VENTURES: A Day Late , an Appeal Short

Sam Mother's Diner- 6:15 AM.

"I Haven't been up this early ,since my days as a Detective on stake out..."I said as the five of us walked into the Diner..

"Even as a Public Defender...I don't think we were up this early..."laughed Olivia...

"I know right?" said Beverly...

"Anybody call Jazzy and Dabnis.?" asked Nelson..

"I did...Here they come now.."said Josie..

''Heyyyy Guys...Here we are!"said Jazzy..

''Sorry we are late.." said Dabnis, smiling sheepishly...

"I'm the one that's late.." said Karen, coming in and sitting down with us...

''So Nice to see all of you guys in here again , now that old loud mouth is at sea...I wish they'd keep him out there."said Sam Mother..

"I'm with you on that."said Dabnis..

Olivia and I started off with Coffee

and Orange Juice.

and Omelettes...

Beverly and Nelson went with

Pancakes

and Coffee.

Dabnis and Jazzy had

Omelettes

Coffee

and Orange Juice..

while Karen had

a breakfast sandwich

and coffee...

It was so nice to be able to eat in peace and enjoy light laughter and bantering...No hostile Lieutenant Tragg yelling and screaming about why we were defending whoever...

"You won't believe this but I saw Lt. Tragg last night."said Karen..

"WHAT? WHERE?" I asked.

"You've got to be kidding."said Olivia.

"Isn't he out at sea?"asked Beverly..

But Nelson Understood...

"He's not out on the Ocean...He's on the river.." he said..

"Yes Penns Landing.."said Josie..

"Yeahhhh and your building is right by Penns Landing.."said Dabnis..

thinking about the location..

"Right...You all had left and I went back to that coffee shop you took Yvette and me to Dabnis.."said Karen..

"I know where you're talking...HELLA OPEN" said Beverly...

She and Kayla and Drew Hunter had been by there once....

"Yes. Great Coffee...You and Kayla have to meet me for lunch one Friday and we'll go."said Jazzy.

''Well I was walking by

and his Boat cruised along the harbor and he saw me..

"Heyyyyyy kid." he called out... He sounded like he was drunk...His hair was all mussed up...No tailored suits...No make up..."said Karen.

"WAIT!!!!HE WEARS MAKE UP?" asked Nelson Incredulously..

"You didn't know that?" laughed Olivia.

"Hell, I didn't know it either." I said.

"Guess because they're guys.."said Beverly laughing..

"They're definitely not Metro -sexuals."said Josie..

"Definitely not!" laughed Jazzy....

Beverly, Josie and Jazzy cracked up laughing..

"He was wearing Jeans and a Denim Shirt and a Blue Bomber Jacket that read PHILADELPHIA MARINE POLICE UNIT....He looked so pitiful..

I almost felt sorry for him.. He looked drunk.."said Karen....

He waved and then he and another guy pulled off and went back on the water..."said Karen..

''Serves him right.."said Dabnis...

II-

Our Bus drove up in front of Sam Mother's place at 7:30 am..

Karen put all of our meals and tips on her City Credit Card....We said our goodbyes to Sam Mother and we piled on to the bus..

I Loved it..I didn't have to drive..

Olivia and I sat in the back....

That way we could kiss the entire trip...

Beverly was in Nelson's lap...

Kissing him also....

Josie sat with Karen...

"That's okay Josie...We can keep each other company.."said Karen..

On the side of them...

Dabnis and Jazzy

were practically devouring each others lips..

As our bus pulled off for a six hour ride..Up State to the Dolly Madison Correctional Facility for Women..

III-

Dolly Madison Correctional Facility for women was one of the state's newer prisons.. It housed a good number of inmates...Half were here for non-violent crimes.. Prostitution, Selling drugs, et al..
The Prison had an extensive library, a multi media room with computers,laptops, et al...a swimming pooland a track...as well as tennis courts...

The women, all except the lifers dressed in Orange Jumpsuits with white sneakers. The lifers dressed in white jumpsuits with white sneakers...They were kept on the other side of the prison.. Only one person here was sentenced to death...She was kept separate from all of the other inmates..

She wasn't our concern..Our concern was one lifer in particular...Phyliss Shafny..A surprisingly Attractive woman a little older than me and Liv..

She was surprised to see all of us...

"Who might you all be?" she asked..

"I'm Assistant District Attorney Karen Page of Philadelphia...I'm with the Wrongful Conviction Unit." said Karen...

"Darlin you're a day late and an appeal short...I was denied parole yesterday...I didn't expect to get it...It's only been 7 years." she said.

"Phyllis my name is Beverly West...I'm an Attorney.... This is my Aunt, Olivia Bennett-Alexander, She is also an Attorney.."said Beverly.

"Our firm does pro bono work every year for the Public Defender's Office and your case came up for review...If you'll let us...We are aiming to have your entire conviction tossed out...Freeing you."said Olivia.

"This is my niece's husband, Nelson East...He's also an Attorney with my firm....He'll be helping us..

Ms. Josie Boyd....our other Associate Attorney ,who will be assisting

and my husband, an Investigator ,who will be re-investigating your case.." said Olivia.

"Olivia and Beverly...WOW! I've heard of you....I wish you guys had represented me my first go around...I might not be here now...And you say what? Pro Bono...That means you're doing my case for free right?" said Phyllis with a smile..

"They brought the case to my office, so the City of Philadelphia will be paying their legal expenses..You don't have to pay a thing..All you have to do is agree to let us represent you.."said Karen..

"Well Yesss...Yesss..Of course you can represent me.."said Phyllis..

"Oh and forgive my manners.. Let me also introduce

Attorney Dabnis Coley

And his wife, Attorney Jasmine Coley...They will also be working on your case...They will build a case..They'll present it to me for a review and I will get a judge and we will review your case and rule on it based on what these attorneys present..It will all take a day or maybe two...No more than three...No Jury...And if successful...Your conviction can be thrown out and you can be a free woman, like it never happened.."said Karen..

"So Let me get this straight...I now have six lawyers working on my case...and an investigator..Something my last lawyer didn't have..and they'll present it to you and a judge and my case may be tossed out just like that?" she said.

"That's right...Your Lucky day....Tell us what happened Phyllis.."said Karen.

III-

Phyllis sat back and began to talk..

I listened attentively as if I was bracing a suspect back in New Orleans ,when I was a Homicide Detective.

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Josie , Dabnis and Jasmine listened also.

"Roy was my third husband...He was not my daughter's father...Her father was my first husband...He died when she was eight...I married again when she was 11...My second husband is doing life at Stanga for Armed Robbery-Homicide.. I met Roy when my daughter was 16...We lived together for uh three years before getting married..

My daughter was 19 and she and her girlfriend told me that Roy had been slipping into her room at night, slipping her panties down and having his way with her for years...

At first I couldn't believe it..Then I confronted him about it...At first he denied it...Then he fessed up...That yeah he had, but it had only been like five times.."said Phyllis.

"Oh Just five times!" said Jazzy..

"I know right?" said Beverly..

"Okayyy?" said Josie.

"I filed for divorce immediately...and I gave him a month to move out...He moved down to the living room couch...

I uh went out grocery shopping...Roy was on the couch asleep, snoring...I got groceries and I stopped and had a beer...When I got home...He wasn't snoring, he was just laying there..I asked him to help me unpack the groceries.. He didn't say nothin...I un packed everything and I nudged him...He was stiff as a board...He was dead!

At first they said his death was ruled as Heart Failure..But His first wife swore he'd been murdered and they did a second Autopsy and they say they discovered LSD in his system, which caused his heart to race and explode..

I don't know where he got any LSD from...He didn't do drugs...Neither did I...His second wife got some drug dealer to lie and say that he sold me some LSD....I had never seen this guy before..

I realized I was being set up...So Me and my daughter high tailed it."said Phyllis..

''All the way to Canada, Where your credit cards and phone calls led the FBI and Royal Mounted Police right to you..."I said.

"Yeah...I wasn't too good at this being a felon thing...After a show trial basically...I was convicted and sentenced to Life."said Phyllis.

"Where is your daughter?"asked Nelson..

"I couldn't tell you...Haven't seen or heard from her since the trial...That was 7 years ago." said Phyllis.

"Okay Phyllis..We have the trial transcript and the police case file and two autopsy reports...We are going to look into all of this..and you will hear from us...Soon...I promise you.....Here is my card...Call me if you need anything...Call me."said Karen..

"I can't believe this."said Phyllis..

"Believe it...We now work for you.."said Olivia..

"That's right.." said Beverly..

Jasmine smiled..Tears were flowing down her face...She was destroying her demons...One by one..

IV-

It was late we found an Air BNB to stay in...

"Oh My God...This Place Looks like a Prison Dorm.."said Nelson...

"This is a Prison town.."said Dabnis ,with a wry smile on his face...

Even I was a bit taken aback upon seeing the outside..

"It does remind me of the 59th Street Projects."said Jasmine...The Housing Projects where she grew up with her Mother and fought so hard to get out of...

"Relax, you might be delightfully surprised when you go inside.."said Olivia.

"I certainly hope so.." said Beverly...

Josie smiled..