The Cheap Cufflink

 ONE WEEK LATER-

We had feinted and jabbed with ADA April Taylor throughout the preliminary, never showing all of our cards..

Judge Julie Wong had held the case over for trial...

This led to a protractive battle of wits between Kahlil, Myself and ADA Taylor

who was proving to be a very intelligent, tenacious and prepared attorney...Even though she was the opposition, we all had a growing respect for her... She had only lost two cases since she had been our ADA..both were to Olivia, Beverly and crew..

She hadn't lost at all since them...We were planning to give her a third loss if we could....

Ms. Yvette was a master of voir dire, picking jurors and reading jurors...

Nelson East was the only other person I'd seen as good as her..

Both of them had tutored Kahlil and I in the fine art of it..

Once she was sure we had it down pat, she allowed us to do Voir Dire in every trial..She almost never took the reins...That was the enormus amount of faith she had in us... And we didn't let her down.. We got nine out of twelve jurors we wanted..

Our wives certainly were happy with the results...

They did something they usually never do...They both gave us passionate kisses in the courtroom after jury selection was over..

Something Detective Jimmy Tragg noticed..

"Damn ,Those guys are lucky...Married to two bombshell babes like that...They married em because they're lawyers....I know it.." he mused... 

He followed our investigator, Ms. Jade, everywhere she went...She noticed him looking at her..She ignored him, like he wasn't even there...

Our client , Late night TV Chef, Johnny Olong, longed to be back on television and back at his restaurant cooking gourmet meals...He like any sane person hated being locked up...

Sofia and Bee Bee assured him that now that the trial was underway...He was one step closer to being exonerated  and released

"WE KNOW YOU DIDN'T DO THIS!" said Sofia.

."And we are going to win this case." said Bee Bee..

"I wish I had your confidence...but look, you help me beat this rap and you and some friends, pick a night and you're all eating free at my restaurant on me.."he said.

"Don't say that...We have a lot of friends"joked Ms. Yvette..

"Bring Twenty...I don't care...I'm serious." said Johnny...

Court adjourned for the day....

"Damn, that's a straight bummer, having to get on that bus and go back to CFC.." I said, watching them Handcuff Johnny and put him on what looked like a school bus with all of the other prisoners awaiting trial and unfortunate enough not to be able to make bail..Headed back to the correctional center for the night.

"Yeah ,I know what you mean..If we had gotten to him sooner, we might have been able to arrange bail and you know...gotten him out with maybe just an ankle bracelet.."said Kahlil..

"Yeah if we had gotten to him sooner and gotten a sympathetic judge." said Bee Bee.

''I hate the way he looks when he waves goodbye to us." said Sofia.

Ms. Yvette was leaving for the day , when she was approached by Sol Rubenstein...

"Counselor, perhaps we can uh talk about the Wrongful death civil case I may or may not be preparing over a nice thick steak and a baked potato and some wine...You know...if you uh co-operate with me..Heh heh heh...We could uh work something out...I might drop the case altogether..Heh heh heh.." he laughed..

"There is nothing for us to talk about...You do what you feel you have to do...Though after this trial you're not going to have much to make a case on.."said Yvette..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..A woman with confidence turns me on you know..Heh heh heh" he laughed.

"A woman breathing turns you on...No thanks!" said Ms. Yvette as she walked away..

II-

"Ms. Lee...Jade Lee??  Could I have a minute of your time please?" he asked.

A Mysterious man who had been at the Preliminary Hearing in the vistor's section walked over to Ms. Jade.. He pulled out a Gold shield and ID..Showing he was Detective William Garland, Special Victims Unit.

"What do you want with me?  I'm an Investigator for the defense." she said.

"I know...I thought this might help your case.." he said and passed her a manilla envelope..

Inside was a cuff link...

A cheap one at that...

''What is this? It's a cuff link." said Jade.

"It was found by a Crime Scene Investigator, bagged and tagged the night of Susan Douglas's Murder...and placed in evidence, but never logged into Discovery...It was purposely left out and you know why? Because it was checked for prints and a latent print and DNA was found on it...and it's not your client..It's someone else and off of someone else's jacket that was in that alley that night..That prick, Detective Jimmy Tragg knows that and he purposely left this out.. It's sealed... The report is with it..I'm not Murder Police...But I know how to run an investigation." said William Garland.

"Why are you giving me this? Why are you telling me this?" asked Jade.

"Because I can't stand that prick, Tragg...He's been trying to sleep with my wife...He harrassed her so much ,she lefty Homicide and is now working as an investigator for the D.A.'s office.. Anything I can do to make his life miserable is a bonus....Plus I've been watching him, He's been harrassing your boss lady quite a bit.." said Detective Garland..

Jade smiled at him...

"Thank You." she said.

"OH and Uh we never had this conversation." said Detective Garland..

"What Conversation?" said Ms. Jade...Laughing.

Nightfall...

Ms. Yvette sat on the bed, quietly talking to her husband, Gary..

"Most of my life...I never felt attractive...Just average...Until I was in 10th grade.. All of my girlfriends had reached Pubetry and started developing a few years before...but in 10th grade..my breasts seemed to explode..I had to get a bigger sized bra...My hips curved and I think my butt got bigger and all of a sudden boys were following me, wanting to buy me things, wanting to carry my books, asking for my phone number..It was something.. a little bit much for me..  I wasn't a party girl...I was still a nerd then, in my books.. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer by that time and I uh was hitting my books hard.."said Yvette.

"How about college? I know you partied at Lassalle, Don't tell me you didn't." said Gary.

"Yeah...I pledged AKA...I lost my virginity my junior year...and I still was a semi nerd.....Then came law school...and by now..The guys were on me everytime I turned around and I liked it...

Olivia's older brother , Jimmy...Beverly's father...Had the biggest crush on me.. It was so obvious that when I was around the house..Liv and Mrs. Bennett used to tease him about it.. I was 24, he was about 35 or 36..but he was crazy about me..

When Olivia would go to New York for the weekend to Model..He'd come up to our apartment and bring me food from home...and talk..

Our talking wound up being early in  the morning..and we wound up

Making love in the early morning hours...

Crazy, sweet love..

I think we did it two more times after that...and then we stopped..We both loved Olivia too much and we didn't know how she'd take it..So we ended our brief affair.. But it will always be one of my sweet memories.. It opened me up, loosened me up!!!" said Yvette.

"The thing is...Now.. I feel so sexy...for want of a better word.. Men are constantly making sexual come ons to me, corny ones at that.....and I'm constantly horny...More so than not.." Yvette confessed..

"Are you horny now?  I am?" said Gary softly, taking Yvette in his arms..

and kissing her passionately.....

"YES...VERY!!" said Yvette...

"SO AM I!" said Gary....

Yvette opened his bathrobe, slipped her panties off 

and eased down on him...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDD VETTIE!" he moaned..

Soon they were humped over the side of the bed, devouring each other..

and then on the bed, making sweet sweet love...

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS of sensual lovemaking followed.

Gary fell asleep between her legs...She rubbed his hair and smiled serenely...Gary , the most unlikely guy made her feel so safe and serene in so many ways...She kissed his forehead softly and then drifted off to sleep herself..

III-

TWO DAYS LATER-

ADA April Taylor knew she had a weak case...So She showed the Jury lurid photos of the death scene and paraded Crime Scene Investigators, Forensic Specialists and Policemen from the scene before the

jury...None of whom we questioned..

She then paraded 27 witnesses who were there that night..

Bee Bee, Sofia and Ms. Yvette took them apart on Cross examination like a capable surgeon..Proving they had carefull studied their statements to Detective Tragg and Jade Lee and compared it to what they were saying now..

Not one of them saw Johnny Olong leave the restaurant after the argument. not one of them placed him at the scene.. and not one print of bit of his DNA was found on the scene..

Still ADA Taylor hammered home his confession to the jury. She wisely edited out all of Jimmy Tragg's interrogation tactics and aired only his confession.

"Okayyyyyyy...Okayyyyyyyy...Yes...Yesssss...I killed her! Okayyyyy I killed her.." said Johnny Oland.

"No Matter what else you've heard ,seen or not seen....You have it out of the horses mouth...HE CONFESSED!  Just remember that!  The Prosecutions rests." she said.

"I have to hand it to her..She's as slick as canned grease,....Buttt, If I were her and prosecuting this case, that's exactly how I would have played it..."said Ms. Yvette, smiling..

"She knew that Detective Tragg is the albatross ,hanging around this case." said Sofia...

"Yeah, that's why she edited him out and we are going to use his testimony to bring this case down around his ankles."I said.  I couldn't wait to get him on the stand..

"We maybe can force him to reveal who his C.I. is...because dimes to donuts, it's the person who lost that cuff link.."said Kahlil..

"That Detective Jimmy Tragg is going to have a lot of explaining to do.." said Bee Bee..

"He certainly is." said Ms. Jade..who never told us just how she came across the evidence , the cuff link, but it was okay...It was just enough to get an acquittal... We were all glad she was on our side.

Now of days...

Judge Kim didn't know what to expect when she entered her chambers... She had caught Lt. Tragg and U.S. Attorney Julie Baisden , making love on her couch... and then had caught her present boyfriend, 

Attorney and former judge, Pinkney Bach, Naked and erect, sweating and panting....She mistakenly thought it was for her and this is how they eventually became a couple..

Today when she opened the door..

Her entire chambers was filled with roses.....

"OHHHHH MY GODDDD!" she bellowed and smiled..

"Hi Julie....I was thinking about you.."said Pinkney...

"THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL...OUUUUU THANK YOUUUUU!!!" she said..

He took her into his arms and kissed her passionately...

He hiked her skirt up and slipped her panties down..Normally she would have fought him..She didn't like doing that in her chambers...but the door was locked and she didn't care..He deserved it...

and dropped his trousers..

"You are soooo baddd.." she laughed as he lifted her up..

"And sooooo damn BIG...OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

"OHHHHHHHHHH JULIE!!! UMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned..

I tried the door to the Judges Chambers..

"It's locked!" I said..

"Maybe the Judge is changing her clothes...At any rate...You'll just have to control yourself until we get home Hot Stuff" giggled Bee Bee.

We kissed passionately by the door..

IV-

A DAY LATER-

Ms. Yvette opened up her defense...

"I want you to think about some things... By their own admission, The Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic people found not one fingerprint , nor any DNA belonging to my client in that alley after that vicious violent assault...The didn't find a murder weapon, this blunt object...they keep talking about and she presented 27....27 witnesses who witnessed an argument between my client, the victim and the victim's parents...They saw her go running out of the restaurant, BUT NOT PERSON SAW MY CLIENT LEAVE THAT BUILDING!! NOT ONE... All you have is a confession, a confession brought on by an 11 hour interogation, with no sleep and no water...Think about it..That was a forced confession...How many of you wouldn't crack under that kind of pressure?" she said.

''Let me tell you about the so called "Fishbowl", the interrogation room as the detectives call it."said Bee Bee.

She presented a large 60 inch photo of the room...

"Often the light is dim...It smells like stale coffee and cigarettes,...There is only one window..and it's small.. I know...I was arrested once..I spent a little time in that box.. In the summer, it's insuffereable..It's hot, muggy, smelly and sitting up to 11 hours with someone in your face, questioning you, not allowing you to have water...or sleep...Is torture.." she said.

Kahlil and Sofia brought up Predicates, Past Cases and Laws against this type of interrogations for the next two days...They tried mightily to keep from boring the jury..

Detective Tragg practically laughed through their entire testimony...He wouldn't be laughing long..

Ms. Yvette showed the entire confession drama to the jury, unedited...

In the "Fishbowl" , the name given to the interrogation room by the detectives...

Detective Jimmy Tragg leans on Chef Jimmy Oland..

"LAST CHANCE KID....YOU KILLED THAT GIRL...SHE WAS GONNA BREAK UP WITH YOU AND YOU CHASED HER OUTSIDE...DRAGGED HER INTO THAT ALLEY AND SMASHED HER HEAD IN WITH A STEEL BAR.....NOW DIDN'T YOU??" he screamed...

"Look man, you've asked me this a thousand times and a thousand times I've told you...I didn't do it..I didn't kill anybody...I loved Susan...I wouldn't hurt her...Please...PLEASE...can I just have some water...Can I just got to sleep, please...PLEASEEEEEEE!" begged Johnny Oland...

"Johnny...Just confess...Get it off your chest...You'll feel so much better if you just tell the truth...I'm the only person that can help you...You wanna go to sleep don'tcha?

You want a glass of water don'tcha... Just ell me what I need to hear.....Come on...You killed that girl didn't you?" asked Detective Jimmy Tragg.

"Okayyyyyyy...Okayyyyyyyy...Yes...Yesssss...I killed her! Okayyyyy I killed her.." said Johnny Oland.

Kahlil pointed to his right eye...

"It's swollen and look at the cotton in his nose...That's to stop the bleeding.. He had been struck...." he said.

This effected the jury a lot and subsequently began turning all 12 our way....

Then we called Detective Jimmy Tragg to the stand.. He walked up with a smirk on his face..

"You got that confession under duress didn't you?" asked Yvette..

"I did what I had to do to get to the truth..." he said.

"Because without a confession, you didn't have much of a case..No DNA, No Prints.. No real eye witnesses that you're willing to talk about."said Bee Bee..

"What do you mean by a crack like that?" he asked.

."The Full Autopsy report was finished two days after the murder... as well as the full Crime scene report....There is no mention of the victim being dragged into an alley, none at all...or any steel bar..And the initial crime scene report doesn't mention it...It's only mentioned in the finished crime scene report, a week later..after our client had been charged. And yet you mentioned it in your interrogation a whole 48 hours before those reports were finished. That's what she means." said Sofia.

This struck a chord with the jurors...All of them!

"Somebody told you that...Somebody told you she was dragged...because nobody else mentioned that and it's not in anybody's report, including yours."said Kahlil..

"I protect my Confidential Informants...." said Detective Tragg defiantly...

I showed the jury a photo of the bloody dumpster and the gash in the victim's head, which matched 

the head wound...

"There was no blunt object...No steel Bar, Her head was smacked up against the dumpster... and you knew that...but again you failed to put this in your report..." I said.

"So what? He confessed to killing her...He only recanted because you bunch of fancy dan lawyers told him to." snarled Detective Tragg..

Ms. Yvette showed him and the jury a cuff link...

"H-HOW-HOW DID YOU GET THAT?" bellowed Detective Tragg, whose swagger was gone for the first time.

"This was buried in evidence... My investigator didn't find it the first time, but she found it the second time...Again, you withheld evidence.. The Medical Examiner's Office listed it though...They found a latent fingerprint and DNA, belonging to the victim and another man...Eddie Sharp... A line cook at the restaurant with a sheet... A conviction for sexual assault and another conviction for simple assault.. He was working that night...Was HE Your Confidential Informant?? You don't have to tell me...but he was working that night and I have five people who will testify that they saw HIM leave the building behind Ms. Douglas...He was the more viable candidate for this murder, yet you covered it up!  Did you owe him for giving you prior information on other crimes?  You'll never tell.  No further questions." said Ms. Yvette, smiling..

           

Detective Tragg realized that this case might have been deep sixed and these slick as canned grease lawyers may have used him to do it..
                            

ADA April Taylor slumped down in her seat...She hadn't felt this way in a long time......She had been on a roll....She was furious with the District Attorney for dumping this loser case on her...

 PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL  ,OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY-  WEEKS  BEFORE!!!

"Gil...Gil...Come on...I just come off of 16 straight wins...Why derail my progress like this?" asked

Assistant District Attorney April Taylor.

"April baby...Do this for me please and I promise you...A two week vacation..No cases...No nothing..All of the other ADA's are booked up..Booked solid...Besides...this one looks easy...You got a confession."said District Attorney Garcetti.

"He recanted...He's even saying the detective hit him a couple of times..."said April...

"You can get around that..." said ADA Garcetti..

''Who is the Detective?" asked April Taylor..

"Jimmy Tragg....Detective Jimmy Tragg...He's the uh cousin of uh Lt. Tragg...but heyy look, it's not Lt. Tragg right?" said District Attorney Garcetti.

She was furious... She couldn't even look at Detective Tragg.

Who couldn't look at her...

Attorney Sol Rubenstein laughed and shook his head..They had really screwed the pooch on this one ,he thought~!

THREE HOURS LATER-  

The jury had returned with a verdict!

"I think we've got this...The Jury was really feeling sorry for you." said Yvette.

"I'm crossing my fingers.."said Johnny..

"That Cuff Link and the reveal did him in.."said Jade.

"That was the icing on the cake." I said.

"I'll say..That and other conflicting evidence...."said Bee Bee..

"We didn't even bring up the fact that three of Tragg's previous "confessions " were tossed out."said Sofia.

"Yeah...we killed the entire argument with what we had.." said Kahlil..

"Has the jury returned with a verdict?" asked Judge Julie Wong..

"The Jury has your honor." said the Foreman..

"Bailiff , bring it to me.."said Julie Wong, who read it and passed it back to the Bailiff..

"Read it." she said.

"THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. JOHN OLCOTT ON THE CHARGE OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER..WE THE JURY FIND HIM , NOT GUILTY!!!"

"Thank you Jurors for your patience..You are discahrged...You'll receive your checks at the door." said Judge Wong!

"Oh My God...I'm Free...I don't have to go back to that damn jail cell..I can sleep in my own bed, take a nice hot shower at my house tonight...Oh thank you, thank you, thank you...Heyy,I'm serious about what I said.. Next Saturday...At my restaurant...Bring your friends....I'm feeding you all." said a joyous Johnny Olong...

"Ouuuuuuuu I can't believe it...I never imagined that." said a joyous Yvette..

"Ouuuuu wait til I tell Olivia, Beverly, Josie and Bree." said Bee Bee...

"I gotta call Jessica...."said an excited Sofia..

"This will be epic..."said Kahlil..

"Sweet Verdict, Sweet pay off.." I said..

A furious Detective Tragg grabbed Ms. Jade..

"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT CUFF LINK?? I SWEAR...I'LL HAVE YOUR LICENSE PULLED."he snarled at her.

"YOU'D BETTER TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" said Jade..

"You heard what she said.. Take your hands off of her... I GAVE IT TO HER! OKAY? IF YOU NEED TO BE ANGRY AT SOMEONE...BE ANGRY AT ME!" said Detective William Garland..

"YOU??? You know you're not supposed to mess with another detective's case...I could bring you up on charges." snarled Detective Jimmy Tragg.

"You're not supposed to withhold and falsify evidence in a Capital Case either...So you go right ahead and let's see who comes out on top!  Also..I'm Miranda's husband..She's an Investigator for the D.A.'s office now...You go anywhere near her you prick and I swear, I'll kill you!" said Detective Garland..

Detective Tragg went pale... He said no more.. He turned and slowly slipped out of the courthouse..

"Well........That ended well." I replied.

Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil, Jade, Ms. Yvette and Johnny all busted out into raucous laughter.

EPILOUGE-

Detective Tragg arrested his Confidential Informant, Eddie Sharp, who confessed to the murder immediately and admitted he had lied.....He was sentenced to 15-30 years for Second Degree Murder. Apparently he had been trying to date Susan on the side and had been rebuffed..He was rebuffed again the night of the murder..

It would be Detective Tragg's last case for awhile..The department was not too happy with his stunt of hiding evidence, deliberately falsifying evidence and nearly getting an innocent man sent up for life..

He was re-assigned to the Police Marine Unit for 90 days... He would not be missed...

With the acquittal and the capture and conviction of the real killer, the Wrongful Death suit, Attorney Sol Rubenstein was planning was effectively killed..

Saturday Night..

True to his word, Chef Johnny Olong hosted us and our friends 

with a gourmet meal at his restaurant...

The Chef was truly in his element..

"Oh My God!! This place is beautiful...Thank You for inviting us." said Ms. Yvette...

"Yes...If the food tastes as good as it smells...It's going to be a very longgg night "laughed Gary...

"This place is lit...That food he made for us at CFC  was just the tip of the iceberg." I said.

"I know...Everything is just delish." said Bee Bee.

"Ohhhhh man...I'm glad this is a Saturday Night..We can all sleep in late tomorrow." said Kahlil..

"I know right...I'm even more glad.. Olivia used her Bus service to transport us here..We didn't have to drive." said Sofia..

"We'd be in no shape to drive home after tonight.."laughed Ms. Jade.

"Don't I know it." laughed Danny Ho..

"And so nice to meet you and your staff Mrs. OLivia Bennett-Alexander...I'm a big fan.." said Chef Jimmy Olong.

"My Husband and I are big fans of yours..." said Olivia..

"Yes indeed..I intend to come back here with the missus alone in the near future." said Donnie Ray, himself a major foodie.

"Everything is just delish..."said Beverly, who was enjoying her food immensely..

As was her husband, Nelson...who was busy eating, not talking..

"Everything is gorgeous and so tasty.."said Josie.

"Yes indeed.." said her boyfriend, Paris..

"The Food is delish and the ambiance is incredible." said Bresha..

"Listen at my baby using them big words " said her fiance, Tony Billips.

Ray laughed..

So Did Kayla...

"To think , I watch this guy on TV...Never thought I'd actually meet him and eat in his restaurant." said Dabnis..

''Will wonders never cease." joked his wife, Jazzy.

"This is so nice..All of us out for a nice meal.." said Jessica Sanchez-Burrows...

"Yes it is.." said her husband, Chip.

"This is beautiful...A Couples Night" said Chef Johnny, smiling as we all enjoyed his good food!