92-7

 Sometimes it's an omen when there is an overcast sky on the first day of a trial... but we had to soldier on..

Connie, Josie and Bresha returned from the coffee shoppe down the street with hot steaming tumblers of coffee for all of us...

"Get your hot joe."said Connie...

"Hot Coffees for everyone."said Josie.

"Come and get em." said Bresha.

I liked that they were all in good spirits and ready for trial.

 

"Thanks ladies." said Olivia.  She never referred to them as "Girls"  She thought that was beneath their dignity..."They all got Bachelors Degrees and Juris Doctorates..They are young ladies." she always said.

 

"Thanks ladies." I said as I took my coffee.

"We are ready to go...Ready to give Eddie an aggressive defense." said Beverly...

"Probably better than he would have gotten." said Nelson.

"Donnie Ray subpoenaed that creepy Calvin Himmler....That was enough for me."said Josie.

"He wasn't too happy about that...He kept asking what could he possibly have to do with this case.?" said Bresha.

"He'll find out." laughed Connie Spain...

 A few days ago, we got an unlikely visitor to our Office/Duplex...

"Olivia, guys...you have a visitor." said Alfreda.

It was ADA Amanda Grayson....

"Hello guys...Nice place you all have here.." she said.

We were all sitting around our conference room table. 

"Hello ADA  Grayson, fancy meeting you here." said Olivia.

 

"This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander... He's our investigator."

"How do you do?" I said.

"And my niece, Founding partner , Attorney Beverly West-East...

"Hello."said Beverly...

"Her husband and my right hand man at times, Attorney Nelson East...

"Hi, How are you?" said Nelson.

"Attorney Josie Boyd."

"Hello,"said Josie.

"Attorney Bresha Billips."

"Hello " said Bresha.,..

"And our interning attorney from the Public Defenders Office, Connie Spain."said Olivia.

"Hello." said Connie.

"Pleased to meet you all...I've heard so much about you and your cases....I'm here because you subpoenaed one Calvin Himmler in this Eddie Singelton murder case..   He's a creepy guy and I remembered something that happen right after the car bombing...Something creepy he said to me that I kind of forgot until now." she said.

"It was shortly after the news of the car explosion happened.. He came right over to me, as if he knew before hand all of the details.

"Amanda...Amanda...I am soooo sorry...I heard about Jumpshot Jim getting killed this morning in some kind of car explosion....I am so sorry...I am here to comfort you.....Let's go to breakfast.....I've already cleared it with your boss.." he said.

"Gil did suspend all trials for today....The office is in mourning, but not for Jumpshot...He's very much alive...." I said.

"HE IS?" he said, almost shocked,.

"Yes.....He wasn't driving the car.....Our young ADA Jesse Colin was driving...He went to pick it up for Jimmy...Jimmy was with me." I said.

"You would have thought the sun fell out of the sky....He just turned and walked away.."said Amanda.

"Strangest thing." she added. 

''Almost as if he knew all of the details before everyone else."said Olivia

 

"Except he didn't know that the wrong man had been killed..Not the intended victim." I said.

"And he would have slipped through the cracks altogether."said Beverly..

"Except that we have an eyewitness who saw him hanging around that Auto Repair Shop.." said Nelson.

"And we have him on the street cam, among other things." said Josie.

"That is creepy...."said Bresha.

"That is creepy...I've seen him sniffing around you."said Connie Spain.

"The man is a pest...He's been in my ass ever since we met at a cocktail party last year....He just won't take no for an answer...Plus he creeps me out..I hope what I've told you helps you." said Amanda Grayson.

"It can't hurt us...Thank you Amanda."said Olivia.

Which brings us to today.

II-

COURTROOM D-

They brought our client, Eddie Singelton in ,in handcuffs and shackles.

Olivia asked that the handcuffs and shackles be removed.

But the Judge, Paul Scanlon, a judge we were not familliar with refused and denied her request....

"I am Judge Paul Scanlon, We are going to start with introduction of the attorneys." he said.

"Representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Assistant District Attorney Sharon Valentine.your honor." she said.  She was a new ADA...None of us knew.. 

Lt. Tragg couldn't take his eyes off of the Pretty ADA , but unlike in the past....He kept his hands to himself.  He truly was a changed man.

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

"Beverly West -East, Attorney for the defense your honor."said Beverly.

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

"Josie Boyd, Attorney for the defense your honor."said Josie.

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

"Constance Spain, Attorney for the Defense your honor." said Connie.

I sat quietly next to our client....Eddie Singelton, who was naturally nervous.

on trial for his life.....but with six capable attorneys....and not an over worked Public Defender... It could be worse for him.

"Alright.....we will now have jury selection...."said Judge Scanlon.   He was no nonsense and right to the point...

ADA Sharon Valentine was good and smart and very savy....

but so was Nelson...

with Josie and Bresha aiding him...He managed to carve out a 7-5 edge for himself, with the Jury foreman being one of Sharon Valentine's picks.

"She's good." said Nelson...

"But so were you!   This just means we have to bring our A.Game." said Olivia.

"Outstanding...We have a jury....be here tomorrow morning, 10:00 AM sharp....Attorneys and Jurors ,I expect you to be on time and ready for trial...Court is dismissed for the day." he said.

We watched as our client was walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles......

We headed to the Bridge Building...The Sun had finally come out and the high temperatures had returned...

They were having a rooftop cookout for the building employees today..

There was Hamburgers and Hot Dogs on the Grill.....

ICE COLD BEER

And COLD SODAS ON ICE!

Just what we needed on a day like today.!

"Heyyy guys...Welcome!" said Jazzy...

"Thanks for inviting us." said Beverly.

"How could I not?" laughed Jazzy, hugging Beverly.

 

"Glad you all could come...."said Dabnis.

"Just what we needed to mark our first day of trial." said Olivia.

"Shame your client is locked up on a day like this."said Kayla.

"He's got a felony, Drug Charge....He did Three years of a five year sentence and now he's accused of murdering an ADA....No Judge was going to let him out."said Nelson.

"Yeah, poor guy...."said Ray.

"Grab some Burgers and Dogs and some Beer before it's all gone."said Jessica.

"Yeah! It's nice that the building does this for us."said Chip.

"B.L. is filming or he would have made it to this." said Karen.

"This is so nice!" said Natalie ,who was enjoying a burger and sitting on her husband's lap...

"Ummmmmmmmmmm...Yes it is." exclaimed David.

"Yes, I can see how much you're enjoying it....Horndog!" laughed Natalie.

Brooke was eating a hot dog and sitting on her husband's lap....

Sean was holding her tight and smiling..

"I wish they had some Pork and Beans , Some Cole Slaw and or some pasta here."said Zoey...

"Yeah that would be nice...We always have that at our cookouts!"said Lem.

This is so nice!" said Renee ,who was enjoying a burger and sitting on her husband's lap...

"The weather was nice to us today."said her husband, Tyrell.

"Yes it was." said Lee, who was glad her boyfriend, Matthew was able to come down and eat with us this afternoon.

Matthew was tickled pink to be with Lee.

"I wish our building did things like this."said Nina.

"Yeah...but I'm glad this one does."said Carlos. 

 "This was nice and the weather was kind to us."said Yvette.

"Yeah,I thought it might rain today."said Keith Jones.

"Sooooooo glad it didn't.."said Bee Bee.

"And so glad Olivia and company could join us."said Sofia.

"Yeah that was nice." said Kahlil.

"This is nice, but they would have done this up better with more food."laughed Jade.

"They would have, but this is cool too! Nice Building to work in...That does stuff like this for you."said Virginia.

"Really!"said Jetty, 

"Ohhhhhh this is soo nice." said Olivia.

 

"Our friends are fortunate to work in a building like this.. They have a cafeteria that serves three hot meals, a gym and a spa and a rooftop area where they can have stuff like this." I said.

"I know right? And they are fortunate that they all work in this building or near it."said Beverly.

Nelson was chowing down on Burgers and Dogs...

Josie and Bresha were sitting with their husbands and eating an talking quietly...

Connie thought it was sweet that they were united with their husbands....

A Nice Afternoon....Tomorrow, the battle would begin.

III-

Assistant District Attorney Sharon Valentine was a very good orator and a very good story teller..

That and her good looks helped her capture a room with her narrative and opening statements in the trial in which her theory of Eddie Singelton holding a grudge against Jumpshot Jim for sending him to prison for the first time in his life for three years manifested in a plot to kill him.  She said he bided his time and waited for the right moment and got to him.

This was the theory that Lt. Tragg came up with and stood by....

Despite her protests for the Judge to release the shackles and handcuffs from our client...He sat in court looking every bit the guilty man..

 

Olivia and her beloved Niece, Beverly did everything they could do to present damage control...

Over a period of two weeks they paraded 53 of Eddie Singelton's co-workers and 100 people who got their cars worked on at that shop who backed Eddie's story that he worked on the car and then left for the night not returning and that at no time did they see any explosive device like the type that could have blown the car up near the car.

ADA Valentine was a master of cross examination...and she went hard on all 153 witnesses....They had all been interviewed by Lt. Tragg, who I must say did a more thorough investigation of this crime than he did on most of his investigations...

They all pretty much stuck to their original statements and did not stray from them...

We had created reasonable doubt already.

Nelson had the jury 9 to acquit and 3 undecided so far....

Connie was getting her first taste of calling witnesses to the stand and questioning them.

Nelson, Connie and Josie called Several ATF Agents...who testified that the bomb was a sophisticated 

European Model, which cost about two weeks of Eddie Singelton's take home pay...They wondered when he would have had the money to buy this... Since a check of his financials showed that he paid Rent, Electric, Gas, Phone, Internet and Cable fees and bought groceries... and with what was left..It was spent at the local bars and clubs...They had Credit Card and Debit Card records which they showed the jury on a large 75 inch screen.

They said that a payment was made in Philadelphia and routed through banks in Germany, Norway and Switzerland electronically and finally New York City to destroy the trail ...It was a trick used by Russian Mafia types to destroy the trail of their nefarious deeds.

Bresha called Calvin Himmler to the stand..

He looked very nervous and he sweated something crazy as he took his oath and sat down..

Beverly gave him a glass of water...

He smiled at her and said something odd... "You know I've seen you around for years...If you weren't married ,I'd of been interested in dating you." he whispered.

Beverly was stunned by his remark.

"Mr. Himmler...You're a Bond Attorney correct and from time to time you have worked at the International Consulate , doing International Law and at the Stock Exchange correct?" asked Bresha.

"Yes that's correct." he said.

"You attended Yale Law School at the same time  one James Taylor...also attended did you not?"asked Bresha.

"Yes we were in law school together...Same class." said Calvin Himmler.

"You were dating a pretty blonde law student named Katie Lee Hemminger were you not?" asked Bresha.

He bowed his head...He was quiet for a moment...Then he answered... "Yes...Yes I was..."

"She was caught in bed with James Taylor....Not once, but twice and she broke off her relationship with you....within a month or so, James Taylor was caught in bed with another woman and heartbroken and distraught, Katie Lee took her own life didn't she?   You blamed James Taylor and this began your hatred of him didn't it?" asked Bresha.,

"I uh don't know what you're talking about....I don't regard James Taylor at all." he said.

"That's not true.... I have with me, Assistant District Attorney Amanda Grayson, who will testify that you have been after her for months, despite the fact that she is dating ADA James Taylor and that you have repeatedly insulted him.."said Olivia.

"I object...Your honor...Relevance...What has Mr. Himmler's love life got to do with Eddie Singelton killing Jesse Colon?" asked ADA Sharon Valentine.

"It goes to motive your honor...."said Olivia.

"MOTIVE?? MOTIVE?? ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THIS MAN IS THE KILLER?" said The Judge

destroying our build up and surprise.

"That's exactly what I'm saying your Honor and we have proof." said Olivia.

Beverly pulled out the 75 inch monitor which showed Calvin Himmler's bank statements..

"One Month ago you did an online search, several online searches for car bombs, simply made car bombs that could be easily attached to cars...and you found the perfect one...One that could be attached by magnets...It was made in Germany on the black market... You withdrew $1500.00 from your bank account and wired the money through an illegal routing service through Germany, Norway, Switzerland and finally New York City...Where you happened to be on business for the international consulate that day and picked up the package..  We have film footage of you picking up that package..."said Beverly.

"You had been following James Taylor's movements for a long time.. You knew he loved that car and you knew he had work done on it at Danny's Auto Shop quite often...I have an eyewitness that saw you hanging around the night before the explosion...Long after Eddie Singelton had gone home.. I have film footage of you there...  You had no reason to be there...You weren't having a car worked on."said Nelson.

"You killed the wrong guy....That bomb was meant for James Taylor, "Jujmpshot Jim", instead you killed an innocent man, Jesse Colin....and you were going to let another innocent man go to jail for the rest of his life for your mistake...Shame on you.." said Connie Spain.

"I will not answer any more questions without the advice of counsel."said Calvin Himmler.

"That's Probably a good idea..."said Josie.

"The Defense rests your honor."said Olivia.

"Well....On that note...this case goes to the jury..." said The Judge....

We had certainly given Eddie the best, most aggressive defense he could have gotten.

I was satisfied that my investigation had poked enough holes in the prosecution's case to get us a win..

In The Judges Chambers-

"You know we have only two hours before the Judge dismisses court for the day."said Beverly...

"That gives us enough time for a quickie.."said Nelson..

"You are such a horn dog....I knew that even back when we were Public Defenders when I kissed you that first time...You wanted a kiss everytime we went on a date..."said Beverly...

"Cause I knew that if you could kiss like that...No telling what else you could do.."said Nelson.

He took Beverly in his arms and kissed her slowly, softly......

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ,oh you did huh?" she laughed....

Continuing to kiss her passionately...

"Nelson...Nelson...I don't want to get caught in here....Doing this."said Beverly..

"We won't get caught...I locked the door."said Nelson...

"What if that Judge Scanlon comes in here?   I don't like him....and he doesn't like us."said Beverly...

"He won't....I seen him duck out..."said Nelson..

He opened her blouse and unsnapped her bra..

"Nelsonnnnnnnnnnnnn!" said Beverly.... as he sucked on her breasts...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned....her body trembling.....

He reached under her skirt and pulled her thong down.....

He spread her legs and entered her slowly and softly...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDD!" he moaned as he slowly thrusted....

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she moaned as her head turned from side to side and her body trembled.....Tears slowly streaming down the side of her face....She was having an intense orgasm...and was now rocking Nelson ,hoping he would cum soon....

TWO HOURS of slow sweet lovemaking continued before Nelson finally came and with wild abandon....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, GIRRRRRRRRRRRL!" he moaned....

For Nelson, that was a quickie.

IV-

Nelson and Beverly returned to the waiting area....Beverly had cleaned up... Nelson's suit was a little wrinkled..

She took a disinfectant wipe. And wiped her aunt's lipstick off of my lapel and the side of my face.

Olivia and I had found a corner and were kissing after the trial ended....

"THE JURY HAS COME TO A DECISION!" said Judge Scanlon...

We were all back in the courtroom

ADA Sharon Valentine....This was her 99th trial...She had gone 92-6 so far...A Pretty good record of prosecutions. She felt as though she had done as much clean up in her closing remarks as possible.

She had been waylaid by the ATF report and the other back up work we had done...She hoped the jury still convicted this boy.

Lt. Tragg was angry that he had been skunked once again...Had he bothered to work with the ATF..He might not be in this moment.

Our client Eddie Singelton looked hopeful... He knew he had gotten the best defense he could possibly hope for..Six Attorneys and an Investigator... He could have never afforded such talent. 

 

We all stood silently....

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

"Yes Your Honor, We have.."said the Jury Foreman, one of ADA Valentine's picks.

She passed the verdict to the bailiff , who passed it to the Judge....He read it...His face was expressionless, betraying no emotion , one way or the other...

"Read it " he said.

"We Representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the matter of Pennsylvania vs Edward R. Singelton on the charge of Murder in the First Degree find the defendent...,.NOT GUILTY!!

On Count two , use of a dangerous weapon in the commission of a crime...We also find the defendent,

NOT GUILTY!

Eddie Singelton pumped his fists in the air and yelled "WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!"

"I knew you were innocent...I knew it all along."said Jumpshot Jimmy...

"Thank you for believing in me and thank you for these wonderful lawyers..." said Eddie.

"AWWWWW THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!" said Eddie Singelton turning towards Olivia and her team.

"You're quite welcome Eddie." said Olivia, smiling.

"Welll Niecey Poo..We did it again!" said Olivia.

" Yes we did...." said Beverly as they leaped into the air and high fived..

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" they both cheered...

Eddie hugged Beverly...

"OHHHHHHHHHHH THANK YOU...THANK YOUUUUUU!" he said.

"  Oh,YOU'RE WELCOME!" said Beverly..

"Come here you." she said to me...

I smiled as she pulled me to her...

and kissed me slowly and softly..

"WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU?...MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"she moaned

and our kissing got more passionate.

"Nellllllsonnnnnnnnnn, here I am." said Beverly...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWWWD!" said Nelson.

He took Beverly in his arms and kissed her....

"We goin back in the judges chambers?" he asked.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We are going home to the privacy of our domicile." she said.

Both Nelson and I were going to have a rewarding time later tonight.

"Another nice win for our team...."said Josie , smiling..

"Yes...now let's go get something to eat..." said Bresha.

"This was great....A Great education..." said Connie Spain.

"Looks like your Boss and her niece need to go and get a room with their husbands.."said Lt. Tragg snidely to Josie and Bresha as he walked out of the courthouse...Avoiding the Press, who he knew was going to deride him about fouling up another case.

"Jealous!" said Josie.

"They all are." said Bresha.

Connie Spain just laughed.

EPILOUGE-

Calvin Himmler was Disbarred, Arrested  and Convicted of federal charges or Murder, Illegal Interstate commerce and other charges by the ATF, convicted and sentenced to 25-50 years in Federal Prison.

On State Charges of First Degree Murder he was given a Life Sentence to be served after his Federal charges were served..

He was essentially buried.

SATURDAY NIGHT-JOSIE'S BAR AND GRILLE

We were all packed inside of Josie's celebrating our win and the end of another week...

Drinks were cold and cheap and refreshing and flowing...

And a live band from out of town was playing some good music.

Gus, the owner and head bar tender was snapping his fingers to the beat of the music and serving drinks.

And Honey Brown, the Manager and head waitress was busy taking orders.

"I love this place....My kinda place..." said our friend, Natika Sommers.... ''Well Connie, you got a great education and you won your first case...Must feel good." she said.

"Oh Yes...I learned how to study for a trial, how to structure an argument and how to rely on a good investigator for information....I mean they teach you this stuff in law school, but it's noting like seeing it in action and taking part in it." said Connie Spain. 

"You were a good student Connie."said Olivia.

 

"This bar is filled with your good students Olivia." I said, smiling and hugging her.

"You're looking at one." said Beverly...

"Yeah and another." said Nelson.

''And another."laughed Josie.

"Yeah Liv trained you all."laughed Paris.

"She trained me from the classroom to the courtroom." said Bresha.

"And you're all great lawyers because of her."said Tony.

"Let's buy Liv another round.."said Alfreda.

"Here Here."said Rockland who was a bit sloshed himself. 

Nina laughed.

So did Carlos. 

The band took a break and a local D. J. set up and began playing music...

 "I feel like dancing..."said Yvette.

"Yeah me too!" said her husband, Gary...

"The band is  taking a break..a D.J. is coming on."said Keith Jones.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu I'm ready to dance some of this liquor off." said Bee Bee.

"Ouuuuuuu you aint said nothin but a word girlfriend...Me too!" said Sofia.

"Let's go." said Kahlil.

"Exactly what I had in mind." said Beverly...

"Yeah me too!" said Nelson.

"Ditto" said Josie, taking her husband, Paris by the hand.

"Yes.."said Paris.

"Ouuuuuu Come on Tony, let's dance."said Bresha..

Tony put his beer down and followed his wife..

Rockland was already on the floor, doing his thing..

A group of women who knew him were chanting...

"GO ROCKLAND...GO ROCKLAND...GO ROCKLAND...GET YOUR GROOVE ON....

UT UT UT OHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AWWWWWWW GET IT PAPA!" said Natika, who began dancing with him.....We all laughed.

Connie was happy they were doing line dances, since she didn't have a boy friend to dance with like the others.

They all joined the other patrons on the floor ,dancing...

"I Never knew Rockland could get down like that...and I used to date him." said Yvette.

"I work for the man and I DIDN'T KNOW IT!" laughed Gary.

Jade and her husband, Danny Ho watched and clapped...and laughed...

Virginia joined them on the floor too, showing off a few moves..

While her husband Jetty watched and smiled..

Lee, Matthew , Jazzy, Dabnis, Kayla, Ray, Jessica and Chip also joined the others on the floor, dancing..

 

.

"Wow, Everybody is having so much fun tonight..."said Karen.

"We take Josie's for Granted....But it's the best place in town for my money." said B.L.

Natalie, David, Brooke, Sean, Zoey, Lem, Renee and Tyrell joined the others on the dance floor..

It was a wonderful night...Warm outside and Air Conditioned inside.

The Dee Jay was really spinning... and the floor was crowded with dancers....Good Ole Josie's.

It was a typical Saturday Night...

Danny Ho was conversing with our friends in Law Enforcement, who were also out tonight.....

Sissy. Carlotta, Tyriq,Jimmy,Sirena,Hop,Duke, Angie, Sharon and Keith Wallace representing the Criminal Investigation Division. The FBI and ATF respectively...and Sissy's husband, Eddie C.

It was nice, all of us in here, enjoying the music and all. No one such as Lt. Tragg here observing us and or giving anybody grief...It was great.

and a strange bedfellow wandered in and over to our table...

ADA Karen Valentine wandered over to our table.

"Hello Olivia...Mr. Alexander...I came here because I heard through the grapevine this is the hippest joint in the city....Fancy seeing all of you good people here and some cops I know." she said.

"We all live around here...Within walking distance..."said Olivia.

"This is a great neighborhood to live in...You have everything you need..Transportation, Shopping, Nice new homes, lofts, condos, Apartment Complexes, Clubs, Restaurants...I might move up here myself...
You know , you guys beat me..It was my 99th case... I was 92 wins 6 losses...Now I'm  92 wins and 7 losses...Hopefully I won't see you guys in court anytime soon, at least not until I win my 100th case...Then I'm gone." she said.

"Where are you going?" asked Olivia.

"Out of The D.A.'s Office....Out of Philadelphia....Into Private Practice somewhere down south,

Where the beer runs cold and I don't know the name of the playas..." she said.  She was obviously drunk..Her head fell unto the table...She was fast asleep..

"My niece isn't going to like her asleep in her chair when she comes off the dance floor."said Olivia.

"I know...Maybe she'll wake up and be gone by then ." I laughed...

We began kissing..

"92-7 huh?" I said.

''Quite a record huh? 92 wins, 7 losses....Not bad." said Olivia. We laughed.

Then we cozied up next to each other and began kissing passionately again....