Girl Exonerated

ONE WEEK LATER-  Monday , 7:45 AM.  It was the first day of trial...We sat outside and waited . It was a quarter to Eight in the morning..
 

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" I moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"Olivia cooed.

Olivia and I were enjoying a sweet kiss..

"This at least puts me in a relaxed mood before trial begins." said Olivia. She had the most butter soft lips....

"Me too!" I said softly....

Lt. Tragg walked up... "Alright Break it Up!" he said in his annoying voice... Who did he think he was...the hall monitor? We were all adults...We didn't take orders from him....Someone should have informed him of this.

He did a double take when he saw our client, Murder Suspect, Shana Mason, dressed for court and carrying coffee's she and Josie had gotten for us...

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!......Allow me to assist you with that!" he said.

"That's okay...I can manage...You've done enough!" said Shana, angry at him for arresting her and charging her with First Degree Murder.

Lt. Tragg stared at her lustfully as she and Josie passed coffees ,creamers and sugars to each of us....

"You shouldn't be over here....Aren't you on the other team?  The team that's trying to put me in jail?" said Shana icily..

''Don't waste your time Shana...He's not going to budge... He lives to be an irritant.." said Josie.  Josie had been off for a week after assisting her husband, Paris on his trial.. She still wasn't part of this case, but she wanted to sit with us anyway...

"Thanks for the coffee's ladies."said Olivia.

 

"Yes, thanks...Wow...Almost eight o'clock...brings back memories eh shortcake?" I said, ribbing Beverly.

"Yeah, My Public Defender days...This was normal." she said.

"Yeah I know...Federal Court has got us spoiled.. ten and eleven o'clock starts.." said Nelson...

"Yeah this is a bit early....Even in Bayside...We started at 9;00 am." said Josie.

"You guys had time to get some breakfast." said Bresha...

"I'd be having breakfast right now with everybody on my team, if we didn't have this early trial date." said Renee, momentarily forgetting Lt. Tragg was there ,listening and watching....

"Liv, I see your entire team is back together again eh? Your other girl is back." said Lt. Tragg...

''So good of you to notice." said Olivia sarcastically.

"LIEUTENANT!!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BOTHERING THEM?? GET OVER HERE!!" bellowed ADA Ken Jendell...

who walked in with D.A. Investigator, Ingrid Stevenson...

Lt. Tragg looked at him menacingly...

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!! YOU HEAR?  I DO NOT WORK FOR YOU!! YOU GOT THAT?" he bellowed..

"Ugh Oh!" said Olivia as she finished her coffee...

 

I said nothing...I was glad I had finished my coffee..

"Awwwww suki suki now..."said Beverly...

"He looks like he could flatten the good Lieutenant." said Nelson...

"Not another fight? And before trial starts." mused Josie, who really didn't want to see a fight.

"That'll get the juices flowing" Quipped Bresha..

Renee and Shana smiled and finished their coffees...

There would be no fight..

"Fine! Then get out.!..Go back to your office...I don't need you in court....Ingrid here did a far more thorough investigation than you did...You didn't recanvas like I asked you...In fact you haven't done a damn thing since you made the arrest...I don't need you...Go back to your office." aid ADA Jendell to Lt. Tragg..

Lt. Tragg stared at him balefully....

Judge Julie Wong arrived....She smiled at all of us and entered the courtroom....

Lt. Tragg ignored what ADA Jendell said and followed us all into the courtroom and took his seat at the Prosecutors table.

Ingrid Stevenson immediately got up and sat on the opposite side of ADA Jendell....She didn't want a replay of him running his hands up her skirt, feeling her legs and tugging at the waistband of her panties...How many times could she slap him?  Her boyfriend had already thoroughly thrashed him...She got the feeling that he was hard headed and hadn't learned his lesson.

Beverly and Olivia looked at each other and smiled....

II-

COURTROOM D- 8:05 AM

"Good Morning Attorneys and Jurors! As I look around the courtroom I see a number of you who I've had in my courtroom before... I am Judge Julia Wong... Common Pleas Court Judge...This is beginning to sound like a broken record but Welcome to my courtroom....Due to courtroom crowding of cases , we are going to bypass a preliminary hearing...We know that a crime, a henious crime has been committed.a man was found shot to death in his Gym's backroom....That said We will review what happened here and try to come to a conclusion. So we are going to go straight to trial.. We will have Jury selection today...We will begin with trial tomorrow morning at 9:00 pm." said Judge Wong.. "We will start today with introductions..Some of you, I know." she said.

"I am Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Jendell....I believe I have tried one or two cases in your courtroom before your honor. " he said.

"Yes, I believe you have counselor." said Julie Wong. 

"Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Lead Attorney for the Defense.your honor."said Olivia.

"Beverly West -East, Attorney for the Defense." said Beverly.

"Nelson East, Attorney for the Defense your honor." said Nelson.

"Bresha Billips, Attorney for the defense.." said Bresha.

"Renee Cantrell-Jones, Attorney for the Defense your Honor." said Renee....

"I certainly know all of you..." said Judge Wong, smiling.

"Is that a good thing?" whispered our client....Shana to me.

"She's a good judge." I whispered back....

"You could do a lot worse." said Josie, who while sitting with us and a recognized attorney, was not going to be taking part in the actual trial.

''Alright...now that we are through with the introductions...We'll begin with Voir Dire." said Judge Julie Wong..

ADA Ken Jendell had been around awhile and though not as adept at trial science as Nelson, knew a thing or two about jury selection...He came prepared with questions of  his own..

Nelson had minored in Trial Science during law school and had used it his entire career..He was a master of Voir Dire. Ken Jendell had no idea that Nelson already knew all there was to know about the jurors and which ones he'd find acceptable and which ones he wouldn't...Nelson had carefully worded questions ready for each person he talked to..

Renee and Bresha, his little understudies , Protoge's if you will, both were helping him today...They sat behind their laptops and whispered certain things they had talked about into his ear.. He smiled.

"Oh My god....He is really good." said our client, Shana Mason.

"He's our ace." said Josie, who missed sitting in on a case.....

Olivia, Beverly and I sat together.

''Nelson is killing as usual." I said.

"He's an expert at this....I think only Yvette Jones is as good and I don't think she is better than Nelson." said Olivia.

''That's my baby!"said Beverly with pride.

Nelson got an 9-3 split with ADA Jendell....Not bad, Not Bad at all .

"OKAYYYYYY!  We have a jury..It's Monday ..Trial will begin promptly Tuesday Morning at 9:00 AM, Jurors, Attorneys  Be on time and Be ready for trial." said Judge Julie Wong."You are dismissed." she said, striking her gavel.

''Well here we go...We are finally getting this show on the road." said Shana Mason..

"I mean it....I don't want to see you in this courtroom tomorrow, do you hear me?   You're done!"said ADA Ken Jendell.....

"You don't tell me what to do." said Lt. Tragg...He simply watched as we all exited the courtroom.....

We gave him no targets to bug with GPS trackers today because we took public transportation...The train from our home to the courthouse and we just as quickly took the train to the Bridge Building..

Our home away from home...

And their modern cafeteria, where we had lunch with our friends...A lunch that would be uninterrupted by Lt. Tragg, who had no idea where we all were...Josie and Bresha especially liked eating here because they got to eat with their husbands...who also worked in the building.. 

We all loved it because we were safe from Lt. Tragg and we were in a comfortable enviroment with our friends..

''Well we came right on time..This place is just opening up." said Olivia.

 

''Smells good....So much good food  to choose from." I said.

"I know....We've got our jury picked and we are ready to go tomorrow." said Beverly...

''Yeah, this woman Julie Wong is no slouch..She's been around, she's pretty damn good. You're in good hands."said Nelson to Shana..

"I trust your judgement.." said our client, Shana with a smile.

"Kinda nice to be sitting and watching a trial that I'm not involved in.." laughed Josie.

''Awwww come on, you miss it. You could be home in bed...Yet you're with your team just the same. "laughed Paris.

"We love having Josie back with us...Even if it's just as an observer...She's part of our team." said Bresha.

Tony nodded ...He was glad Bresha was here with him, having lunch.....

 

"Liv, Bev, thanks again....Laundry Day last Saturday couldn't have come at a better time.. I'm looking forward to going to Shana\s Bar/Gym/Spa this Saturday..." said Jazzy.
 

"Yeah in addition to Laundry..We had sheets to do also. This past Saturday...We can chill.." said Dabnis.

''Which reminds me...I've got dry cleaning to pick up after work."said Kayla.

"The Not so glamourous ,ordinary life of an attorney."laughed her husband, Ray...

"We aren't in court all the time,"said Jessica.

"Like this wek, knock on wood..."laughed her husband, Chip.

"Nothing on our dockets this week yet.."said Karen..

"It's been a wild couple of weeks"said Natalie...

"It has."agreed her husband, David...

"Well things are quiet for now, let's enjoy it.." said Brooke..

whose husband, Sean was once again eating with us today...

"I really enjoyed Laundry Day last week...."said Zoey..

"Yeah it reminded me of old times." said Lem.

"Tonight,let's go to a movie after we get home Rell Rell." said Renee.

"You sure? You got trial tomorrow" said her husband, Tyrell.

"Yeah a good movie will relax me." said Renee..

Scarlett loved seeing her former High School classmates, Beverly, Kayla, Jasmine, Natalie and Renee all married and homeowners and thriving in their careers...She had gone with us to Laundry day and had hung out at the NO I.D. Bar and Josie's with us all over the weekend...

She was amazed that we all lived on the same street and most of us worked in the same building...She thought that was too much togetherness. Still, she didn't knock it..We all were happy.

 

 ''So Liv, you guys ready to go to trial?" asked Yvette.

"Yeah, we picked our jury today." said Olivia.

"We've got the same judge we had last time...Judge Julie Wong.." said Beverly..

"I like her...She's a good judge." said Keith Jones..

"Tough but fair..she knows her stuff." said Bee Bee.

"That's what I was telling Shana." said Josie.

''Yes, I like her too..We have tried a case in her courtroom. " said Sofia.

"Yeah she's very nice..a very good Judge.."said Kahlil.

''Well I trust my lawyers and I trust your judgement..."said Shana.
.

"That''s the spirit."said Jade, smiling.

" I'm looking forward to this weekend..maybe you'll be close to the end of this trial." said Virginia.

..Her husband Jetty smiled, eating and enjoying his food.

At Sam Mother's Diner...

Lt. Tragg just knew we all would be in there eating.. He figured we'd be famished and too tired to go elsewhere...He was right , we were famished...but not too tired to go elsewhere...We got on the train and headed as far away from Sam Mother's Diner as possible.

III-

COURTROOM D- 9:02 AM-

ADA Ken Jendell wasn't playing... He had two beefy bailiffs physically remove Lt. Tragg from the courtroom as soon as he walked in the next morning...

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS JENDELL...THIS WAS MY CASE!" he screamed..

" Lt. Tragg, if you attempt to enter this courtroom again, I'll have you jailed for a week..No appeal."said Judge Julie Wong. 

''Well That's a releif..." said Olivia.

"Maybe he won't be in Sam Mother's Diner either." said Beverly...

"Where Else has he got to go?" asked Nelson...

"Maybe he'll be on the street solving some real murders."laughed Renee.

"I know Ingrid Stevenson is relieved...That man always had his hands up her skirt...He literally had her panties showing one time...She had to slap him to make him stop." said Bresha.

"When He arrested me, he was rubbing my legs and trying to get all close to me and telling me he could help me, if I "Helped myself first.." I thought he was a little too handsy and flirtatious." said our client..Shana.

"That's him alright..."said Josie.

I smiled...Lt. Tragg had finaly pissed off someone who didn't lower themselves by brawling with him...I lilked Jendell for that much.

The kid gloves were off after that...ADA Jendell was like most attorneys an excellent storyteller....He first showed the jury large photos of the crime scene...of John Oline lying face up on the floor of the bedroom in the back office of his gym with blood all over hs chest, on the floor and on the wall an his

lifeless blue eyes staring at the ceiling...

Shana seeing this for the first time , turned in shock and began crying profusely....

He had the Crime Scene Investigators, the Police at the scene, minus Lt. Tragg ,who would have really given his story the dramatic flair he was going for testify as to what they saw and when they saw it...

Medical Examiner personell gave the same testimony.....Then they talked about the man... John Oline..

A very successful area businessman, a very well known , former semi-pro football player....A Married man known to be a ladies man....

Married for many years to Area Businesswoman and restaurant owner...Myra Bowers-Oline.

She testified falsely that she "had no idea her husband was fooling around on her.

He brought in girlfriend, and businesswoman Leslie Lyedecker , who testified that She and John Oline carried on for years and that he not only financed her restaurant, but put her in an expensive condo and visited her on many afternoons for sex and cocktails....

On Cross, Olivia got her chance...a huge opening she had been waiting for.. Ms. Lyedecker...Mrs. Oline eventually found not only about you and her husband, but about the condo he had put you in , didn't he?" she asked.

Beverly produced a Cease and Desist Order from Mrs. Oline's Attorney telling her she had 30 days to vacate the Condo with all of her belongings and that she had to leave.

"Yes ,somehow she found out and the day after John was murdered , I was ordered out of the condo..." she said.

Nelson produced the Attorney and the Private Investigator, hired by Mrs. Oline that proved she knew of her husband's dalliances....

ADA Jendell said that proved little to Nothing...Though he was stunned at our thoroughness...

He painted a picture of Shana Mason..

As a brilliant graduate of Wharton school of Economics at PENN, who spent years working for developers and now saw an opportunity to move up....She had an architect and a business model and she fished herself into John Oline's orbit and despite him being very, very married began to share his bed with him and got him to finance her business model... A Bar, Spa and Gym located downtown and doing "Boffo Business" he added...."I've been there myself." he added.

He argued that she wanted  Leslie Lyedecker out and she wanted in ....a Condo for herself to replace her modest condo.."When John Oline balked...She seduced him and then cold blooded shot the man in his underwear....."he said dramatically.....

Renee put Shana on the stand... It was risky...but you had to make bold moves in a trial like this..

She brought up that she had gone to Girls High with both Attorney Beverly West-East and herself and they all had come from modest means... They were good students and good girls.. No trouble, No arrests and when Beverly was at PENN LAW SCHOOL....SHANA was there at WHARTON...with attorney Josie Boyd, who had also attended Wharton at the time.

Shana talked about how she had worked for several developers for years and that it was John Oline who made an advance towards her... That their relationship was casual for about a year...he bought her drinks and talked to her..There was no sex involved..."Not at first...but it gradually came to that..." she said..

"Explain how it came to that?" asked Bresha.

''John and I were friends with benefits...I had been sleeping with him off and on for a year. Before this deal for my business was made."said Shana..

"And so as a friend....He funded your business venture and didn't charge you anything...At least not in money....He received his uh payment..in other ways.." asked Beverly, beating Ken Jendell to the punch and hating to have to question her friend like this..

"Yes...that's a fact...I went to three other possible financiers with my plans and they turned me down flat....John thought it was a marvelous idea.....He financed it completely....Of course...this being America...Nothing is without cost."said Shana. "It wasn't such a bad exchange...John was nice, I liked him and he was an excellent lover.......I knew he was married... He had a girlfriend on the side too..Living in a condo on the waterfront... I knew about it all..I didn't care...I wasn't in love....but I certainly didn't kill him...I liked him...He was my friend. I had no reason to hurt him.."said Shana.

ADA Ken Jendell went at her hard on cross examination as we knew he would....We had prepped her hard in the days coming for this and we had used people who were experts at breaking a witness down...

We used an empty courtroom in Bayside...

Jazzy, Natalie and Brooke, all former Assistant District Attorneys badgered her so hard 

that she broke into tears several times....but she appreciated what they were trying to do.

With Jetty acting as a Judge....

Today in court...Ken Jendell was not rattling her at all, even he was surprised at how controlled she was and how she never lost her composure.

 

 Bresha, Beverly and Olivia objected when they thought ADA Jendell was going overboard.

ADA Jendell closed his case believing he had won the jury over...

Nelson saw it another way....

"I don't know.,.They all look undecided Liv..this could go either way..." he said.

"Then we'll turn it in our favor." Olivia said.

Beverly, Renee and Bresha argued that there was a huge lack of forensic evidence linking our client to any murder...

There was an absence of a murder weapon...There was only prints and DNA at the apartment...It was an established fact she had visited with the deceased and they had had sex...Nothing more.. There was not one eyewitness that could place her in the  gym when it opened...or when it had closed that afternoon..

Olivia called Mrs. Myra Bowers-Oline, the widow of the deceased.

She was very surly and was sworn in again...She acted as if she just couldn't be bothered with it all.

"Mrs. Bowers, you said you weren't aware of your husband's affairs...and yet you were...Your former Attorney, The Private investigator you hired both attested to that...."said Olivia.

"I knew about one...I didn't know about that trollip you're defending..." she snarled.

"Oh I think you did and that's what drove you over the edge." said Olivia.

"Your husband ever cheat on you? He's an attractive man, I'm certain other women look at him." snarled Myra Bowers.

"My first husband did cheat on me...I divorced him...I didn't kill him." said Olivia softly...

"You said on the afternoon of the murder, you were at your popular seafood restaurant in the backroom looking at the books for the day."said Nelson..

"That's right...I was..The Book keeper will tell you that."she said.

"Oh the book keeper did tell us...but he said and he is here to testify that he went on a food run...a food run that took him thirty two minutes...We checked....He said when he came back...You were gone, but you returned about 15 minutes after he returned.. That gave you 45 minutes...45 minutes unaccounted for...."said Olivia.

"You were missing for 45 minutes....John's Gym and studio is only six blocks away....Your car was parked in the driveway....You drove there , you shot him and you drove back..."said Beverly..

"You can't prove any of that..." said Myra Bowers..

"Actually we can...The GPS on your iphone tracks your steps from the restaurant several steps away to your husband's gym and back at the exact time of the murder..."said Renee.

"Had you arrived a little sooner..." you might have caught our client there.....but she had gone...."said Bresha.

"I am not going to answer anymore questions without the advice of an attorney." she said.

"That's sound advice." said Olivia... "The defense rests." she said.

It was Thursday....The case was over...

Olivia was in the judges chambers fixing her hair and applying make up.. I walked in...

"You did a masterful job out there." I said with a smile.

"You did a masterful job......as usual...Why are you in here? What do you want? You could have waited until I came out of here to congratulate me" she whispered, smiling..

"Yeah I could have." I said.

I took her in my arms and kissed her passionately...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I know what you want...You always want it.." she moaned..

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...she smiled..

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..

I stared at her...

She smiled.   I reached up under her dress...

I slipped her panties down....

There was no resistance from her..She was very quiet and unusually submissive.

I lifted her up and placed her on the dresser , spread her legs and slowly entered her...still kissing her passionately...

Olivia as usual began to tremble something fierce....her head turned from side to side and tears flowed down her face....She was crying tears of joy I suppose..Having an intense orgasm..

I knew we couldn't be in here for long...but I just had to have her.....

It was followed by another orgasm..

"OH I LOVE YOU DONNIE RAY!" she cried out..

"OH I  LOVE YOU TOO!!  I LOVE YOU TOO!" I moaned..

OLIVIA HAD ANOTHER QUICK ORGASM....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cried out!

Olivia once again began to tremble something fierce....her head turned from side to side and tears flowed down her face...

"OH MY GODDDD!" she cried out..

We made love for a HALF AN HOUR!

Nothing like a courtroom quickie..

Nelson and Beverly were standing in the corner enjoying a sweet kiss...

"Damn, they're making me hot, the way they're kissing." laughed Shana.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." said Josie.

"Me Too!"laughed Bresha.

"Ditto"laughed Renee.

Lt. Tragg had watched the entire proceeding from upstairs in one of the rooms on closed circuit Television.

''Where is your fearless leader?" he asked.

Before  they could choose not to answer... Olivia and I walked up..

''We are right here and we are too tired to talk about this case either way." said Olivia

I smiled serenely...

"Let's go home guys and gals." said Olivia..

We loaded up in the SUV and pulled off...This time headed for home.

IV-

THURSDAY NIGHT-  CURLEY'S BAR- COUPLES NIGHT

The Trial was over , it had gone to the jury....We thought we did well....We were all at Curley's tonight for couples night...

"Wow...One thing is for sure...the trial is over , now we have to wait for the jury's decision."said Shana. 

"And that can come as soon as tomorrow or as late as Monday Morning...but I have a good feeling about this jury..I think we pulled this one out."said Olivia.

 

"I'm no jury expert...I'm just a cop ,I suppose, but I'd have to agree with my wife." I said.

"Best case scenario is they come back tomorrow."said Beverly.

"These were pretty smart jurors....Even the three Jendell picked...and I believe we gave them enough for reasonable doubt." said Nelson.

"I think you did...From what I saw." said Josie.

"I predict the jury comes back with a decision in the morning."said Paris.

"That would be great." said Bresha.

She sat on her husband Tony's lap...He held her tightly and squeezed her...

.

They kissed each other passionately...

"I hope the jury does come back with a verdict tomorrow , just in time for Saturday."said Alfreda

"Let's hope it's the right verdict." said Rockland.

''Exactly." said Shana.

"You'll be just fine...I'm sure of it...You had great lawyers defending you." said Jazzy.
 

"Indeed!" said her husband, Dabnis.

"Lt. Tragg was tossed out of the trial....That must have been something."laughed Kayla.

"I would have paid money to see that."said Ray.

"Liv told me he watched the proceedings from close circuit Television in one of the upstairs rooms."said Jessica.

"Guess there were no Homicides for him to louse up." said her husband, Chip.

Karen and her husband, B.L. burst into laughter......

"We need to stop talking about him...He's like the Candyman...say his name too much and he appears.." said Natalie...

Her husband, David laughed out loud....

"Oh you know he'll be in here tonight." said Brooke.

"It's couple's night...why doesn't he come in here with someone?" asked her husband Sean ,out loud.

'Someone who doesn't mind his hands , ugh up under their skirt, rubbing their legs and tugging on the waste band of their panties." said Zoey, looking at her husband, Lem..

"I couldn't help it...I've been staring at you all day long." said her husband....Lem...

"I don't care, just as long as it's just you....nobody else.." cooed his wife, Zoey...

They began kissing passionately...

"You put a hurtin on me last night...ouuuuuuuuuu." cooed Renee.

"I'm ready for a repeat." said Tyrell..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I CAN'T WAIT!" Renee cooed...

Kissing her husband like kissing was going out of style.

 "Livy..I'm goin out on a limb...I say your jury comes in tomorrow morning." said Yvette, hugging her best friend.

"I'm hoping you're right Vettie!" said Olivia.

"I should snap a photo of you two, you're both sloshed."laughed Yvette's husband, Gary....

Keith and Bee Bee were kissing passionately....

.
Sofia and Kahlil were kissing passionately also...

"Danny, I'm drunk...." said Jade,laughing....

"I see that." he laughed....

Virginia and Jetty were kissing passionately also....

The last batch of drinks arrived,,, It was 12:30 AM.

Lt. Tragg walked in...Of course he saw all of us..drinking and making out!

"ALRIGHT!! ALRIGHT BREAK IT UP!" he bellowed.

"GO SUCK AN EGG!" came a voice from our crowd...

"WHO SAID THAT? WHO SAID THAT?" he bellowed....

No one replied.

"You're all drunk... Those buses had better be coming to take you all home..if one of you gets in a car..I'll be watching and my men will be ready to wtite you all up." he bellowed.

No one replied..

And At 2:00 AM, the buses arrived and every last one of us filed out and loaded into the buses, which took us all safely to our homes..

COURTROOM D- 9:02 AM- Friday Morning

Yvette was right...The Jury came to a decision and was ready for it to be read....

"ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE JUDGE JULIA WONG!!!" said the bailiff.

ADA Ken Jendell and his investigator, Ingrid Stevenson stood up...they looked very confident, despite the job we had done. 

"Okay girl this is it...If in some case this verdict goes against you we have an appeal ready to present to the court."said Olivia, who surprisingly had no hangover from the night before.

"You're nothing if not thorough Olivia." said Shana confidently...She held one of Beverly's hands

Beverly held Nelson's hand...

Nelson looked at the jury and looked on confidently....

So did Renee, who had really helped us and pinch hit for Josie.

Josie stood with us....looking very hopeful...

As did Bresha,.

I stood with them believing that this jury, a very intelligent bunch heard all of the evidence and was capable of rendering a sensible decision.

"Has the jury come to a decision?" asked Judge Wong.

''We have your honor."said the Jury Forewoman, one of the three jurors ADA Jendell had picked.

"Bailiff , hand me the verdict." she said.

The Bailiff handed the Judge the verdict....She read it...The Judge had instructed them that they could find Shana guilty of two lesser charges instead of the most serious charge.

She breathed deeply and passed the verdict to the bailiff....

"Read it." she said softly, her face not betraying anything.

"COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS SHANA MASON, COUNT THREE-MANSLAUGHTER, we find the defendent , NOT GUILTY!!

"COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. SHANA MASON, COUNT TWO,

SECOND DEGREE MURDER, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!!

AND THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, COUNT

ONE FIRST DEGREE MURDER, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!

Beverly and Olivia leaped up in the air...High fived and screamed.. "WHOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEE!!"loudly as they usually did when they won.

"THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!" screamed  Shana....she hugged Renee and her old Wharton classmate, Josie.

"WE DID IT!!" I KNEW WE DID IT!!" screamed a jubilant Renee.

"YES WE DID!!" laughed Josie..

"I'm so relieved.." said Bresha.

Nelson and I congratulated each other.

ADA Jendell hung his head...he didn't like losing, but it was what it was...

He and investigator, Ingrid Stevenson quietly left the courtroom..

In the courtroom waiting area.. 

Lt. Tragg stood outside in the lobby, smiling...He was actually glad we had won....This was payback for both Jendell tossing him out of the courtroom and Ingrid's rejection of him... He stood there snickering as we all left the courtroom...

We all walked past him... and boarded a Mini Bus...

The trial was over....Party time.

Shana took one last look at Lt. Tragg...

He stared at her.

She smirked...

Then she got on the bus and we all pulled off.

EPILOUGE-

Myra Bowers-Oline was arrested and convicted of second  degree murder...She was sentenced to 15-30 years...Far less than she deserved....

SATURDAY MORNING!  SHANA'S PLACE..

Shana rented her Bar/Gym/Spa out to us for the day

'' Everybody enjoy yourselves... It's an open Bar." said Shana.

As everybody sat at the tables and enjoyed fresh healthy drinks...and a few unhealthy drinks.. The majority of our group was at the bar.....

"Your place is fabulous Shana..."said Jazzy...
 

"This is definitely on our list of to go places." said Dabnis..

''Oh for sure....This bar alone is relaxing. and spaced out..." said Beverly.

"Oh Yeah....I love this.." said Nelson, kicking back and relaxing..

"Yesss....I love it." said Kayla.

"This gets my vote." said her husband, Ray...

"Your place is fabulous Shana..."said Jessica.

"Bet it feels good to be acquitted and back to living your normal life again eh?"said Jessica's husband, Chip.

"It sure does..." said a very happy and grateful Shana.

"We never get to the other parts like the Spa  and the Gym." laughed Karen.

"I want you on my show next week and I want to do a special on this place." said B.L.

"He'll make you famous."joked Natalie.

"He certainly made us famous."said David.

"After he had us on his show we got so many calls from the family members of supposedly wrongful convicted felons." said Brooke.

"Good publicity to have ." said her husband, Sean..

"Definitely on our places to go List." said Zoey...

"Yes Most Definitely..."said Lem...

"Ouuuuuuuu I could stay here all day." said Renee, relaxing...

"Me too!" said her husband, Tyrell.

Alfreda laid her head on her husband's shoulders....

Rockland was as relaxed as he'd ever been....

"I'm loving this place...It's everything the youngins said it was." said Virginia.

"And more."said Jetty.

Downstairs in the gym...There was a number of us...

"This gym is really saying something...It's a shame my husband had to work today....I'll have to tell him about it." said Jade.

"Yeah, for real..." said Kahlil..

"After we finish here let's go downstairs and get in that pool." said Sofia.

"Ms. Yvette and Ms. Olivia have already beaten us to the pool."said Bee Bee.

"I hear the water is really warm."said Keith Jones.

"Maybe next time I'll bring a bathing suit.." said Josie.

"Ummmm I'd love that." laughed her husband, Paris, also celebrating a recent courtroom victory...

"I just got my hair done...I wasn't gettin in no pool." said Bresha.

"Black women and their hair " laughed her husband, Tony.

And downstairs at the pool....

"This is sooooooo relaxing after a big case girlfriend " said Olivia to her best friend, Yvette.

"Oh I know...I wish our husbands would get in...." laughed Yvette..

Gary and I sat on the side of the pool, watching our wives....

Shana brought us refreshments....

"Olivia, thank you and your team soooooooo much..." she said.

"You are so welcome Shana...Thank you for this relaxing day....." said Olivia..

Another nice ending to a case!

FOR SASHA C.