We were appealing the recent conviction of our client, Jessie Luther who appeared with us in shackles this morning...
We didn't expect him to be present..but he was..
I did my research on the Judge...Her name was Felicia Barnes and like me , a graduate of Howard University....She also attended Howard Law School and Passed the Bar in Maryland, Virginia, Deleware, Pensylvania, New Jersey and New York..She speaks fluent Russian, Spanish and French.. Was a Public Defender and an Assistant District Attorney before becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney during the Obama Administration.. she left the U.S. Attorney's officeto become an Appellate Court Judge...Married , two daughters, also Attorneys and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha...
That notwithstanding.. Yvette told us to bring our A. Games and we did..
Yvette gave a no nonsense plea for the conviction to be overturned because of misconduct on both the defense and the prosecutorial part..
Kahlil and I gave 28 instances in which the defense dropped the ball in this case, using the trial transcripts and several laws and predicates we researched to prove our point...
Bee Bee and Sofia had 17 instances of Prosecutorial misconduct and like us cited the transcripts and had predicates and laws to back their arguments...
"I think she's going to fry me...I don't like the looks of this...but for what it's worth..You guys were good..Very thorough.."said Jessie..
"Just relax...Sit back.." said Yvette..
Judge Barmes returned...
"Well, I love a good legal argument, especially when it's backed by facts....I wish my two daughters had been here to see you guys...One just passed the bar recently and the other has been practicing for three years now..I guess she's the same age as your four associates Ms. Jones..
Well,with all that said... Judging from your arguments and my own review of what must have been a circus of a trial...I am indeed throwing this conviction out and ordering a new trial as soon as possible for Mr. Luther. He is free until his trial...
Mr. Luther..you are not to leave the city of Philadelphia without special permission from the court...Now I can trust you can't I? I won't have to put an ankle bracelet on you will I?" she asked.
\
"No mam, thank you mam! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" said a jubilant Jessie Luther..
"You're welcome...Good Luck with your new trial.." said Judge Barnes..
"Thank You Your Honor." said a very contrite Jessie Luther.
"Oh and Ms. Jones?" said Judge Barnes...
"Yes your honor?" said Ms. Yvette.
"Good Job Soror....Skeeeeeeeeeeeeee Weeeet!" she said and winked...
Yvette smiled and winked at her too! Judge Barnes had done her research too!
The Press had been alerted and was outside the courthouse in force...snapping our photos....
"No Comment Guys..."said Yvette..
"No Comment." I said..
Jessie smiled and waved...but said nothing...He was just happy to be out of jail..
"No Comment." said Bee Bee..
"No Comment Guys.."said Sofia..
"No comment guys."said Kahlil
We rushed Jessie into a waiting UBER and Took off.
To tell you the truth...I was used to having to go to three or four State Appellate Courts and then the State Supreme court...I had been through those wars...It was nice to win on the first crack...It was damn near a miracle that we did... but we did.. Everybody Wasn't Happy...
Prosecuting Attorney, ADA Jim "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor was not happy.... The next day, the Daily News cover read..."Jumpshot Jim fouled on the play." Controversial Court Verdict overturned..Prosecutorial Misconduct cited.. "Nooooo Noo way....I'll bring Yvette up on slander charges...Noooo way..." he said, immediately calling his agent and checking out his Twitter and Instagram pages...
Jeff Pruit called his agent... The deal for Johnny Law was off the table...HBO and Netflix solidly rejected it..
"How about Hulu?" he asked..
"It's dead Jeff...Forget about it..."said his agent..
"Damn it....I've got to find Yvette and get her to let me help out on the retrial.." he said..
"And of course Lt. Tragg was livid
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! WHY WERE THEY EVEN ON THIS CASE?? IT WAS A DONE DEAL...A CONVICTION....I BROUGHT IN A GOOD CASE...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he steamed....
II-
Jade had been doing her investigation...She had interviewed all of the witnesses, including the witnesses that Lt. Tragg had interviewed that had been discredited by David Rodney..and additional witnesses that were never heard in the original trial that placed Jessie somewhere else at the time of the murder..
She observed the crime scene photos, had them blown up and she talked to Crime Scene Investigators and forensics people as well as Medical Examiner staff members.. They didn't have one piece of DNA or forensic evidence placing Jessie at the scene of the crime...
She wished she had the murder weapon...the rock with the blood on it...but that was mysteriously missing..All she had was a written report that ADA Taylor had suppreseed in the original trial that stated that Jessie Luther's DNA was not found on the rock, but someone else's..Unidentifeid DNA was found on the rock...
Without that rock...that note meant very little...Still she had enough to begin a credible defense..
She talked to us about it in the law library at The Bridge Highrise..
Where we were once again holed up...
"Good work Jade....I've won cases with a lot less....."said Yvette...
"I'm helping Keith with profiles from the jury pool...We want a young, white jurors, a little upper middle class, millennial..."said Bee Bee..
''Wowww that's a tall order...Not the type of juror we usually get..." I said..
"I've got questions written up for the prospective jurors." said Sofia..
"What did you do before we came along?" asked Kahlil..
"I worked a lot longer and harder.." said Ms. Yvette, who smiled..
We all laughed...
We communicated with Jessie through Portal...he was staying at a hotel...Using his real name, but keeping a low profile..
He admitted that he had flirted with the deceased girl, a few times or two and that they had even made out in his car a few times....but that he was not seeing her...He was involved with his now ex-girlfriend and hadn't been in her company within six months...Though he had seen her the day before she died briefly..
"I don't know why they didn't do this in the first trial...but I'm having the FBI, The Medical Examiners Office and an Independent DNA lab test the panties and the bra of the dead girl against Jessie's DNA... He's already given us Saliva, Urine and Semen samples.." said Jade..
"Well we've got all we need...Let's get out of here....Go have some fun....Stay loose guys..."said Yvette.
III-
We had been working hard...We needed a release...Sofia, Kahlil, Me and Bee Bee all went to Aqua Bar...It was Salsa Night and the drinks were half off...You couldn't beat that...
"I so needed to salsa tonight.."said Sofia, taking Kahlil to the dance floor..
"I needed a cold Modelo.."laughed Kahlil..
"Me and you both buddy." I said ,dancing with Bee Bee..
"The drinks are cold and half off tonight.."said Bee Bee..
We met Beverly, Nelson,Josie, Paris, Kayla and Ray there...
"Look at my little protoge's...Saw you guys on Television..Can we have your autographs?" laughed Beverly West, hugging each of us..
"You guys done good..Damn good!" said Nelson...
"Wowwww...I know you're relieved you don't have to go to another appellate court Josie..
"Let's Salsa.."said Paris..
"Hey everybody." said Kayla Bennett- St. Jacques, Olivia and Beverly's cousin...also an Attorney..
"Hey Guys..we finally got out tonight." said Ray...
Jazzy, her husband, Dabnis , Jessica and Chip were also there...
"Heyyy everybody...Bee Bee, Keith, Sofia, Kahlil...Good Job...we all saw you on Television." said Jazzy..
"Lieutenant Tragg nearly had a stroke...He was so mad...Oh god it was great...Now go win this trial.."said Dabnis to us..
"If you guys need any help just let us know.."said Jessica.
"Hey that's your song...Let's Salsa baby.." said Chip , who was quite a dancer...
It was a nice crowd..
and the drinks were half off...You couldn't beat it...
Ms. Yvette went to Curly's Bar where she met up with ADA Karen Page and Olivia Bennett-Alexander.
"Saw you on TV the other night Vettie...Wow, you done good..Got the conviction tossed out on the first try..."said Karen..
''I have never been that lucky...I've always had to go to three or four Appellate Courts and pray before getting a conviction overturned...Thank god for the Wrongful Conviction Unit...Much easier.."said Olivia..
"Believe me, this was my first time winning on the first crack too...This case just doesn't fit the parameters of a typical Wrongful Conviction Case....I'm just glad we got him overturned before he got sent upstate...He's free now pending trial...Keeping a low profile.. My guys are ready to go."said Yvette.
Just then Three refills of their drinks were sent to them..
A Citris Martini for Olivia
A Mango Martini for Yvette
and a Margarita for Karen...
Attorney Jeff Pruitt invited himself to their table... He had sent the drinks!
"Well three Superstars huh? Karen Page
...I've heard great things about your Wrongful Conviction Unit and the work you're doing..Olivia Bennett-Alexander...The Olivia Bennett-Alexander...Everybody knows you...Where are your troops tonight ladies?"..asked Jeff Pruitt
"My Husband should be here shortly and as for my niece and her husband and my other attorney...They are probably at Aqua Bar...It's Salsa Night...They like to dance."said Olivia.
"My youngins are probably with them..They like to dance too and I heard the drinks are half off.."said Yvette.
"Half Off? Hahahaha, that's where I should be...You can't beat that!" he laughed..
"That's not why you bought us the drinks and came over here is it Mr. Pruitt?" asked Yvette..
"I like that!...You get right to the point...Look...I want in on this Jessie Luther retrial...I can help you...I did defend him originally...You can pay me as a ahhh "Consultant" said Jeff Pruitt..
"Thank you, but I really don't need your help...I have four very good attorneys working on this case with me and they've rebuilt the defense from top to bottom and my investigator has initiated an entirely new investigation from scratch that is revealing things neither you or Mr. Rodney discovered in his first trial...Thank you, but we can manage." said Yvette..
"Look...you're going places...and with my contacts, we can all make a little money here...Big money."said Jeff Pruitt.
"I'm an Attorney...That's all I am... I care about my client...I'm trying to keep this kid from spending the rest of his life in jail for a crime he may be innocent of...I'm on the news enough as it is...Well , enough for me...Like I said.. Thank you for your offer...but four additional attorneys and an investigator is enough for this case...I don't need any additional help." said Yvette.
"Well, I see." said Jeff Pruitt...He got up and left...
"I don't think he was too happy with your answer." said Karen Page..
''That was uh , ahh a BIG NO! Well, at least we got free drinks for our troubles."laughed Olivia.
"What did I miss?"said Donnie Ray, who had just walked up with Gary...
''Yeah , what did we miss?" asked Gary.
"Oh Jeff Pruitt ,wanting to be part of this case...I told him thank you, but no thanks.." said Yvette.
She sighed.." I have a feeling he's not going to go away easy.."
IV-
A Saturday Morning...Ms. Yvette and Gary were in Sam Mother's diner eating breakfast...
"Baby...There is no syrup at the table.." she whispered..
"I'll get some for you...There's some at that empty table over there.." said Gary getting up..
They had fluffy pancakes..
Hash Browns
Breakfast sausage
and hot coffee
Yvette looked up and sighed....Attorney Jeff Pruitt was headed her way...He was becoming as much of a nuisance as Lt. Tragg..
"Ms. Jones, we meet again huh? That looks like a delicious breakfast...." he said and sat down in Gary's seat...
"Look, I really think you should reconsider and let me assist you on this case...You can run it...I'll be your second chair...It will be a great education for your young attorneys...." said Jeff Pruitt..
"Mr. Pruitt, Mr. Pruitt...For the last time....PLEASE! I have four very capable attorneys helping me..They have three years experience and if you look up their records you will find with the kind of casework they have been doing since they've been with me..They are equal to attorneys with TEN YEARS Experience.....Here they come now...and my investigator can handle this case...It's not a complicated case...They've handled cases like this before....THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR OFFER...But I believe we can handle it from here.." said Yvette.
"I really think you're making a mistake Ms. Jones...Why are you being so stubborn about this?" asked Jeff Pruitt..
"OUT OF MY CHAIR AND AWAY FROM THIS TABLE!!!" said an angry GaryLockwood..returning with the syrup... "I believe she's had this conversation with you before..She doesn't plan to have it again....Now get to steppin buddy!" he bellowed..
Jeff Pruitt stood up abruptly and stomped his foot in anger and part frustration and left the diner.
He passed us as we were coming in the diner...Me, Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Jade.
"Your Boss is making a mistake...I could be a great help on this case.." he said..
"He still needs the spotlight.." I said.. "I told him to talk to Ms. Yvette.." I said..
"Bad enough he loused up the case when he was in full control of it...He'd want to take over our case and louse it up further.."said Bee Bee.. "I was blunt with him....I said we didn't need his help."said Bee Bee.
"He wouldn't change, He'd be on the news, On the phone with his agent...Uh Uh..We don't need his kind of help.."said Sofia. "I told him the same thing..We didn't need him."said Sofia.
"I wouldn't take his call" said Kahlil..
"He and Lt. Tragg tried to talk to me about the case, but for different reasons...I laughed in their faces and ignored them...Eventually they both got up and left.." said Ms. Jade.
"So he's been talking to you guys too? Well, he's got our answer...A Big NO! So the next thing he'll try is to bug our residences...Don't discuss this case at your homes..We don't have to...We practically know what we have to do." said Yvette..
V-
That night , the Private Investigator, Kevin Morris and his wife, our realtor, Sepia hung out with us all on our rooftop terrace.
"I'll offer you the same deal I offered Olivia and Beverly... My guys will sweep your apartments, your home Ms. Yvette and your office as many times a week as you deem necessary...Your instincts were correct...We swept you guys apartments...found five micro listening devices and two micro-cameras in each..We swept your office...Found one Micro Listening device and found one camera..
We didn't find anything in your house Yvette..but we'll look again.." said Kevin..
"This guy is desperate...What is he afraid of?" asked Sepia, who sat with their cute daughter, KImberly.
"I suspect, he loused this case up and it affected some movie or TV pilot deal he had in L.A. They didn't want a loser, they needed a winner...That last case he won was yesterday's news.."said Yvette.
"They sent him packing, so he came back here to appeal the kid's case, Only to find that he'd been fired and replaced ,not by some green Public defender who would be intimidated and in awe of him, but by five very capable attorneys from a major law firm.." said Gary..
"He met with each of us individually to get us to sway the other."said Sofia.
"He found out that wouldn't work, so he went to Ms. Yvette directly."said Bee Bee.
"He thought we'd all be intimidated and in awe of him." I said.
"Well, so much for that...Let's drink!"said Kahlil, who brought up three six packs of Modelo
Beers, His favorite...
"Come on guys...The Burgers are ready..." said Ms. Jade, who was manning the grill this evening...
We had Burgers and Dogs on the grill...
"So you texted me...What's up?" asked Ms. Yvette, standing at the grill, waiting for a Hot Dog for herself and a Burger for Gary.
''I got a package in the mail today....No return address and in it, was the Bloody rock...the murder weapon in this case that mysteriously vanished from Evidence Lock up weeks into the first trial."said Jade.
"WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?" said Yvette
"Look I don't even want to speculate who may have moved it, or hid it...But Danny got some uniforms and detectives in his area to looking for it..I'm certain arms were twisted and threats were made and this thing turned up and got mysteriously mailed to me with no return address.." said Jade.
"Anyway...I sent it to the FBI and Goggins Lab for further testing...Not that I don't trust our M.E.'s office, but if Tragg or whoever got winf that they had it , It could very well vanish again." said Jade.
"Tragg and Taylor are going to have a fit when we introduce it to discovery...Tragg might even try to bring you up on charges." said Yvette.
"Let him try and then let him explain where something he wasn't supposed to have in the first place was all this time."said Jade..
''Spoken like a true attorney." I said. I had overheard the entire conversation while waiting for a Burger myself..
Yvette just smiled.
Standing outside our building was Attorney Jeff Pruitt....He had no idea we were on the rooftop terrace having a cookout...,He assumed we weren't home... He was furious that the "bugs"his P.I. had placed in our residences and our offices were discovered and destroyed..Now he couldn't listen to us, and thinking we weren't home...He was in a quandry...
"DAMN THEM!!! THEY'VE THWARTED ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!! If I don't have a part in this case...I am doomed...My deals in L.A. are down the toilet...I've got to find some way to get ahead of this...I've got to!" he said...
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