Progress

The Next Morning...
 

As planned, Divorce Attorney, Zoey Easter arrived in our new office..

She looked around..."Nice Digs..Virginia...Virginia...I heard you got paroled and were working for Vettie....How are you liking it so far?" said Zoey, another attorney who knew Virginia from back in the day.

"Girl I'm loving it... You don't remember???...I saw you and your husband at that Laundry Day thingie that Olivia and Beverly had a few weeks ago...It was so many people there we didn't get to talk."said Virginia, hugging Zoey..

"I know....When it gets warmer...I'm going to get out more..Start visiting people.." said Zoey..

"Me too!  I live six blocks the other way from them..Vettie and the girls are at the prison visiting their client...but the others are all here in the conference room... I have the zoom meeting all set up on the monitor...and you guys can get with it." said Virginia.

''Thanks! What a modern world we live in...A Virtual Divorce Proceeding, complete with a Judge or Arbiter..Unbelievable.."said Zoey..

"I know right? Look what I just missed!!.." laughed Virginia. She had been disbarred and in prison for 7 years  and had come out into this modern world...Having these new friends who accepted her so readily was making it so easy....

In the conference room.. 

Kahlil, Myself and Jade sat at the table...

"Hi Ms. Zoey.." said Kahlil.

"Hi Ms. Zoey." I said.

"There is a seat right over here for you." said Jade.

There was plenty of hot coffee, Pastries and Bagels..

"Ouuu this is nice.." said Zoey...

Ms. Yvette had more confidence in us as individual attorneys in leaps and bounds.. She was having Kahlil and I argue the divorce and custody case in a virtual zoom meeting 

with Attorney James Flintrock in Patterson New Jersey office..

and his beautiful Para-legal/ Investigator- Ms. Tracy Pantene..

She had brought in Zoey as a "Consultant" to work with us because this was her area of expertise.

Using the Mounted Wall Monitor..

Kahlil began the arguments..

He argued that Mrs. Kimberly Slaughter..

was asking for a divorce...That she and Mr. Karim Slaughter had been legally seperated for a year and a half and she had changed her residence to Philadelphia PA.

Karim Slaughter was not even at the hearing.. He was in fact in County jail for a drug possession with intent to distribute charge.

I argued that Karim's long periods of unemployment and his numerous arrests and domestic violence accusations made him an unfit parent..

Ms. Jade provided screen shots of his numerous threats on the life and safety of Ms. Slaughter and her live in lover, David Peterson, that turned into murder...

I didn't imply that he committed the murder...That had yet to be proven...but I did say that his threats led to an unsafe enviroment that led up to a violent act...

Zoey added that since there was no property or money to be divided she saw no reason why a divorce couldn't be granted...

Attorney James Flintrock and his assistant, Tracy Pantene had very little to argue in rebuttal, Everything we had said was in their records too..

The Judge agreed that a divorce should be granted immediately.... but he said custody of the child would be up to Philadelphia authorities, pending the release and acquittal of Mrs. Slaughter on Murder charges..

It was as good a victory as any of us could have hoped for.. The three of us cheered...

along with Ms. Jade and Ms. Virginia..

At Vallhalla Women's Correctional Institution,  Ms. Yvette, Bee Bee and Sofia were meeting with Kim Slaughter.

"We've got good news for you , You've been granted your divorce....I just got off the phone with the other attorneys working your cases.. "said Ms. Yvette.

"Our other two partners, My husband, Keith Jones and Sofia's husband, Kahlil Ahmed and another attorney, Zoey Easter, had a zoom hearing with the attorney in Patterson, Mr. Flintrock and a Judge acting as Arbitor this morning and your divorce was granted.."

"Your ex-husband helped your cause greatly...He's in prison for possession of drugs with the intent to

distribute.. It helped make our case." said Sofia.

"Ohhh wow that's great news..Great news." said Kimberly

As they sat in her  visiting room.

As promised, they brought Hoagies, Cokes 

and some decent panties..

She was overjoyed..

''What about Trina? Did I get custody of her?" asked Kimberly...

"The Judge said that that is up to the Philadelphia Authorities, depending on you being acquitted by the Philadelphia Authorities...Which we are going to start working on now.."said Ms. Yvette.

"The Judge in the original case has recused himself , So has the ADA, so we are waiting for new ones to be assigned.."said Sofia.

"I know...Everyone in here has heard about it..The Judge got a little too handsy and rapey with the ADA and she kneed him in the groin and slapped his face... I thought he had a thing for her in the hearing, the way his tongue was practically hanging out of his mouth everytime she uttered a word."said Kimberly...

"It was rough on her...Being mauled by Lt. Tragg and then being mauled by the Judge too!" laughed Bee Bee.

"It's hard being a woman!" said Kimberly....

"AMEN TO THAT!" they all said and high fived and laughed..

II-

TWO DAYS LATER-

It was a rare occurence, But Ms. Yvette petitioned for Kimberly's release again. She stated that Kim Slaughter had a constitutional right to a speedy trial and because of the Judge and the Assistant District Attorney both being recused from the present trial and the wait for reassignment of another pair, that would be impossible.

Sofia and I had done our research and we had found predicates and an old case where this motion had been granted as well as the law that seemed to support this..

Ms. Yvette smiled and was impressed with our daring.. This was what she liked about young attorneys..We were unafraid and bold and not jaded and unimaginative as attorneys her age seemed to get with time and a lot of trials behind them...

Bee Bee and Kahlil helped her argue before 

Judge Wilma Barrett who ruled...

"I will release her...but she is to wear an ankle bracelet and she is not to take it off...If she takes it off and forces law enforcement to chase her...Back in the clink she goes!" the Judge said.

Kimberly's eyes got as wide as saucers... She had no idea she'd be freed before her trial date..

"OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!! YOU GUYS DID IT!! YOU GOT ME OUT OF THERE!" she cried

as the ankle monitoring device was placed on her left leg... Of course everyone would know she was under some type of indictment..but it was better than being locked up...She could wear her own clothes, not an orange jumpsuit and she had some freedom of movement.  

She had to be in her house by 9:00 pm and she couldn't leave Philadelphia at all!

Bee Bee passed her a Portal...

"This is a Portal, We will give you updates on how your case is going..." she said.

Sofia passed her a smartphone..

"This is a burner phone..It's untraceable.. If you need to call us...You call us at this number...Not our personal or business phone." she said.

''Wow! You guys take nothing to chance.." said Kimberly...

"That's why we win cases." I said.

"Let's Get you something to eat....Some real food...I know you're starving." said Kahlil..

Ms. Jade whispered to Ms. Yvette.

"I got the full autopsy report...The Crime scene report and some witness statements.." she said.

Yvette put everything in her legal roller..

"Good , let's go grab some breakfast.." she said..

Because it was so close..We went to Sam Mother's Diner... Our good friends, Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West-East, Nelson East, Donnie Ray Alexander, Josie Boyd and Bresha Billips were there.. They were just finishing up a case in court..

"Hey Vettie Girl....We are just getting here ourselves..." said Olivia.

"We just got out of court and it was close." said Beverly.

''Yeah, so we were grabbing a bite." said Nelson.

"Strength in numbers." said Donnie Ray, who was glad we were there...

"Hey Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil, Ms. Jade." said Josie.

"There is some tables here...Have some seats." said Bresha.

She moved some tables and chairs near where they were sitting ,so we could all eat together.

"This is our client, Mrs. Slaughter,  As you can see , we just got her sprung from the hoose gal." Yvette joked. "Kimberly ,These are some other attorney friends of ours." said Ms. Yvette.

"Olivia and Beverly..They need no introduction...Hi. I've followed a lot of your cases in the news" said Kimberly, a little self conscious about her ankle bracelet..

They were attorneys...They had had clients with ankle monitoring bracelets before.

Me, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Ms. Jade all took our seats in our booth and both teams ordered

breakfast..

French Toast for some..Steak and Eggs for others, Eggs to order, Hash browns, Sausages and hot coffee

and fresh squeezed Orange Juice.

With any luck, we might get to eat it in peace...

But then he came in!!! Lt. Tragg... No such luck!

He saw all of us and Kim Slaughter eating together and he went ballistic....

''Well I'll be damned...YOU GOT HER OUT!!! YOU USED THE FACT THAT APRIL AND THAT DAMN LECH, COWLEY DROPPED OUT OF THE CASE TO GET ANOTHER JUDGE AND GET HER OUT!" he bellowed....

"Yes I did!  I'm her attorney...If I did any less...I wouldn't be worth the bother." said Yvette who turned and continued eating...

No one else at either table or booth said anything...Me, Bee Bee, Kim, Sofia and Kahlil ate our food without looking at him...

Then there was Olivia ,Donnie Ray, Nelson, Beverly ,Josie and Bresha..His constant foils.

They continued to eat thier food, made no eye contact with him at all and laugh and talk amongst themselves as if he wasn't there.

He then turned his attention to Jade ..

"You were at Police Headquarters and at the M.E.'s office earlier... I want whatever documentation you have...Hand it over..!" he said.

She laughed and ignored him....continuing to eat...

"You know you have no legal right to anything on her person and besides...She doesn't have anything.. I have it!! And NO I'm not handing anything over to  you!...Now why don't you walk away from our table?" said Yvette softly...

"YES, WHY DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM THEIR TABLE!  GET THE HELL OVER TO THAT COUNTER OR GET YOUR ASS OUT OF HERE!" bellowed Judge Jetty Dukes, who happened to be in the diner and saw and heard the entire thing.

"ARTIE!!! GETTTTT OUT!!!!" yelled Sam Mother.

Furious, Lt. Tragg stomped his foot and stormed out of the diner, amid cheers, laughs and whistles...

III-

At our office and in our conference room we got down to business...Thankful that Lt. Tragg didn't know where we worked and couldn't interrupt our work ,the way he often did during the last days in our old building and old suite.

Ms. Jade showed us the full autopsy report, The Crime Scene Report and all witness statements pretaining to this crime...She had interviewed a number of the cops, crime scene investigators and witnesses to the scene of the crime..

"This is good work Jade...As usual with a Lt. Tragg case, there isn't much Discovery." said Ms. Yvette.

"Three witnesses said the shooter was dressed completely in Black and was five foot nine and "pudgy" I said.

"Kim is petite and about five feet , two...Not Pudgy at all.."said Bee Bee.

"They all said to a man, that they believed the shooter was male...not female ..None of them said they saw the shooter's face..Plus...Kim lived with this man and was in a bitter divorce with her estranged husband."said Sofia.

"If anyone should have been a suspect...Here would have been a time the husband should have been the main suspect." said Bee Bee.

"She became the suspect when she fled.."said Kahlil..

"He has no fingerprints or forensic evidence whatsoever connecting Kim to this... He doesn't even have a motive. These charges are so ludicrous, We should make a motion to drop the charges for lack of evidence,"I said.

"I'm thinking of doing that during the preliminary hearing...But for sure...Do we have an alibi for Kimmy?" asked Yvette.

"Her Boyfriend, David Peterson rented a car for I guess , the two of them... Kim said they were planning to go to the shore for the weekend. That was halfway across town from where the murder occurred." said Jade.

"They were going to the shore for the weekend? In March?" asked Kahlil..

''Sure...You can rent a nice hotel room or an Air BNB....it's nice." said Bee Bee.

"Lots of people do it..and they were taking the baby too!" said Sofia.

"He left in his car and she left in the new rental car...She went to Cakeman Raven's Bakery and was ordering pastries for their breakfast the next morning... That puts her a good 7-8 blocks away from the shooting at the time it occurred and the place it occurred...Technically, she could have made up the blocks to get there...but I find it highly unlikely..."said Jade.

"It should be noted that she fled in that car...24 hours after the murder...Lt. Tragg could have interviewed her at least a day before she chose to flee..What was he doing in all that time?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"Probably had his hands up some girl's skirt, ripping her panties off!" sneered Sofia.

Ms. Yvette, Jade, Bee Bee, Myself and Kahlil howled with laughter....

Ms. Virginia looked in our conference room...

"You people are having too much fun in here." she said, laughing.

Halfway across town, a new ADA is being chosen for the case...

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Edwards

was looking over dossiers on us...the attorneys she would be going up against..

 

KEITH JONES-

Born in Philadelphia PA. 

Mother, Nancy Jones, Court Stenographer

Father, Judge Keith Morrison

Graduated from West Catholic High School

B.A. Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law- Howard University

J.D.- University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish, French, German

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware ,New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney- McCluskey/Cozen/Connor/Pratt

Married to Beatrice Evans

BEATRICE LYNN EVANS -JONES

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Philadelphia High School For Girls

B.A. -Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy ,Pre Law- Temple University

J.D.-University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish and French

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Deleware, Texas, California

Associate Attorney- McCluskey /Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Keith Jones

SOFIA CARMELITA GARCIA-AHMED

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Philadelphia High School For Girls

B.A. -Administration Of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law-Temple University

J.D.-University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish and French

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware and New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney -McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Kahlil Ahmed...

KAHLIL ABDUL AHMED

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Central High School

BA.- Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law- Temple University

JD- University of Pennsylvania Law School

Speaks Arabic languages fluently, fluent in German and Russian.

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware and New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney-McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Sofia Garcia

YVETTE DENISE JONES-LOCKWOOD

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from North Catholic High School

BA-Trial Advocacy, Pre Law, Administration of Justice -Lasalle University

JD -University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish, French and Russian

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware , New York, Texas, California.

Associate Attorney-McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Senior Associate Attorney-McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Managing Partner- McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to District Attorney Investigator-Gary Lockwood.

Like us she looked at The Autopsy Report, Witness statements, Crime Scene reports eta al.

Lt. Tragg entered her office and sat down... He remembered when Nicole Edwards was a Homicide Detective... She was a babe..Huge breasts, great shape... She put herself through law school at night and left the police department once she passed the bar.. Now she was an Assistant District Attorney.. She had really packed on the pounds over the years...

''Hi Artie....Uh What kind of case is this?   How did this girl even get indicted?/"

''What do you mean Nicole?" asked Lt. Tragg incredulous...

"Well for starters, Three of your witnesses said the shooter was dressed completely in Black and was five foot nine and "pudgy...Have you seen this girl Artie? She's petite, She's five feet even or just a little over it...They all said to a man, that they believed the shooter was male...not female ..None of them said they saw the shooter's face..Plus...This girl lived with the victim and was in a bitter divorce with her estranged husband. How come the husband wasn't indicted??"asked Nicole Edwards...

"He lives in North Jersey and there is no proof that he was even in Philadelphia."said Lt. Tragg.

"There is no proof that he wasn't either...You have no prints, no DNA or forensic evidence that places her at the scene... Look, you go out and get me some more evidence...Recanvass the scene.. Recanvas , get me more... If I go to court with this...I'll get laughed out of the courtroom..." she said.

Lt. Tragg was livid.. He looked at his watch...It was quarter to four.. He was going to Yvette's office and force evidence out of her..

Once again , he went to our old building and our old, still empty suite...

He was livid!! He needed a drink.

IV-

End of a long day....

Yvette and Gary were home alone finally with no thought of work related matters..

They were in their bedroom kissing passionately....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GARYYY! OH MY GODDDD!" moaned Yvette.

"VETTTTIEEEEEE, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he moaned..

"Rough day today babes?" asked Gary..

"Rough week, but successful...We got  Kim out of jail...and we are building her defense.."said Yvette..

Gary slipped her panties down...

"OH MY GOD!!! VETTIE GIRRRRLLL!" moaned Gary...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned loudly...as Gary lifted her up...

Outside her house....

Lt. Tragg was ringing her doorbell and bamming on the door... No one answered... He knew that she and Gary had to be home...but no one answered...

He went to our doors and rang the bell...We all weren't home...Me, Bee Bee, Sofia ,Kahlil, Jessica, Chip,Beverly, Nelson, Josie,Paris, Bresha, Tony,Kayla, Ray, Jazzy and Dabnis were all out tonight..

It was Thursday Night and we were all at a new skating rink in Bayside..

We went in two of Olivia's buses....

The rink had five visiting D.J.'s, who had spun at Josies and  Aqua Bar the week before.. They had put out flyers at both establishments, advertising the event at this new rink... It was soooo much fun tonight.!

At Josie's...

Olivia, Donnie Ray, Jade, Danny and Virginia sat at a table ,having drinks...and listening to music, secure that they wouldn't be bothered by Lt. Tragg tonight..

They were listening to a visiting band and singer...

"The kids are all in Bayside at this new skating rink." said Olivia.

"Yeah they took the buses.... Lt. Tragg never comes in here...We can drive home safely tonight in our cars."Joked Donnie Ray.

"They invited me to go, but I don't skate.."laughed Virginia.

''Same here...I don't skate." said Ms. Jade.

I can teach you." said her husband, Danny Ho.

Lt. Tragg soon realized that he had come on the wrong night... Either no one was home or no one was answering their door.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" moaned Yvette as Gary was going to town...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"moaned Gary.....

They had no idea that Lt. Tragg had been ringing their doorbell for the past half hour... Thier phones were on and on their chargers... They didn't want to be disturbed.. They knew that everybody was either at the skate ring or Josie's...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" moaned Gary , humping Yvette on the bed..

"I'D BETTER NOT SEE ANY OF THEM IN SAM MOTHER'S TOMORROW!" he bellowed as he finally gave up and left...

He didn't have to worry... He wouldn't.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)