Assistant District Attorney Brooke Kennedy stood in front of the U.S. Courthouse with her legal team,Attorneys Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West-East, Josie Boyd, Bresha Billips, Nelson East and myself..
"Well this is it...The day I've been waiting for..A chance to have my day in court and fight these outrageous charges." said Brooke.
Olivia sipped her coffee...
"I've been waiting on it myself...a chance to finally see what Lucas Fuentes is like.. Thank you for giving me the oportunity..He is such a bully, likes to intimidate attorneys...I've never been afaid of him."said Olivia.
"I've always wanted to go up against him just once more...He caught me when I was young and slightly inexperienced....I've got a lot more experience under my belt now." said Beverly..
"And you have us to back you up.."said Josie..
"There is electricity in the air."said Bresha as she sipped her coffee.
Nelson and I walked up..
"YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS...THE COPS FOUND THE BODY OF THE FOURTH WOMAN LAST NIGHT...THE WOMAN HARLEY HAYDEN WAS SUSPECTED OF ABDUCTING AND KILLING THAT WAS NEVER FOUND...THEY FOUND HER REMAINS AND POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED THEM LAST NIGHT.. THE BODY WAS IN A FREEZER IN AN OLD ICE HOUSE OWNED BY HAYDEN'S LATE FATHER...AN ADDITIONAL MURDER CHARGE HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST HIM...THIS KIND OF DERAILS ANY ATTEMPT AT CLEMENCY HIS ATTORNEY WAS TRYING TO ACHEIVE." said an excited Nelson with the newspaper clipping.
"It's all true...I just talked to my guy at Police Headquarters and Hazel at the M.E.'s Office." I said.
"That makes this whole thing kind of moot doesn't it?" asked Brooke.
"Normally, it would have...but there is still the issue of prosecutorial misconduct during the first trial..It has to be dealt with."said Olivia.
"At any rate..He won't be back on the street anytime soon."said Beverly.
"That's a relief...He would have killed again...I know he would." said Brooke.
"That's good...Things appear to be breaking our way."said Josie.
"Any bad News Nelson?" asked Bresha, smiling..
"None that I can think of..." said Nelson.
''Well..it's almost showtime." I said.
Natalie Tennison walked up...We hadn't seen her in a few days...
"I just came to wish you all good luck.. Hard to believe we were all facing off against each other a few weeks ago.." she said..
There were more well wishers...
''Heyyy Brooke, We came to wish you good luck...We don't work too far from here..So we decided to walk over.."said Yvette Jones-Lockwood.
"You're in good hands."said Keith Jones.
"Good Luck Brooke." said Bee Bee.
"Go Get em Brooke!" said Sofia.
"Good Luck Brooke!"said Kahlil.
"Yes Good Luck!" said Jade.
"Good Luck Girlie."said Ms. Virginia.
"Good Luck Brooke!" said ADA Karen Page.
"We came to wish you good luck too Brooke!" said Jazzy...
"Yeah...We all thought we'd walk over here, before we went to work."said Dabnis.
"My cousins are going to take good care of you."said Kayla.
"Yeah you're with Bennett Women, you couldn't be in better hands."said Ray.
"Good Luck Mami."said Jessica.
"Good Luck!"said Chip..
"Good Luck."said Bresha's husband, Tony...
"I've faced this guy before...and beat him..."said Yvette. "When picking a jury, use the bait and switch, make him think you don't want the juror you actually want...He'll pick that one for you."said Yvette, who was an expert at Jury selection, like Nelson.
"Thanks Yvette...I'll remember that." said Nelson.
Brooke was in tears at the all of the support she was getting outside the courthouse..
Her ex husband, Sean Marks walked up...
"I know everything is going to go just fine for you...Good Luck baby!" he said.
They kissed passionately.....
Standing across the street watching the outpouring of support was two angry men...Federal Investigator and former Homicide Detective, William "Bull" Bailey.. and former Assistant District Attorney Lucas Fuentes.
"Will you look at that? I read in the paper today that they found the body of the fourth woman , the one we couldn't find in the Harley Hayden case last night and that Garcetti is filing new Homicide charges against Hayden....." said Bull Bailey...
"That assures us that that murderous asshole remains behind bars. but this prosecutorial misconduct charge his lawyer has brought up still has to be dealt with...and my good name still remains stained..
I'm slipping in the polls.....If I have a successful prosecution here, and I will...I can at least stop the bleeding, show the public that I won't allow my former staff to do any wrong doing and that I'll personally get to the bottom of any wrongdoing."said Fuentes.
"Save the campaign speeches counselor...Let's get this over with." sighed a very nervous.Bill Bailey.
It was time for trial....Showtime!
II-
This was going to be a weird trial from the beginning... First off the Judge, The Honorable Saul Bellicheck walked in...
He had a hairstyle from outer space...
''What's Up with this guy's hair?" asked Nelson.. His wife, Beverly, Olivia and Brooke all laughed a little and held their heads down.. "Stopppppppppp, Stopppppppppppp!" laughed Beverly, laughing so hard that tears were flowing from her eyes...She turned her head and laid it on Nelson's shoulders...
Olivia was laughing too... "Neicey Poo...you're going to smear your make up." she said...Trying to conceal her laughter.
"OH MY GOD!"said Brooke.
"What is up with this guy's hair...He looks like Moe Howard from the Three Stooges with a Blow dry."whispered Josie.
"Stopppppp! Stoppppp!"laughed Bresha, turning her head and holding on to my arm...
I smiled...Even I wondered about his hair..
On the other side the same question was in the air..
"What is going on with that guy's hair....Myyyyyyy Goddddd!" said William "Bull" Bailey...
Lucas Fuentes was trying to keep a straight face...but even he chuckled a little.
Judge Bellicheck banged his gavel...
"Court is now in session...We will begin with Jury selection..." he said.
And now the laughter stopped... The Jury selection began..
Nelson remembered what Yvette told him and he used the old bait and switch method... It helped him snag six of the jurors we wanted...
but Lucas Fuente was good.. and he was smart and he realized what Nelson was doing and snagged three jurors that he wanted...
But Nelson was just as quick on the uptake...and he snagged the final three jurors that we wanted...giving us a 9-3 advantage...
Lucas Fuentes was frustrated and furious at losing that critical round of the courtroom battle to us...
Brooke was over the moon with her legal team...After all she had battled us herself in four trials...She knew how good we all were..She was glad we were on her side..
"We got what we wanted...Now let's get on with this trial." said Olivia.
"Brooke, we are going to have to put you on the stand...but you're a trained prosecutor...You know how to answer questions without being rattled."explained Beverly..
"I'll be fine...I want to look those snakes in the eye and answer questions truthfully."said Brooke.
"I just have this feeling that one or both of them doesn't want to be going to trial...It's my gut feeling."said Josie.
"Fuentes definitely doesn't.. That's why he's trying this himself.. He insisted....but on the other hand..Bailey is hoping and praying we don't question him too hard."said Bresha.
Josie and Bresha were absolutely right...And if my hunch was right...We'd know which one of them sooner rather than later.
We were all pleased with the slight advantage we had...but then there was the matter of the trial..
Judge Saul Bellicheck was pleased...
"Alright..We have a jury....Trial begins the day after tomorrow at 9:00 am sharp, be on time and be ready for trial." he said and banged his gavel..
"Donnie Ray...Hazel sent me a text....Get with her ,She has the results of the DNA test."said Olivia.
"Good! Now we'll know if my suspicion was correct..." I said. That Contact Lense had Brooke's DNA on it, because she found it and picked it up without latex gloves on it...and it had the murdered girl's DNA on it...but it also had unidentified DNA on it that wasn't Harley Hayden's DNA...A fact that was conveniently left out of Discovery, even back then...
Beverly, Nelson, Brooke, Josie and Bresha walked down to the Bridge Building where they were just in time for lunch with our friends..
in their modern , or I should I say Ultra Modern Cafeteria.
"Heyyy girl, so nice to see you.. D.A. Garcetti says he's behind you 100 percent." said ADA Karen Page of Wrongful Convicition unit.
"Unless I'm convicted, then he's going to fire me."joked Brooke.. Both women laughed.
"That's not going to happen...Don't even joke like that."laughed Karen.
"Heyyyyyy guys..Where is Liv and Donnie Ray??" asked Ms. Yvette.
"They went to the M.E.'s office...to gather new evidence for the case." explained Beverly.
"Yvette that bait and switch tip you gave me was on the money...We broke 9-3 my way with the jury..Thank You."said Nelson.
"I told you... He's as slick as canned grease...but I knew you'd be slicker..That probably frustrated him to no end."said Ms. Yvette.
"That's how you beat him right Ms. Yvette?" said Bee Bee.
"I wish I'd been there to take notes."said her husband, Keith Jones.
"It's going to be alright..Olivia knows what she's doing..This will be over and you'll be exonerated before you know it."said Sofia.
"Vindication is what she wants..." said Kahalil..
"Right, because I didn't do what they said I did..."said Brooke.
"They're throwing you out like a lamb for slaughter.."said Jade.
"Yeah like she's collateral damage.." said Virginia.
"It's not right."said Jessica, outraged at what the two men were trying to do to her one time colleague.
"No it isn't."said Chip.
"We are so fortune to have all of these good people as friends...Even if they did kick our asses in court.." said Natalie, joking.
"That's okay...All is forgiven..They are saving my bacon right now."said Brooke.
''And speaking of Bacon..We want you to join us for Brunch Saturday...At a New Spot..Courtesy of our friends, Zoey and Lem who aren't here just yet..."said Jazzy.
"Your trial will be over by then, Trust and Believe."said Dabnis.
"Yes... Join us all."said Kayla.
"We fellowship and Party a lot." said Ray. He looked around and speaking of partying..." he laughed ,looking at his young protoge' Tony Billips and his wife, Bresha..
They were once again engulfed in a passionate embrace and kiss.
"They miss each other from this morning.."joked Josie.
III-
Olivia and I were at the Medical Examiner's Office..
As she promised , Dr. Hazel Baylor delivered the DNA Evidence, we needed, the missing piece to the puzzle.
"Seems to me if Fuentes was interested, he could have ordered this testing himself and you all could have avoided this."said Hazel.
"Unless he knows and is there for covering for his buddy or he's lazy...either one of which makes him culpable."I said.
"I'm going to persuade him to go to law school one day."laughed Olivia.
Hazel joined Olivia for a good laugh... "Here is your copy and I'm sending the rest over to the Feds for Discovery." she said.
"I sent my niece a text....I told her to cut everybody loose for the day after lunch...including her mother and that you and I were making a little stop." she said.
"We are?" I said.
"Yes, we are going to a hotel, you and I....You don't mind do you?" she asked...running her finger across my lips..
"Uh no....No...." I said. I pulled her to me....
I kissed her slowly and softly....
She slowly and descretely ran her hands down my leg, felt my erection and squeezed it a little bit....Her eyes grew wide and she looked at me...
"Whooooooo...I guess you don't mind.. Whoooooooo!" she whispered...and then giggled.
She slowly broke our embrace and I slipped my suit jacket off and attempted to cover the front of my pants casually...
"Wow" she said...and wiped her forehead..."Let's get out of here." she whispered, taking me by the hand.
Olivia used our company credit card and booked us a room for the afternoon, calling this a "Business Expense." It was a little after 2:00 pm in the afternoon...
"This is a very nice room."said Olivia quietly..
''Yes it is." I said.
"Ummmmmmm let's get undressed." Olivia whispered to me.
She started kissing me..
She looked down at my trousers...My pants were sticking out like a circus tent. She looked at me again...put her hand over her mouth and giggled...
"WOW!" she said..
She began unbuckling my trousers...I had gotten out of my shoes..and was busy taking my shirt off and tossing it aside....She looked at my fully unsheathed member and just put both of her hands to her face in amazement....
"Oh My God....Look at youuuuuuuu." she said.....
"Look at you baby." I said as I unhooked her bra and began sucking on her breasts....
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." she moaned...
She moaned , all the while holding my penis with both of her hands and rubbing it...
"Ouuuuuuuuuu"she cooed.
I kissed her, thrusting my tongue practically down her throat and rubbing her breasts...I could feel Olivia trembling....and moaning softly....
I eased her panties off of her and laid her across the bed....
I stared down into those gorgeous brown eyes of hers and I entered her like nobody's business...I wanted to savor this experience, So I took my time...I made slow, steady sweet love to Olivia for close to EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.......UMMMMMMMMMMM YOU FEEL SO GOOOD!" she moaned.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...so do you." I said.
The big luscious bed squeaked and the headboard slammed against the wall......
UMMMMMMMMMMMM...... UMMMMMMMMMMMM OH GODDDDDD...OUUUUUUUU!" I moaned/
Olivia's body trembled, her head moved from side to side...tears flowed like a river from her eyes..
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! UMMMMMMM DONNIE RAYYYYY!" she cooed.
I couldn't get enough and neither could she. I entered her softly and gently and began to stroke her softly and slowly....She moaned and put her arms around my neck and drew me closer to her..She wrapped her legs around my waste and we began to move in a slow, yet deliberate rhythm for quite some time...
''Ohhhhh my Godddddddddddddddd, oooHHHHHHHHHHHHH......Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." she moaned ..."Don't Stop...Don't Stoppppppppppp...please...don't stopppp." she moaned, which turned me on more...
Olivia matched me thrust for thrust and even bit my shoulder at one point...She was so soft...so moist and smelled so good...I was losing my mind....
We made sweet passionate and intense love for close to THREE MORE HOURS!!...
Olivia began to shake and gyrate and tears began to stream down her face....
"It's sooooooooooooooo goooddd...Oh my godddddddddddddd it's soooooo gooood! "she moaned...
She was so moist, so soft...I was losing my mind...
I pulled out of her and exploded like a gusher...all over the sheets...
She was out of breath herself....
"That was...whoooooo..That was amazing..." she said...
I tried to catch my breath in between her legs..
"WOWWWW THAT WAS AMAZING...Come on dear heart, we've got to get up and get out of here." she whispered sweetly...
We checked out and drove home...
It was after two in the morning....I ambushed Olivia in the bathroom while she was getting undressed and ready for bed..
"OH MY GOD DONNIE RAY, AFTER ALL WE DID...YOU STILL WANT MORE?" she exclaimed..
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned as I entered her doggie style.
I placed her on the bathroom sink, spread her legs and quietly entered her again..
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she yelled out..
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she moaned as we sat on the side of the bed
and made love..
She ended the night, riding me like a surfer rides the waves...
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm that really felt good." she said as we both drifted off.
The next morning we had breakfast in our domicile as usual.. Alfreda and Beverly cooked, making Grits, Cheese Grits, Sauasage, Scrapple and Eggs to Order
"Freshie! I heard you guys when you came in ....2:30 am." whispered Beverly, teasing her aunt.
Olivia smiled..."No Nothing out of the ordinary." she said.
"Look at her blushing.."laughed Alfreda..
As Grits, Scrapple, Eggs to order, Sausage and Hash Browns were placed on the table.
I had a pleased as punch look on my face as I ate my food..
So Did Nelson...He and Beverly had had quite an afternoon and night also.. Making sweet love here in complete privacy.
They were both free to yell to their hearts content...Without us hearing them.
Josie smiled knowingly as she ate, but she didn't say anything..
Neither did Bree...We were all just getting ready mentally for trial tomorrow. A Wednesday.
I stared at Olivia.,
She was as beautiful as she was the day I met her...She hadn't changed, nor had my feelings for her.. She looked at me looking at her and blushed.
IV-
THE NEXT DAY-
"Ms. Brooke Kennedy, you are charged with Failing to report a telephone call giving you a tip to the whereabouts of bodies...and of the location of a key point of evidence.which is a violation of the "Brady Act as well as Tampering, placing evidence in the apartment of the accused murderer...Which is prosecutorial misconduct... How do you plead?" asked Judge Bellicheck.
"WE PLEAD NOT GUILTY YOUR HONOR TO BOTH CHARGES." said Olivia
standing up with Brooke Kennedy.
"Ms.Kennedy....How many times would you say you visited the apartment in question?" asked Lucas Fuentes.
"Five Times."answered Brooke. "Three times ,You yourself were with me along with Detective Bailey and others and the last two times..Just myself and Detectives Bailey and his late partner. Detective Stanley Barnes." said Brooke.
"And in all those times...You never saw that contact lense before the last time...huh?" he asked.
"Objection...Argumentative and speculative!" said Beverly....
"Over ruled....I would like to hear her answer."said Judge Bellicheck...
"I never saw that contact lense until the last time I visted the aprtment.." said Brooke.
Lucas Fuentes pulled out a folder and several pieces of paper..
"Here are the names of everybody who was in the room with you on three of those visits...This includes Myself, Detective Bailey and his late partner, Detective Stanley Barnes...They include 16 Crime Scene Investigators and 16 Uniformed Officers and 10 people from the medical examiners office and yourself.
THAT'S 45 PEOPLE MS. KENNEDY...45 PEOPLE AND NONE OF US SAW THAT CONTACT LENSE...Trained investigators, Far more trained than you and none of them saw that lense?...and YET YOU SAW IT!! That is indeed incredible." he said.
He was playing to the jury and the Judge.. Those papers with the names and addresses of the people on that investigation actually meant nothing. This was not news to us...We had the names ,addresses and phone numbers of all 44 of these people and I had interviewed all of them and had taken statements from them....It was all on our laptops and it proved nothing..
He actually called the people as witnesses..
Olivia , Beverly and Nelson had studied their witness statements carefully and they held them to what they had all originally said.
Josie got one witness to say that the contact lense wasn't there when they were there , but they did not think Ms. Kennedy had placed it there.
"This drew a volcanic explosion of angry tirades from Lucas Fuentes, screaming speculation and the juror's personal thoughts."
Olivia looked over at him and smiled that sexy smile of hers, which further unnerved him.
The Judge asked that the jury strike that from the records...
But a minute later..Bresha got another witness , A Crime Scene Investigator to say the same thing and to show a photo he took of the room the day he was there. Proving the contact lense wasn't there.
"If the suspect was in custody and the lense clearly wasn't there on day three...then how did it get there on day 5?" she asked.
"OBVIOUSLY YOUR CLIENT PUT IT THERE!" Lucas Fuentes angrily shouted.. He was so angry , he was shaking. He hadn't expected this kind of resistance or that his adversaries would be so prepared.
He stared daggers at me...
I smiled..
I simply cued up the laptop in front of me.
The Jury has heard the testimony of 45 people, 45 people Ms. Kennedy...45 PEOPLE AND NONE OF US SAW THAT CONTACT LENSE...Trained investigators, Far more trained than you and none of them saw that lense?...and YET YOU SAW IT!! That is indeed incredible." he said, repeating himself.
"I guess I was just lucky I guess." said Brooke, her eyes welling up in tears.
"Lucky eh? Lucky.....In my lifetime I've learned that we sometime make our own luck...I'd say you made yours didn't you? I'd say you slipped it there,didn't you Ms. Kennedy.???" said Lucas Fuente.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! YOU KNOW I DIDN'T!!! YOU KNOW I DIDN'T..." said Brooke ,now totally un nerved and crying profusely....
"Your honor must I be subjected to THAT kind of language?" said Lucas Fuentes, smiling wickedly...
He had acheived what he wanted...He had broken her down emotionally... He was playing to the jury and doing it well.
The Judge saw that Brooke was on the verge of crying...
"Okay.Okay, Okayyyyyyyy,..Let's have a recess.....In one hour and then we return..." he said.
In the ladies room, Olivia , Beverly ,Josie and Bresha attempted to console Brooke.
"Brooke, Brooke Baby...You were doing just fine until you lost your cool...That's what he wanted."said Olivia.
"You played right into his hands...Now you know better than that Brooke." said Beverly, hugging her and rocking her back and forth... They were the same age,,
"I know, I know I'm sorry...it's just that he knows me..he knows I would never do that...I don't understand why the both of them are hanging me out to dry like this." said Brooke, still in tears..
"Because they're scared little men, they know they're responsible for this, they need a fall guy...and so they've picked you.."said Josie who passed her some tissue. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Trust us...When it's our turn we are going to turn this courtroom upside down...They aren't going to get away with this." said Bresha.
The four women left the ladies room..
Brooke was in the mirror, putting on more make up and lipstick...She looked up and saw William "Bull" Bailey , standing behind her..
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?? THIS IS THE LADIES ROOM???" she asked him.
"You should have just taken the deal Brooke...Why didn't you take the deal??, We could have avoided all of this. Nobody wants to see you go to prison...Fuentes is cut throat and he's mad as hell that you not only wouldn't take the deal, but that you brought Olivia and Beverly into this...Their involvement automatically brings more attention to this thing, the press is all over this...It's all on the news....Nobody wanted this.." he said softly...
He put his arms around her and pulled her to him...She was warm, she smelled good and had such nice ,inviting curves...He was slowly losing his mind, just holding her...He found himself getting a huge erection, in spite of himself.. This wasn't lost on Brooke..
"We used to have something Brooke, what happened?" he asked.
She eased out of his embrace.
"EWWWWWWWWW !I don't know what YOU'RE talking about...We never had anything resembling what you're talking about...I did nothing wrong and I'm not going to compound the lies any further by saying I did." said Brooke, who walked away...
Bull Bailey stomped his foot in anger and frustration as she left...
Back in court...
Olivia, Beverly and Nelson did their best at damage control, trying to change the narrative..
Brooke addressed the Brady Act charges...She testified that they got hundreds of anonymous tips...Most of them were bogus...The one in question came after her fourth visit to Hayden's apartment...She immediately reported it to her then supervisor...Deputy District Attorney Fuentes...
"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RECOLLECTION OF YOU REPORTING THAT CALL TO ME!" he protested.
''Well my husband found some people who were there who DO REMEMBER HER TELLING YOU!." said Olivia.
"SEVEN YEARS HASN'T DULLED THAT MANY PEOPLE'S MEMORIES" Beverly shot back..
Olivia and Beverly presented three uniformed police officers who were there and who testified they remembered her telling DDA Fuentes about the last call.
Nelson presented a witness, A female who worked with the Medical Examiner's Office, who also testified that she heard and remembered ADA Kennedy telling Deputy D.A. Fuentes about the last call.
This was much to the chagrin of Lucas Fuente , who expected a slam dunk.......He was not catching us by surprise on any point he was attempting to make..
On Cross he viciously tried to no avail to discredit the four witnesses, but they held on to their stories...They wouldn't budge..
He was embarrassed and frustrated...He continued to maintain that he did not remember being told.
He was not convincing the jury!
"You were the Lead Prosecutor...Our client was second chair...It was YOUR duty to report this to the defense. This wasn't the first time you were accused of withholding evidence from the defense. Slater Vs. Tate in 2002 , a simular charge against you was made." said Josie.
He was astounded..
"THAT WAS NEVER SUBSTANTIATED..IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CASE." he bellowed. So angry he was shaking.. He took his glasses off momentarily.
"Mr. Fuentes...You are shouting.. There is no need for that.|"said the Judge.
"Olivia is our lead Defense...We run everything through her." added Bresha.
Josie and Bresha were doing an excellent job of keeping everybody up to date with legal challenges coming from their laptop research, which was on point...
I stared hard at William "Bull"Bailey....
He was sweating bullets......He looked very nervous. He looked at me like he wanted to strangle me.
Proof that my investigation had been sterling. He realized that this case was collapsing around Fuentes ankles... Fuentes had never lost his cool like this before..He had always been in control. Olivia and her young attorneys were tying him in knots..embarrassing the hell out of him.
Olivia called Brooke back to the stand...She and the girls had talked to her during the break and was certain she was composed...
"Brooke, Ms. Kennedy, tell me about the investigation, the state of it." said Olivia.
"We had a lot of circumstantial evidence..These four girls were party girls...They made the club scene..We had them on film footage from the clubs with Harley Hayden, a rich, spoiled sociopathic trust fund baby interacting..His hand up under their skirts, kissing them, giving them drugs...and leaving the clubs with them on the last nights they were seen.. He was their "friend" on Facebook and they were followers of his on Twitter and Instagram... We compiled a lot of circumstantial evidence...but we had no bodies and no eyewitnesses who could say for sure he was the one..our case was falling apart until he confessed..." said Brooke.
"So he confessed and told you the locations of the bodies..You had him...What happened next?" asked Beverly.
"Two days later, he recanted...He said he's been denied food and water, and sleep, kept up all night and was hit.. I saw Detective Barnes punch him....I was appalled...I wanted to close down the whole thing and release him...but my BOSS at the time... Deputy District Attorney Lucas Fuentes who is trying to put me in jail said, NO...we are not throwing this out, we are still going to go with what he told us..and we did..We went to the dump site..."said Brooke.
''So What happened next?" asked Nelson.
"Nothing..We located the bodies of three of the four missing women, but the bodies were so badly decomposed that we could only identify them by their dental records.. There was no DNA and No Forensic Evidence leading to him and we couldn't use his recanted testimony in court..We needed something else." said Brooke.
''So you and a team went back to his apartment at least 5 times correct?" asked Josie.
''We did...We took his apartment apart piece by piece..We didn't find anything....It looked like we were going to have to let him go....Then on the fifth time...It was just me and Detective Bailey...and we...or rather....I found it. The Contact Lense...With the girl and his DNA on it....Proof that she'd been in his apartment."said Brooke.
"You're a Christian aren't you Brooke? Did you pray?" asked Bresha.
Brooke looked at William "Bull" Bailey...She knew that he was the only one who knew that and she knew that if we had that information...He had sent it to us anonymously...
He held his head down...
"Yes I did..and there it was........right there on the floor, A contact lense...I remembered that one of the girls wore contact lenses and one was missing and here was the missing lense.. It had his DNA on it and it was what we needed to send that spoiled sociopathic monster to death row... I thought it was a miracle." said Brooke.. "But I did not plant it there...I did not..." said Brooke.
Olivia called Former Homicide Detective and now Federal Investigator, William "Bull" Bailey to the stand..
He was no fan of hers and she knew it, still she attempted to be cordial..
"Mr. Bailey, you were a much decorated Homicide Detective on the Philadelphia Police force...You worked your way up from Beat cop to Detective to Sgt, to Lieutenant...When you cracked this case...You were on the short list for Captain isn't that right?" she asked.
"Yes...but uh I got an opportunity to be an Investigator for the U.S. Attorney's Office so I took it..It pays better" he said.
The Jury chuckled.
"Mr. Bailey...I have something in my hands here...It's a recent DNA report of the Contact Lense...In addition to Harley Hayden's DNA and the victim....YOUR FINGERPRINT AND YOUR DNA is also on this lense....It wasn't discovered then because no one looked past VICAP back then for the unknown DNA...but they did this time...How do you explain that?" asked Beverly...
He laughed, then he looked at Brooke..He shook his head...He knew it was over...
"Brooke, why didn't you take the deal? Why didn't you take the gotdamn deal?? Like She said..We had a lot of circumstantial evidence..These four girls were party girls...They made the club scene..We had them on film footage from the clubs with Harley Hayden, a rich, spoiled sociopathic trust fund baby interacting..His hand up under their skirts, kissing them, giving them drugs...and leaving the clubs with them on the last nights they were seen.. He was their "friend" on Facebook and they were followers of his on Twitter and Instagram... We compiled a lot of circumstantial evidence...but we had no bodies and no eyewitnesses who could say for sure he was the one..our case was falling apart until he confessed...We had him!!...We had him!!! Then my stupid , stupid young punk of a partner....Punched him...Punched him in the jaw....They were going to throw the whole thing out...I was furious!! LIVID!!!
He was weak..My partner was weak...and I told him so....He quit the force not long after the case came to an end and he killed himself....he killed himself, just to spite me.....I went to the drop site where the bodies were...I knew they were too badly decomposed to be of any use...but lo and behold..one corpse had contact lenses on... I removed one....I removed it and placed it on the floor in Hayden's apartment...My plan was to bring in a team and we find it together...but Brooke...Brooke came with me and SHE FOUND IT!!! BLESS HER HEART SHE FOUND IT!!! And we put that monster away...Put him on Death Row...DAMN IT BROOKE, WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TAKE THE DEAL! GOTDAMN IT!" he wailed.
"Bailiffs, Take this man into custody....Ms. Kennedy, all charges against you are dropped...You are free to go!" said Judge Bellicheck... He stared at Lucas Fuentes
"Mr. Fuentes I am going to assume you knew nothing about this!" he said.
Lucas Fuentes looked like he'd swallowed a canary....
"Ughhh No...No your honor...I -I-I had no idea....I am as appalled as everyone else here is....Oh My god!!!...And he was sitting with me the whole time...I-I can't believe it...I am appalled.." he said.
''Yeah, I bet you are."said Beverly as the courtroom cleared out..
"You guys lawyered the hell out of that case...Thank you, Thank you so much...Even I didn't know that Bull Bailey had planted it..."said Brooke ,hugging Olivia and me..
"I told you we were going to pull this out."said Olivia.
"My Hunch paid off. He was protesting the most, a little too much..So I had that lense tested again, but I needed his DNA...That's why Olivia and you met at that wine bar.. We got his fingerprints and saliva off of those wine glasses he drank out of . Got a perfect DNA match." I said.
"Like I said Donnie Ray, you're our MVP..."laughed Nelson, patting me on the back.
"Yeah, but with this information that a cop planted evidence at the crime scene, that monster's sentence will most likely be tossed out...He won't be executed."said Josie.
''Yeah, but he won't be getting out of prison either.. New Homicide charges have been filed against him..and this time..He was taken down right." said Bresha.
D.A. Garcetti put his arms around Brooke and spoke to the press..
"Brooke Kennedy is a bright and shining star in the D.A.'s Office.. I never thought she was guilty of the charges made by my opponent who was her former boss...Ms. Kennedy is a person of principles and high morals, which is more than I can say for Mr. Fuentes," said D.A. Garcetti.
Brooke smiled.
"I'm happy to be vindicated... I had the best defense attorneys money can buy...and I ought to know...They beat me in court.." she said..
As the reporters laughed and snapped photos of them and us...
This was a very sweet victory for us.....
And a bitter defeat for Lucas Fuentes... He was going to be deluged with questions about did he know? and how come he didn't know about Bailey? His polling was already down...Now it was lower... It was no way he saw himself being the next District Attorney.. He was ruined!
He angrily stomped his foot and stormed out of the courtroom!
EPILOUGE-
William "Bull" Bailey apologized publicly for what he did..He was sentenced to 3-5 years probation...
No Jail time. Unfortunately...He was fired from his job with the government. He's living off of his police pension and social security.
Lucas Fuente was dogged by questions of whether he knew William Bailey was actually guilty of tampering with evidence or not...He was asked about why HE didn't report the anonymous call to the defense...He vehemently denied both... It didn't help him....He lost the race for District Attorney by a
landslide...
A Victorious D.A. Garcetti was re-elected!
Serial Killer Harley Hayden was convicted of the Murder of Rachel Stratton and resentenced to die by Lethal Injection....Looks like his attorney's attempt to have his original conviction tossed out failed.
He awaits his execution.
A Few Days Later- A Saturday Morning...We all met at a Tony new Brunch Spot in town..
"Thank you all for coming to Brunch with us this Morning.. We are here to announce our engagement..."said a joyous Brooke Kennedy...
"Our second, but this time...is the charm..You are all invited to our wedding in two weeks...We didn't want to wait any longer."said her fiance, Attorney Sean Marks.
Showing off their sparkling rings..
"Ouuuuuu...Those rings are beautiful."said Karen Page..
Her boyfriend B.L. Benz smiled weakly...
"You're next B.L." said Natalie, before hugging her best friend and kissing her on the cheek... "I'm just glad this is all over and we can get back to our normal lives."she said.
"Oh Me too! and a special thank you to my incredible legal team and my new friends, who made this all possible." said Brooke, hugging Olivia.
"Awwwwwwww thank you for being the best and most helpful client we ever had."said Olivia.
"Your being a lawyer didn't hurt us." I joked as we all laughed..
"Best of Luck to you Brooke." said Beverly...hugging her.
''And we hope we never have to face you in court again.."joked Nelson..
"Oh for sure..Four times is enough." said Josie as we all laughed...
"I like this place...It looks so cool."said Josie's husband, Paris.
"It does...Love the Ambience..."said Bresha.
"Listen at my baby using them big words.."laughed Tony...
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm"laughed Alfreda..
Her husband, Rockland grabbed her around the waist and drew her closer to him, hugging her..
"And I can't forget you guys, Vettie, Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil, Jade..We hated you when we were up against you in court, but we love you now..."said Brooke.
''Don't listen to her Vettie....We were all fan girl about how good you guys were."said Natalie.
"Awwwwwwwwwwww We thought you guys were good too!"said Yvette
who was sitting on her husband, Gary's lap...
"Best of Luck to you Brooke and Sean."said Keith Jones..
"Yes..Best of Luck to you Brooke and Sean."said Bee Bee.
''We can't wait until your wedding."said Sofia.
"They can't wait either...It's in three weeks.."laughed Kahlil.
Jade cracked up laughing at Kahlil's remark...
"Best of Luck to you two."said her husband, Danny Ho.
"I wouldn't mind getting married a second time...I'm just saying." said Virginia..
"Me neither..."said Jetty, who pulled Virginia to him and squeezed her tight.
"AWWWWWWWWWW!" said Virginia.
They kissed passionately.
"This is so sweet, So nice." gushed Jazzy...
"Yeah reminds me of when we got engaged."said Dabnis..
"Awwwwwwwww I love engagement Brunches...or Lunches..Reminds me of Beverly and Nelson's."said Kayla.
"Yeah theirs was nice."said Ray...
"I'm glad everything turned out alright..She was exonerated...She's engaged.."said Jessica.
"Yeah, that was cool."said her husband, Chip.
"This is sooo nice."said Zoey, sitting in her husband Lem's lap..
"Yes it is." said Lem.
We all began eating our food and drinking Mimosas....A Beautiful ending to a big case.