Public Relations

 We agreed to appear on HARD BOTTOM and discuss the upcoming case.

Our Good Friend B.L. Benz jumped at the chance to have us all on his show.. and on his PODCAST AS WELL... Him being an Attorney himself, he knew what he could ask us and what he couldn't ask us.. What we would talk about and what we would not talk about..

Olivia was as accomodating as possible and her usual glamourous self.

I was just serving as window dressing...Her loyal, supportive husband, who served as her investigator..

I said nothing about my findings..

Beverly provided comic relief, Mentioning how Lt. Tragg refuses to look any deeper than his initial investigation...Bringing up the fact that our friend "Jade Lee actually gave him information on a possible suspect 

in another case , defended by our good friends and fellow attorneys, Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Keith Jones, Beatrice Evans, Sofia Garcia and Kahlil Ahmed.

and he failed to look into it... The person wound up being the actual killer and confessing on the stand and their client was totally exonerated."

"Yes, I actually had the Assistant District Attorney on this show who tried that case..

Lynne Hewitt and she was pretty disgusted with his handling of the case...Said she never wanted to work a case he's involved with again." said B.L. Benz.

"He gets that a lot." said Nelson...

The entire studio erupted in gales of laughter..

"He's motivated by making a quick arrest and getting himself on television, looking like an efficient crime fighter....I'm just glad Batman is more efficient than he is." said Glen Richard, which had the studio in stitches... He was handsome and articulate and charismatic...The Public loved him..

Josie was her usual cute self, saying little, but clearly the darling of the studio.

As was Bresha....our newest and youngest attorney.

We were winning the war of Public Relations before the trial began...

At The Bridge Building, our friends clearly appreciated it..

"Wowww Olivia and Beverly gave us a shout out." said Ms. Yvette..

''Yeah...Much appreciated.."said Keith Jones.

"That was nice of them." said Bee Bee.

''We haven't been on Hard Bottom yet." said Sofia.

''Maybe our next case.. The show and the Podcast does give you a great profile." said Kahlil.

"It does." said Jade.

''What I like about B.L. is that he's a lawyer just like us and he really understands the issues and what both sides have to go through, Defense and Prosecution." said Virginia.

and downstairs in the cafeteria.

''Did You see Liv and Bev on HARD BOTTOM last night?" asked Jazzy.

"Yeah, they were good, Me and Jazzy really enjoyed the show."said Dabnis.

"I don't tend to watch it normally, but I did last night..."laughed Kayla.

"They actually filmed that segment a week ago... but it's just airing."said Ray..

"I loved it."said Jessica.

"Yeah I did too." said Chip..

"I bet'cha I know somebody who isn't loving it." said Bresha's husband Tony..

"Oh I know... It's probably driving him nuts." said ADA Karen Page, who was sitting with them.

And in CURLEY'S BAR-

Lt. Tragg was livid..  "That was a hit job... A Calculated Hit Job... Character Assassination... I can't wait for the trial to start, to see the sour looks on their faces when that big jerk of a client of there's is convicted."snarled Lt. Tragg.

"Jumpshot Jim" Taylor was in hot water of his own right before the big trial.

The Newspapers published reports of Philadelphia's Most eligible bachelor of allegations that Assistant District Attorney James "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor  traded legal help for sexual favors. 

He said the accusations were false and were the ravings of an ex- girlfriend, also an attorney..who was jealous of his relationship with another woman...a swimsuit model.

This was the absolute worst time for an allegation like this to come up....On the eve of this trial.. It was becoming the new talk of the town...

"OH FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD....HE CAN'T KEEP IT IN HIS PANTS UNTIL THIS TRIAL IS OVER!" scoffed Lt. Tragg in a Press Conference. "I'm very disapointed" he said.

Jumpshot Jim was furious at Lt. Tragg's betrayal to the press at a time when they were supposed to be presenting a united front. 

"The allegations are not true... They are false , the rantings of a jealous and spiteful woman who I was once involved with....There is no truth to these allegations at all. I assure you" he said nervously.

II-

The Trial Of Glen Richards for Capital Murder began finally...

Judge Keith Morrison was presiding...The courtroom was packed as was the hallways almost every day..

The Assistant District Attorney realized that this was his moment in the sun... He was brilliant , A very good storyteller, weaving a tale of a betrayal of trust, of a series of secret trysts, so secret that no one else knew about the affair... Then something went wrong , he said dramatically and let that sit quietly with the capacity audience... "Maybe Mrs. Mcdonald had a change of heart...Maybe she decided to be loyal to her husband, for once... Mr. Richards couldn't take that...He went to his car, cooly walked back in her house, the house of his business partner and decapitated her!!!" he said for dramatic effect..

He had a 64 inch photo of Brittany Mcdonald in the courtroom for everyone to see and monitors showing shocking photos of her in death, decapitated...bloody.....

Beverly, Olivia, Josie and Bresha were all disturbed by the graphic crime scene photos 

Judge Morrison obviously was too and ordered the photos taken down...He said that the grand jurors got the message.

The next two days ,Jumpshot Jim called Crime Scene Investigators, Police Officers who were at the scene and a few neighbors... 

They said what was known... That semen and fingerprints found in the house all belonged to Glen Richards.

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson argued that our client..

Glen Richards admits he spent the night with the deceased and dropped his wallet ,which he came back for..They asked.. "If you knew you just committed a murder like this...whether you dropped your wallet or not, wouldn't you rather be trying to get out of town or go into hiding?? 

Josie asked one police officer at the scene what did Mr. Richards do upon arriving and viewing the bloody scene?

"He ran into the bathroom and vomited!" said the officer.

"Not the actions of someone who has already committed such a heinious crime." argued Josie.

"I OBJECT, NO FOUNDATION..." screamed Jumpshot Jim....

The point was made and it resonated with the grand jurors who would decide whether to indict and order a formal trial or not..

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson questioned the 20 charactor witnesses they had initially called during the arraignment and some of Jumpshot Jim's witnesses....All said they had no idea any affair was going on and that their work day and working relationship with Mr. Richards remained relatively normal..

Bresha argued that Mr. Richards already admitted to an extra-marital affair with Mrs. Mcdonald and he admitted to spending that last night with her...but also said that when he left at 6:30 in the morning, She was alive and the door was locked..

"There was no sign of breaking and entering and the alarm was off, Whoever entered the house , let themselves in...with a key....and the Police and FBI, thoroughly tested the clothes Mr. Richards was wearing and his car and there was not a trace of blood or DNA belonging to Mrs. Mcdonald on anything of his... Just her lipstick.... Being an adulterer does not make one a murderer.... The semen they found there and the prints were there because he was there and the two of them had consensual sex...Nothing more.." she said.

A good point was made!

We wanted to see what the Prosecution had... Apparently , they didn't have anymore...Jumpshot Jim looked bewildered... He still remembered the last time Olivia had taken him to school in court..It was an embarrassing loss that also involved Lt. Tragg's messy police work..  He had no choice but to close his argument and demand that Glen Richards be held over for trial on First Degree Murder charges.

Glen looked a little worried..

His Former partner, Neil Mcdonald sat back and smirked...He looked at us imperiously as though he couldn't be touched...

I glared at him...he was about to get the shock of his life....

"Mrs. Bennett-Alexander, Mrs. West-East, Are you prepared to put on a defense or do you just want to wait until trial?" asked the Judge.

''We do intend to put on a defense your honor.."said Olivia.

"Due to the lateness of the hour, We would like to begin our defense tomorrow morning."said Beverly..

Nelson, Josie and Bresha said nothing...

"You're right...It is late...Alright... Be here tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM sharp, Attorneys be on time and be ready for trial... Court is adjourned.." he said..

As we poured out...Bridget was standing in the hallway... Something about the way she and Glen looked at each other sparked a conversation as we exited the courtroom...

"Auntay, I don't know...Something about the way , Ms. Bridget and Glen stared in each others eyes after court today... I think they did the Hibbity -Bibbity..." said Beverly...

"Nahhhhhh, He's not her type, They're just good friends who occassionally do business together."said Olivia.

"Good Friends who occassionally do business together, occassionally have sex." joked Josie...

We all laughed.

"Yes they do!" said Beverly, high fiving Josie..

Nelson laughed hysterically, slapping his thighs...

Olivia laughed... "That is too funny , but so true!" she said.

"Stranger things have happened."I said, laughing myself.

"That is too funny , but so true, I thought they held that stare a little too long too!"said Bresha.

"They had that, We just had sex last night, I wonder if anybody else knows look." said Josie.

"The WHAT?" laughed Nelson as we exited out of the side door and headed for the parking lot.

"What is it Donnie Ray?" asked Bresha.

"Lieutenant Tragg found our vehicle and put another one of his trackers on it.." I said.

I disabled it and tossed it in the nearest trash can as we took off.

Lt. Tragg watched us as we pulled off..

"Wonder what they found so funny?  They are getting creamed in court..." he muttered.

"Hey, Tragg, This weekend, I want you to go back over that crime scene with a fine tooth comb...I need you to interview more people, anything and everything...FIND ME SOME MORE EVIDENCE...We don't have enough....I don't want any surprises in court...."said Jumpshot Jim....

"I'm the one that doesn't want any surprises....You and your women...."said Lt. Tragg, who had no intention of doing anymore recanvassing of the crime scene or looking for anymore evidence. As far as he was concerned, they had enough right here to put Glen Richards behind bars for the rest of his life.

III-

We were Home...It was Thursday Night.

We were Having Dinner at our house again..Alfreda and I  and Olivia were once again cooking.

"We have to thank Jetty for turning us on to that Meat store..They have such good cuts..I didn't even know that place was there." said Alfreda.

"I didn't either...It's cheaper than the one in our shopping center." I said.

"Yeah, we can get our meats from there and our seafood from Pink's place." said Olivia.

We had steaks on the grill

Baked Potatoes

A Nice Salad

And a nice Port I had picked up from the State Store on our way home.

Our dinner guests were the usual suspects.. Our staff and their spouses. Alfreda's husband, ADA Rockland Cambridge, Beverly and Nelson, Josie and Paris and Bresha and Tony.

"This is so nice and relaxing... I really enjoy these dinners."said Rockland.

"And we enjoy all of you all being here."said Beverly, who like her aunt liked entertaining and loved the fact that her cousin and her husband and all of her other friends lived either down the street or across the street.

"Everything smells good." said Nelson

"Mmmmmmmm it does." said Josie.

"Man after I leave here....I'm going home and take a nice long ,hot bath...We'll sleep good tonight Jo."said her husband, Paris.

''Best Law Firm Everrrrrrr" said Bresha, so happy to be a part of us.

"Can't argue with that." said her husband Tony, happy to be part of us by default and by working in the building with everyone else..

Our guests tonight  were Zoey and her husband Lem, who lived six blocks away...

"Thanks for inviting us Liv...I know you guys are busy with the trial and all." said Zoey..

"I was at the courthouse yesterday and today....You guys are doing pretty good...Jumpshot Jim doesn't have much of a case..and you guys did a great job proving that....but Grand Juries are tough...You know what they say, you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich." said Lem.

"But not this one....If you're in the courtroom tomorrow , watch and learn!" said Olivia confidently.

Shortly after dinner was over and everyone had left....It began to rain again... It had been nice for the past week and here it was raining again..

  A rainbow formed outside... It had rained hard all night....

Olivia and I had been oblivious to it.. We had been making love for the past THREE TO FOUR HOURS .We had climaxed and gone to sleep for a few hours..

Had awakened and were back at it again...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! DONNIE RAYYYYYYY! A SECOND TIME??" Olivia moaned....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM BABYYYYYY! YES" I moaned myself..

She laughed and then tossed her head back...moaning softly...Her body quivering softly....Her breathing getting heavy...

"Ohhhhh...Ohhh my god Donnie Ray...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she moaned...

"Ouuuuuuu...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Olivia....Ohhh my goddd.."I moaned as both of our bodies trembled.

"You must have been dreaming about me in your sleep." said Olivia.

"I was." I said.

FOUR MORE HOURS of sweet lovemaking followed...We were both enjoying ourselves immensely.....

Me  riding Olivia  softly and slowly and me nearly losing my mind....I was like a machine this morning....I wanted to cum at this point, I was exhausted... but I couldn't...

Finally, we both climaxed ........

''Woooooooooou.... you were so passionate Donnie Ray, So intense,  What got into you?" said Olivia, trying to catch her breath...

''I guess it's the rain..." I said.  I got up and looked out the window....It was still raining..And raining heavily...

''Come on...We gotta get up...we got trial today." said Olivia.

Morning found James "Jumpshot Jim" embroiled in a new scandal as another woman came forth and accused him of making unwanted sexual advances towards her.. He denied all of this calling it "An orchestrated campaign of charactor assassaination...and yet it had tongues wagging... His scandals were now overshadowing this trial and by defaut, Lt. Tragg.

Lt. Tragg was as usual Livid... "THIS GUY IS A WALKING SCANDAL!" he said angrilly.

IV-

FRIDAY MORNING 10:00 AM- COURTROOM C

''Mrs. Bennett-Alexander, are you ready to present your defense?" asked Judge Morrison.

"Yes your honor...We are!" said Olivia.

Lt. Tragg folded his arms and smirked.. 

"This ought to be worth a laugh." he said.

"We call Mr. Neil Mcdonald to the stand." said Olivia.

The courtroom gasped...Here was the "grieving " husband. He arrogantly walked to the stand,was swore in by the court clerk and sat down...He smiled at Olivia..  She was an attractive woman he thought. His superior, imperious attitude turned her off..

"Mr. Mcdonald When did you leave for San-Francisco?" asked Olivia.

"I believe it was the 7:35 pm flight that afternoon, the afternoon my wife was murdered." he said.

"Perjury is a serious crime Mr. Mcdonald.. You were not on that 7:35 pm flight...I have receipts here and a Manifest  listing of everybody aboard that flight to prove it...and you're not on it. Further more I have a  credit card receipt from Home Depot at 7:15 pm.. You purchased and Axe and a pair of Black Workgloves from Kohls.... Strange purchases for a man about to fly to California for business, wouldn't you say?" said Beverly.

He looked like he had swallowed  a canary... he was as red as a beet and visibly flustered.. He hadn't expected this.

"You weren't on the next flight out at 9:45 either... I have the manifest from that flight and your name is not on it either.. Plus a Debit card receipt.... You bought coffee and pastries from an all night Bakery at around midnight.   You were still in Philadelphia." said Nelson...

ADA Jumpshot Jim was livid.. He looked at Lt. Tragg.  "YOU DIDN'T CHECK HIS ALIBI?  THE HUSBAND!! THAT'S HOMICIDE 101, YOU ALWAYS  CHECK THE SPOUSE!" he said angrily.

"DON'TELL ME HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE!!! OKAY?" said Lt. Tragg defensively..

"SOMEBODY SHOULD TELL YOU BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW! You know what they're doing? They're creating reasonable doubt...I told you I didn't want any surprises..." snarled Jumpshot Jim.

"You weren't on the Red Eye that left at 5:00 AM either.. Here is the Manifest, provided by the airport..

You weren't on that either...In fact, you didn't leave Philadelphia until 7:35 AM, arriving in San Francisco at 11:00 AM.. My Husband,  spoke to your contact in San-Francisco...He confirms that you arrived at 11:00 AM and he met you at the airport." said Olivia.  "You were here in Philadelphia the WHOLE time, weren't you?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, " he said angrily, his face beet red.

"This is a Traffic Cam photo of your car in the vicinity of your home at 1:30 pm...That's your license plate.....You were spying on your wife...You knew she was in that house with Glen Richards didn't you?" asked Bresha.

"I am invoking my 5th amendment rights against self incrimination." he said arrogantly...but his goose was already cooked and everybody hearing his testimony knew it.

"MYYYYY GOD!  Biggest case of my career...ruined because you can't do a simple investigation..

Simple...It was all right there in plain sight.. They didn't do anything extra ordinary...

Donnie Ray simply looked at what was in front of him...YOU ARE THE WORST DETECTIVE IN THE CITY!" scoffed ADA Jumpshot Jim Taylor..

Lt. Tragg put his head in his lap...He couldn't believe this.. His career defining case, the case that was going to put him back on the map and it was unraveling before his very eyes.. He couldn't believe it.

"Do you know this man, Charles "Chick" Melton?" asked Oliviashowing him a photo of one of the men murdered a few nights ago.. A Gay Hustler named Charles ''Chick" Melton.

"NO, I DO NOT!" said Neil.

"This is the second time I've had to warn you against perjury Mr. Mcdonald.. You called him the night after your wife was murdered from San-Francisco, you asked him to take your suit to the dry cleaners,I have your cell phone records and his right here to prove that.  He did. Well , according to the dry cleaner, who is here and will testify....That suit was bloody...Arterial squirting, I believe. They laundered it and tailored it..."said Beverly..

Bresha produced photos of the suit....

"Sgt Brice of Homicide did a luminol test....Traces of blood on your suit was still there despite it being laundered and tailored...You just should have gotten rid of it." said Bresha.

"Here is a Store Cam photo of you and Mr. Melton....I believe you called him Chick, taken in a Dive Bar, the night before he and your former lawyer were found shot to death and buried near Lovers Lane.."said Josie..

The courtroom groaned.

"I think your former lawyer and Mr. Melton were Blackmailing you....They knew you killed your wife and sometime later in another investigation...It will come out that you killed both of them too!  Sometime it will come out. And you'll be in this courtroom again. Not sitting here...but sitting over there where your former partner, Mr. Richards is now sitting, hoping a defense attorney can save you from getting a needle or going to the Gas Chamber." said Olivia.

"I am not saying anything else....I wish to speak to legal counsel." said a now contrite Neil Mcdonald, all of the wind out of his sails..He had no idea we had this much information on him...He was as delusional as Lt. Tragg.

"That's a good idea Mr. Mcdonald....If I were you, I'd do the same." said Olivia. "No further questions your honor, The Defense rests." said Olivia.

I smiled broadly....

Jumpshot Jim was livid as well as embarrassed....Olivia and company had schooled him once again..

"YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...YOU IMBECILE!!! IT WAS RIGHT THERE, RIGHT THERE IN YOUR FACE!!! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS LOOK!!!!  OUUUUUUUUU!" he said to Lt. Tragg.

Lt. Tragg looked as if he'd swallowed a canary....He never thought to take a closer look at Neil McDonald. He just accepted that he was in San-Francisco..He never checked.. It was so obvious that Glen Richards had been at the scene..Had left semen and fingerprints everywhere as well as his wallet..He was the obvious choice..Anyone would have suspected him, he reasoned.

"Your Honor in lieu of the preponderance of evidence pointing in a different direction, the People move to drop all charges against Mr. Glen Richards." said Jumpshot Jim.

"So Moved...Baillifs, take Mr. Mcdonald into custody....Mr. Richards, you are free to go sir."said Judge Morrison.

"Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie and Bresha, THANK YOU...THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH..MY NIGHTMARE IS OVER!!!! YESSSSS!" said Glen, happy to not only be free but also to be exonerated...He hugged Olivia, Beverly, josie and Bresha...He vigourously shook Nelson and my hand.

"

"WHOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEE!" yelled Beverly and Olivia, leaping up and high fiving each other.

''Come here baby...you came through for me once again."said Olivia, taking me in her arms.

We kissed passionately...

I was more turned on than I had been last night, I think.

Beverly and Nelson kissed each other passionately

As reporters cameras popped!

Neil Mcdonald stared at our mini celebration as he was handcuffed and read his rights and marched out of court..

Neil looked at Bridget..

"Come here, give me a kiss." he said.

"Glennnnnn ! Now? In Public??" she asked.

"Yes.. Now, in Public." he said.

They began kissing passionately ,like it was nobody's business.. He squeezed her behind..

"OHHHHHHHHHH GLEN!" she exclained

"BRIDGET BABY!" he moaned.

"Ohhhhhhhh they did the Hibbity Bibbity Alright." said Josie.

"Oh For Sure." said Bresha.

Jumpshot Jim fielded questions about the "trial of the year" and how it fizzled out before it got started, How Olivia and her team beat him in the preliminaries again...He blamed the entire thing on Lt. Tragg's faulty investigation... "From the beginning I sensed that this wasn't an open and shut case that there were numerous holes in this case and I told him so..." he said.

"HE'S A LIAR....HE GOT OUT LAWYERED BY OLIVIA, BEVERLY and their team... If he had spent more time studying the law instead of opening his trousers for every skirt that passed him by..This might have turned out differently." said Lt. Tragg.

He was reminded by alert reporters that HE arrested the wrong man and that facts proved that another man , another man who he admittingly never questioned was actually guilty of this crime.

He stood there with a blank expression on his face and said. "No more questions please." and walked away amid more questions.

He angrilly turned them away and slipped out of the side exit.. He was more embarrassed than angry..

He wanted to get in his car and get away...

At the M.E.'s office, Dr. Hazel Baylor got the news of the verdict..

She laughed her head off.

"God Bless You Olivia!" she said.

EPILOUGE-

Neil Mcdonald was convicted of the Murder of His wife, Brittany and the murders of Michael Legrande and Charles "Chick " Melton and sentenced to die by Lethal Injection.

Detective Sgt. Brice was given credit for closing all three cases.

He was toasted by the press.

Lt. Tragg was livid... He was once again the laughing stock of the Police Department...He had fouled up one case badly, arresting the wrong man and a young detective , who was in kintergarden when he put on his detective shield had closed his case and two others...He just couldn't catch a break.

With Neil Mcdonald incarcerated. Glen Richards bought him out  and  took total control of ATLAS ADVERTISING AGENCY...Everyone there was pleased that Neil Mcdonald's tyrannical reign was over.

James "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor hired , who else? Us to represent him in his sex scandal cases..

There was no hard feelings....He needed the best legal representation he could get.. He got us.

In the first case, in a courtroom with a hostile Judge (To him) a Jury of six found him not liable in the first case in which a woman, one of his ex-girlfriends accused him of giving legal advice to a woman for sexual favors.....She had no viable proof.

In the second case in which a woman accused him of sexual impropriety.... Another Jury ruled her charges were "Without Merit"

With his name cleared , He spoke to the press..."I know you may find it weird...Me being represented by Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West and their team.. We've gone up against each other in court so much and probably will face off against each other again...but they are good and decent people...I have nothing but the utmost respect for them.. We don't take these cases personally...We are lawyers...That's what we do.. On to the next one.. I just want to thank them for representing me well and clearing my name." He said.

This was good Public Relations for us.

FOR DANYL-