VENTURES: Shame

We were in the courthouse known as "Big Fed.." The first day of Voir Dire,.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Strong knew all about us and our reputation...He had prepared well...but reading a dossier and actually meeting and facing the subjects of said dossier was a whole nother thing.

Nelson was more than a match for him when it came to voir dire, jury selection...

Voir dire is the process by which potential jurors are chosen from a pre-selected jury pool. During this phase of jury selection, the attorneys for each party, as well as the judge, ask questions of each potential juror to determine whether he or she has any bias regarding the case, or other reason he or she should not be chosen.

Nelson ,having minored in Psychology and taken Trial Science while in law school was a master at it, which was why Olivia wanted him at her law firm...That and their past history at the Public Defender's office.

He dueled Bill Strong to a 9-3 split..

AUSA Bill Strong felt a little uneasy...He had never lost one of these...He too had a background in trial science...He peered over at Olivia and her "girls"

Her niece and founding partner, Beverly..

Associate Attorney, Josie Boyd.

Olivia herself..

and Bresha, her newest Associate Attorney... Bresha was fresh out of law school..

The rest, even Olivia herself was very young...but as he would find out very prepared...and unafraid and not the least bit in awe of him and his reputation.

They had prepared some pre-trial challenges and appear to have researched them very well..He was impressed..

Judge John Bedford was also impressed and took all but one into consideration.. They didn't want two of Brenda's past sexual misconduct allegations included...

Bill Strong argued that it went to motive by showing inclination...

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson argued vehemently that this was ridiculous and grossly unfair, that they were allegations and never proven... They presented actual law, predicates and simular cases to back up their arguments..

AUSA Strong now realized this wasn't going to be the slam dunk, steam roller case he was accustomed to...They had prepared well...Especially these three.

Luck and the Judge was on his side. The Judge allowed this testimony, but told Olivia, Beverly and Nelson that they were free to appeal his ruling at a later date if they really felt it was unfair. Despite what we thought..The Judge actually liked and respected us.

Our client, Attorney Brenda Jordan smiled.

"See? This is why I hired your wife and her associates to defend me..because I knew they'd come with a thunder...I knew they'd be prepared.." she said ,nodding her approval.

"Yes, they are.." I said.. I nodded, I noticed two people in the visitor's section observing this trial..Two people who didn't need to be here...well, maybe one.

Attorney Holly Master, who needed for us to lose so she could mount an appeal to the original verdict..

The more I stared at her, the more my mind began shifting in an entire new direction.

and Lieutenant Tragg...Why was he here? This case had absolutely nothing to do with him...It wasn't a Homicide, it wasn't his case..It was a Jury Tampering and Bribery case..

Unknown to any of us except Brenda.. He was here because of her..

The two of them had done tequila shots the night before last.

They had gone to the condo of an associate attorney , who was out of town on business.. She gave Brenda the keys and Brenda sometimes checked on the condo, to make sure everything was alright..

The two then soaked in the jacuzzi..

Then made sweet love on the warm floors...

On the side of the soft smart bed..

And in the warm , heated smart bed...

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS flew by briskly....

She never planned to do this once and especially not twice...but she was desperate, on edge and she needed a stress buster...

Lt. Tragg had been it.

When they woke up...He helped her empty the jacuzzi and straighten the place up...Changing the sheets and making the bed and leaving the place as they found it..

He was still in a trance about how good it was, how soft her body was, how nice she smelled..and how good the sex was...

He was there to watch Brenda..

Josie noticed him there too..

"What the hell is Lt. Tragg doing here?" she asked.

"I know right? Is he going to be bugging us about this case too?" asked Bresha.

But when they looked again.. He was gone...The good lieutenant obviously had work to do.

"The Jury has been picked..Trial will begin promptly on Monday at 8:00 am. Be on time and be ready for trial." said Judge Bedford.

"What is it with this guy and these early morning court hearings?" scoffed Beverly.

"I know right? I left the public defenders office to get away from that." joked Olivia.

"I know right? Me too!" laughed Nelson..

"Reminds me of when I was a cop, those early morning hours." I said.

"I haven't worked this early since I was in New York."laughed Josie.

''Guess you guys have me spoiled." said Bresha.

"I've NEVER worked this early...This is just psychological torture." scoffed Brenda, our client.

Holly Masters walked over...She smiled.

"Don't be late for court." she said and smirked..

and then turned and walked away...

II-

Against our better judgement, we all decided to eat at Sam Mother's today for lunch..

We had Hot Ham and Cheese sandwiches and soups..

"Just what the doctor ordered." I said. "The way I see it. AUSA Strong found out today that you all aren't afraid of him..He didn't expect that you would be as prepared as you were...I could look at his face and tell that you guys knocked him off his game." I said as I munched on my sandwich.

"Yes, but this was just the first day...we've got a whole trial coming and we have to be ready for it."said Olivia.

"I've researched his prior cases...He's won a number of cases without even going to court...He's offered a proffer to some attorneys and pleaded the original charges down a bit....For those, like us who refused his proffer , he has destroyed them in court mercillessly." said Beverly..

''Which he's not going to do to us." said Nelson confidently. He couldn't wait to face him in court.

"Donnie Ray is right. I saw it in his face today...He had that look of surprise...Surprise that we rejected his proffer and had the nerve to make demands of him....He was surprised." said Josie.

"Now let's surprise him in court." said Bresha, who felt a lot more confident.

THREE DAYS LATER- 8:00 am Federal District Court AKA "Big FED"

The Jury Tampering and Bribery Trial of Brenda Jordan began.

Brenda sat with us, looking every bit as confident as she did when she tried her original case. The big case she won.

Holly Master sat fuming....She really hated Brenda Jordan.

With Assistant United States Attorney Bill Strong opening with his argument.

He said that Brenda Jordan was a brilliant and beautiful attorney who had won a lot of big cases for the law firms she worked for, but was also ruthless and cut-throat and tended to go rogue....

Olivia, Josie and Bresha tangled him up with objections for the next four days, backed up by Laws, prior cases and predicates he hadn't heard of...

He was frustrated in a way he wasn't accustomed to being frustrated...Yet he soldiered on....

He brought up against our wishes the fact that Brenda had allegedly slept with a client of hers in the Judges Chambers during the trial, while she was Married.

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson argued that this was hearsay and not backed by any facts or real evidence.. They cross examined his witnesses and not one of them could verify that they actually witnessed this, They could only say they heard it.

"I wished they had been my lawyers back then...Oh and for the record...I did not sleep with any client, ever." she said.

I smiled and rubbed her hands softly....Since this trial began, she liked confiding to me..

He continued his attack on Brenda personally to prove that bribing a juror was not beyond her.

She allegedly seduced a court employee and told him to steer wealthy clients her way...which got her dismissed from The Griffen Group and led to her and husband seperating , he said..

Beverly, Olivia and Josie disected all of his witnesses, again getting them to admit that this was gossip and hearsay and that they witnessed nothing.. Not a scrap of proof..

Brenda whispered to me.

"I am guilty of that and for that I'm ashamed...but your wife and your niece would have gotten me acquitted the way they are going." she said to me with a smile.

Again, I looked at her and smiled.

Furious and Frustrated...AUSA Strong retorted..

''While I may not have proof....She was censored by the Legal Ethics Board and her husband obviously believed it..It's why they seperated and later divorced." he said.

Nelson could see that AUSA Strong had totally lost most of the jury....

Strong could feel it too...He was frustrated in a way he had never been frustrated before.. He couldn't believe that what seemed like such a strong case was now falling down around his ankles..

He called Sam Gentile, his main and only witness who claimed he had been bribed by Brenda Jordan.

Bresha did her best imitation of Jazzy Coley... she demanded several times that Sam Gentile look at her and not the ground...

She asked him had he ever met the defendent, Brenda Jordan....

He said that he met her during jury selection and that she started texting him...

Lie number one..

Nelson and Josie pulled out a 60 inch monitor which showed a list of her calls from her personal and business phones and showed only one text from her to him...The night before the deliberations began.

Beverly showed him his original testimony showing he said Attorney Brenda Jordan met him in his driveway and handed him 50K in cash...

"That didn't happen...according to her hacked phone and these transcripts that transfer was made electronically the night before the deliberations from a bar you both were in at the same time.."said Beverly.

He lied again...He said she told him to meet at that bar..

Nelson, Bresha and Olivia hammered him on that point..They asked him when he was told this since he claimed there was no communication between them prior to the night before the deliberations.

He mumbled, he stuttered and he generally couldn't answer...He was sweating...

AUSA Strong realized that his star witness , who he had coached hadn't been ready for the evidence we had and was falling apart on the stand... He quickly gave his closing argument, eloquently stating his original argument...and hoping the jury forgot about the blistering cross examination we had done.

Judge John Bedford said.

" Mrs.Bennett-Alexander..I expect you to be in court tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM sharp to begin your defense.." he said.

"We definitely will your honor." said Olivia with a smile..

The confident swagger of Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Strong, who had never lost a case before , hadn't come close, which was why they called him to handle this case was all but gone!.It was supposed to be a slam dunk case...A walk through the legal park he felt..and yet it wasn't.... Yet he had been bested by a group of young attorneys who specialized in murder cases...This wasn't even their area of expertise.

He immediately traveled across the bridge to Cherry Hill and to the colorful bar where everything had gone down...

He bought a bottle of Tequilla

and killed a bottle by himself...

Rather than drive home inebriated, he walked across the street and checked into a hotel.... He was drunk , exhausted and felt defeated... He had been out lawyered...He couldn't believe it.

III-

7:00 AM-The Next day

We were at a local coffee shop having coffee...It was a brisk and cold winter morning...We were all up and out earlier than usual.

"I was up and out of the house before my husband...That has never happened before ."laughed Bresha as she sipped her coffee.

"I feel you Bree..I was up and out before my husband too! That has like never happened before." laughed Josie as she sipped her coffee.

I smiled. It was so weird hearing both of them talk about having husbands...Leaving their homes...

I was just getting used to Shortcake being married.

''This Judge is a real bonehead...He obviously doesn't have a wife..or any kind of family life." said Beverly.

Nelson smiled..

"Obviously not.." said Nelson, rubbing his wife's shapely legs and running his fingers up under her skirt..

Beverly smiled and leaned over...

rewarding him with a soft, slow kiss.

"We put Brenda on the stand and then we put Sam Gentile back on the stand... I saw shame in his eyes on his face, shame about lying to us...Shame ! He couldn't look Brenda or Bresha in the eyes...He regrets lying. We are going to hammer this home to the jury and rest....We did enough damage to AUSA

Strong's case to win this...Even if we don't know who put this together."said Olivia.

"Uh don't be so sure..I did some digging into Sam Gentile.... He has a son who was badly in need of a kidney.." I said.

"We knew this..His son is on the bottom of the list." said Beverly.

I pulled out my laptop..

"I know, but look at his son's facebook page.. " I said.

"Thanking GOD for a new kidney..." it read.

"Whatttttttttt?" asked Olivia.

"He's still on the bottom of the list, and yet...I did some checking..He was awarded a new kidney, one week after the trial and the operation was a sucesss and look at this , A 50K donation was made to the Hospital by...wait for it.. Sam and Lillian Gentile... and look who is on the Board of directors,

ATTORNEY HOLLY MASTER of the Harris Group!" I said.. "It's worth looking into in the future."I said.

"If we lose this case....That is certainly information that can be used in an immediate appeal." said Olivia.

"Most definitely.." said Nelson.

"It's 7:45..We'd better head to court." said Josie.

"Yes, let's get this over with." said Bresha.

THREE DAYS LATER-

The Jury was back after deliberating.

Judge John Bedford had been entertained by both the Prosecution and the defense.

"Has the Jury come to a decision?" He asked.

"Yes your honor, we have." said the jury foreman..

"Bailiff pass me the verdict." he said.

Nelson had never been wrong about a jury, he felt we had won the jury over..

He held his wife around the waist and squeezed her tight... Beverly leaned her head upon his shoulders..

Olivia sighed and looked forward...

Josie was stoic..

Brenda looked hopeful..

Brenda held my hand softly...She was worried and nervous, I could tell.

I thought they had done a great job.!

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Strong looked like he could use a drink...He had his fingers crossed.

"Baillif read the verdict." said the Judge.

"IN THE MATTER OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VS, BRENDA JORDAN..COUNT ONE, JURY TAMPERING..WE FIND THE DEFENDENT , NOT GUILTY!

ON COUNT TWO BRIBERY...WE FIND THE DEFENDENT , NOT GUILTY!

ON COUNT THREE ,CONSPIRACY, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!!

"WOOOOOOOOOOOUUUWEEEEEEEEE!" shouted Brenda as she leaped for joy...

"Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie, Bresha , I love YOUUUUUUU!" she shouted,

hugging us all..

"Well Brenda...You're free and clear...That judgement you won is free to be disbursed ...You're back on track to be partner now." said Olivia.

"Like you should have been in the first place."said Beverly.

"I'm Happy for you..Your name was cleared in just about everything." I said.

"We sold it to the jury and they believed it." said Nelson..

"YESSSSS!" said Josie.

"Now I can sleep in the morning." said Bresha.

Yvette Jones-Lockwood was there to celebrate the victory...

"I told you these guys would get you off." said Yvette.

"Oh Vettie, you were so right." said Brenda.

AUSA Strong had lost his very first case... He slumped down in his seat as the courtroom cleared..

I walked over to him...

"I hope you're not planning to leave town tonight." I said.

''Actually I was." he said, holding his head down...

I took out my laptop.

"I think you ought to know this and I think you ought to see this." I said. "If you want to get to the bottom of this." I said.

His head looked up, I thought I saw a small smile on his face.

IV-

The next morning...At a Car Detailing Shop in the Mayfair section of the city... Sam Gentile looked up and saw strange bedfellows , Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Strong walked toward him with me and the woman Strong tried unsucessfully to put away..Brenda Jordan. He looked nervous.

"Mr. Strong...Uh what are you uh doing here? I testified...The trial is over..Sorry you uh lost, but uh I uh did my part." he explained nervously..

''What I fear you did was perjure yourself. And more than bribery, more than witness tampering...I HATE PERJURY!" snarled AUSA Bill Strong.

"We know about your son...We know he got his kidney...We know he's still on the bottom of the list." I said.

"We know about a payment made by you and your wife to Hospital officials of exactly 50K..How about that?" said Brenda.

"My son was dying..He had been sick for a long time..He needed a kidney, he was on the bottom of the list... I didn't even want to do any jury duty...She came to me, she said she could help me, that she had a connection...She offered me 50k...It got my son a kidney, It saved his life...I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I said Ms. Jordan bribed me...I never met Ms. Jordan before in my life...But she told me I had to say Ms. Jordan bribed me...I'm so sorry." he said, still not being able to look Brenda in the eye.

"I could have lost my job...I could have lost my license to practice law and could have spent the next 10-15 years in prison....You almost ruined my life... I lost half of my emergency funds and had to spend an additional amount to pay my lawyers...I'm sorry, your damn apology is not accepted...It cost me too much." said Brenda.

"I'm sorry, but my son is alive...My son isn't sick....I had to do it." said Sam Gentile.

"YOU PERJURED YOURSELF AND WASTED MY TIME AND REPUTATION...I'M SORRY TOO

but you're under arrest, take him away boys." said AUSA Bill Strong.

FBI agents read him his rights and handcuffed him..

"Oh and by the way..."Who is this SHE, you're talking about? Who really made this deal with you?" said AUSA Bill Strong.

He hung his head low and began to talk.

The next day.Holly Master walked into an empty Federal Courtroom

''Olivia girl, what are you doing here? Nice dress." she said.

"Thank You...The thing is Holly, You 're a talented attorney....Did a victory mean that much to you?" said Olivia.

Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bresha were eerily silent.

"What are you talking about?" she laughed nervously.

"I'll tell you what she's talking about.." I said. "Ever since this case began..I said whoever set this up hated Brenda Jordan and ultimately wanted to destroy her and they also couldn't afford to lose that case. I thought it was Bill Clayton at first....but I remembered something AUSA Bill Strong said.

"That was a cute trick Olivia..but it won't wash...I know what you're thinking..but Bill Clayton is not your guy...He didn't offer Gentile a bribe..Why would he? He's wealthy, Guys like him write off litigation all the time..He was disappointed with the verdict...but NOT THAT DISAPOINTED...Try again.." he said and walked off.

"Rich guys like him write off litigation all the time...but who really couldn't afford to lose that case? And then it came to me, An Attorney.... You! A rainmaker at your firm at one time....This was the sixth big litigation you lost..and this was the largest amount you lost for.. Bill Clayton had called your firm, said he wanted another attorney to represent him, said his group was not going to pay you for losing the first case, only pay you if you won the appeal...and AUSA Strong complained about you being a pest and asked them to tell you to back off...oh and rumor had it that the firm was threatening to push you out the door. It had to be you behind all of this." I said.

"You..You have any proof?" she asked nervously.

"We talked to Samuel Gentile, he told us EVERYTHING and I do mean everything.He was arrested yesterday morning...Your connect at the hospital has been arrested and she agreed to testify...AGAINST YOU! The FBI should be here soon." I said.

Just then, AUSA Bill Strong walked in with a group of FBI Agents...He looked at Holly with a white hot hatred I had never seen before.

"You're Under arrest Holly...Boys , take her away." was all he said.

The FBI agents read her ,her rights and handcuffed her. Before she was led out, she turned to us.

"You were smart Olivia, you got out of the rat race..You started your own law firm.. In the cuthroat world I live in, they never remember what you've done..It's what have you done for me lately? And when you're a woman...it's even harder, especially if you don't want their grubby hands up under your skirt or want to share a bed with them..." she said as she was led off.

''What a waste...She was a talented attorney.. She tossed her entire career away...Disbarment, 10-15 years in prison and her reputation destroyed. and for what?" said Olivia.

"WOWWWWWWWWWWW! She felt that desperate huh?" said Beverly.

"Desperate people do desperate things Shortcake. Sometimes they do stupid things" I said holding Josie and Bresha in my arms and squeezing them tight.

"I'm just glad this is over." said Josie.

"Me too!" said Bresha.

"Throw me the keys...Let's go home guys." said Nelson.

I couldn't think of a better suggestion.

EPILOUGE-

Assistant United States Attorney Bill Strong was furious that he had lost the case, his first and he wanted revenge.. He was determind to get it.

He prosecuted Holly Master with a vengeance.She was disbarred and sentenced to 10-15 years ,with no possibility of parole for at least 10 years....She's in The Women's Federal Prison in San Diego, California.

The Private Investigator she hired who hacked Brenda's phone and cloned the phony text messages and made the phony bank transfers was stripped of his license and sentenced to 3 -5 years in Federal Prison.

Holly's connect at the hospital was fired ,but given immunity from prosecution for her testimony against both Holly Masters and Sam Gentile. She was the only one who got any mercy.

Sam Gentile was sentenced to 3-6 years for Perjury!..

With his work done..He felt a little better and returned to Washington D.C. , hoping not to see Philadelphia for a long while.

AT BRENDA'S CONDO-

a cold cut tray was put out...

Another tray with Hot Sandwiches, Ham And Cheese and Hot Roast Beef...

Cole Slaw, Plenty of Beer and Plenty of Cokes.

"WOW! BRENDA....YOU KNOW HOW TO THROW A PARTY!" said Nelson,looking at all of the food and drink.

''You deserve it, all of you deserve it." said Brenda.

"Thank You soooo much Brenda...You didn't have to do all this, we were just doing our jobs." said a gracious Olivia.

"Liv you're so modest...Just thank the lady I said , while making myself a sandwich with cold cuts.

Beverly cracked up laughing...

"Goofball." she chuckled while munching on a sandwich and drinking beer.

Nelson had both a Hot Ham and Cheese sandwich and a Hot Roast Beef Sandwich on his plate.

Josie was cracking up as she quaffed down beers and munched on several sandwiches made with cold cuts..

Her husband, Paris was doing the same thing.

Bresha and her husband, Tony sat in a corner with several sandwiches ,Coke and Beer.

Tony motioned for her to sit on his lap, which she did.

Alfreda was glad to be with us..She enjoyed a beer and a few sandwiches.

Also with us tonight was Ms. Yvette and her crew, Husband Gary, Keith ,Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and Jade.

"Brenda ,I'm just happy your name was cleared and you won this big case." said Yvette.

"Yeah, it is nice, but my campaign for partnership has been stalled.Acquittal or not, they don't like the stain of any controversy...but I'm still very close to being a boss like you." Brenda laughed.