying laughing..
She ran to her car...She didn't know if angered he might come after her.. She got in her car and sped off..
Curley shook his head...
An Angry Lt. Tragg got up off the floor.. His suit was soaking wet...His hair was a mess and the side of his face was beet red... He was embarrassed and in a rage..He stormed out of the bar..looking around, but Alice Bourdain was nowhere in sight..
He looked in the window and everyone in the bar was howling in laughter...Some were laughing at him!
He walked toward his car...He wasn't going back in there.
"Man, one woman slapped him...Another woman poured her drink on his head.. And this one did both...Just not that guy's week" he said.
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