Since we worked down the street...We were always at the courthouse early...
Sofia and Kahlil were kissing too... Neither our client , nor Ms. Yvette had showed up yet or Ms. Jade for that matter..
"I swear...We are going to have to open a day care in that office, sooner than later...the way you guys constantly go at each other." she said ,laughing.. She passed us each a cup..
Jade had Churros for us... Sofia loved them and she had gotten all if us hooked on them... This was to be our breakfast this morning..
We passed her a cup of coffee and a churro..
"Thank you." she said.
How careful was Federal Judge Stephon White....He hadn't been at a court appearence , nor did he walk to trail with her....Since they were staying on her brother's Yacht, he wasn't seen at all.. We hadn't seen him in a week.
Todd Dellums was across the street with his girlfriend, Assistant District Attorney, Vanessa Stevens...She had taken him to her girlfriend's house.. Her girlfriend was a cosmetologist...She had did a wonderful job of covering up the blackened eyes and the discolored cheeks..The swelling in his lip had gone down...He looked a lot better than he had looked.. These fist fights were not good for him...He needed to avoid them...Although, Lt. Tragg could bring out the worst in anybody...
She kissed him softly...
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, I'll see you later...I gotta head downtown to court...I have a preliminary hearing this morning...See ya later babes." she said..
Bee Bee watched them....Vanessa was three years older than Todd...She was good for him...She didn't hate Todd, even though they had once been engaged...and she wanted hm to find happiness too.. He looked as if he may have found it.
"Well, let's get to it.." said Ms. Yvette.
Me, Bee Bee, Sofia ,Kahlil and Jade all followed Ms. Yvette into the courthouse.
.We had finished our coffees and churros...Like all of our other cases..We had done our research, Laws, Predicates, Like cases, Federal statutes for search and seizure...the works... Jade had done a sterling investigation...but the fact remained.. The 20 kilos of Heroin was found on Alma's property and the "anonymous "call, had come from her son who'd seen the drugs being placed there for safekeeping.
Our job was to prove that our client was a good person, a law abiding citizen who had nothing to do with this...Despite the fact that she knew what her brother did for a living and she benefitted from it.. He paid her college tuition completely from day one until she graduated and she knew it..
AUSA Todd Dellums was right.. He did have the hot hand..
II-
And so the trial began....
"The AUSA has admitted that someone other than my client hid those drugs and there is no proof and no eyewitness who can place my client at that scene where the drugs were found..."said Yvette.
.
"She knew him...She knew what he did when he wasn't catering and yet....She hired him to cater her 11 year old son's party....Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....Seems to me that she was a co-conspirator."said Todd.
Judge Bedford was impressed with their astuteness...but he allowed the testimony and over-ruled them...
This was not going to be an easy case to try.
"Powdered Milk? You found Powdered Milk in a deep freezer in her basement...Was that mentioned in the anonymous call?" asked Yvette.
Ms. Yvette, Myself and Bee Bee looked over everything to make sure it was in order...It was...
"OBJECTION...CALLS FOR SPECULATION!" screamed Sofia..
"No, but when we found it, We knew that this house was a lab...Where the stuff was cut and stepped on."said Agent Gittings.. "AND SHE ORDERED THIS HERSELF...I HAVE THE CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS!" he said, showing the receipts.."AND THE CHARGING DOCKET WHICH INCLUDES THE POWDERED MILK!" he said and showed Ms. Yvette the documents and receipts...
"In my opinion...she's up to her eyeballs in this." added Agent Giddings..
"THAT'S A LIE....NO SUCH THING WAS GOING ON AT MY HOUSE!!" screamed Alma...
''Strike Agent Giddings's last remarks from the court record...I'm asking the jury to disregard those remarks.."said Judge Bedford...but the damage had already been done..The Jury had heard the remarks.
"Shhhhhh, simmer down Alma...Simmer down." chided Bee Bee.
"It'll be alright mami."said Sofia..
Kahlil approached Agent Gittings...
"Powdered Milk...Powdered Milk...Powdered Milk???? You do know that She teaches First and Second Grade students and Special Needs children from Kindergarten to Second Grade... That milk was ordered for her students...So they could have milk for their cereal in the morning and lunch in the afternoon. Don't you." said Kahlil.
I produced the check from the Philadelphia School Board re-imbursing her for the purchase of the powdered milk and other school supplies and an inventory of purchases..Also with credit and debit card receipts.
"There was no attempt to hide this milk and it was not used as a cutting agent.. It was being stored for use by her students...." I said..
"My client maintains that she knew nothing about any drugs on her property,,,,Yes she knew that the late Mr. Watkins was her brother's business partner and she knew him socially.....but she hired him as a Caterer and Event Planner, which he was also. Nothing more." argued Yvette...
Both sides had made some good points today...
"Due to the lateness of the hour... I am going to adjourn court today.....It's Friday...Have a great weekend everybody...We will continue on Monday." said Judge Bedford...
"Not too late to accept my proffer, Yvette!" said Todd , smugly...
None of us left that courtroom feeling that good.
III-
Jetty was busy kissing Ms. Virginia..
"YES!!!,.Who else?" he said.
"That's because you're a horny old man." she whispered in between more kisses.
He paused for a minute!
"I thought about that house....I was talking to Olivia's realtor Sepia today....I know how much you love your friends...There are only two houses left on Olivia's block that are vacant...One in particular is in between Jade and Danny and Alfreda and Rockland..I thought it was lovely.. Would you like to live there? We'd be close to everybody...I took a look at it the other day...It would be perfect for us...I could build a study on the third floor.." said Jetty...
Virginia smiled.. "I love you sooo much, you've been , you've been my guardian angel .....You've done everything to make me happy..." she said, Tears flowing down her face... "Get your clothes off!" she said.
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Jetty wasted no time undressing himself and undressing Virginia...
and slipping her panties down...
He placed her on the bathroom sink, spread her legs open and slowly thrusted inside of her..
The sounds of their moans and coos could be heard outside as people walked by and smiled sheepishly at each other.
Yvette had told Gary about the trial..
"Not that I know...I think he saw who planted the drugs and was trying to protect his mama."said Yvette..
Gary smiled..
"WOWWWWWWW YOU HAVE GOTTEN ME SO AROUSED RIGHT NOW!!!OUUUUUUU!!!"said Yvette.
The bedsprings were soon squeaking very loudly.....The headboard of their bed was rattling and the sounds of lovemaking could be heard...
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuu..I LOVE YOU TOOO!!! DON'T THINK I DON'T!! OUUUUUUUUUU!" moaned Yvette...
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." moaned Gary.
MONDAY MORNING- DAY THREE OF THE TRIAL-COURTROOM B-
Judge Bedford was residing.. Ms. Yvette sat with Alma.. Bee Bee and I sat next to them with our laptop... Sofia and Kahlil sat next to us with their laptop and Jade sat next to them...
Ms. Yvette had repeated the narrative Gary had told her the night before...And in the same way..
"He's my brother."said Alma.
"He's trouble.. think about your son...If by chance we can't get you out of this..and you go away...What happens to him? Who is going to raise him?? His Uncle??" I said.
Bee Bee felt sorry for her.. She didn't lecture her.. Ms. Yvette and I were doing that enough..
"No, should I? I told you I'm not involved in my brother's life."said Alma, getting frustrated with us.
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"OH MY GODDDD, ARE THESE NEW?" he asked.
"YES JETTY, I PURCHASED THEM LAST WEEK!" she sighed and then laughed...
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuu you are so fresh..." said Virginia... Jetty was squeezing her butt and moaning..
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
He lifted her up and entered her slowly......
"OHHHHHHHHH JETTY, I AM SOOOOO WET!!!!" she moaned..as he lifted her up and entered her...
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YEAHHHHHH!" he moaned...He was nearly delirious!
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WEEEEEEEEEEEE!OHHHHH MY GOD!!!!" she cooed. Kissing him like it was going out of style...
"OHHHHHHHHH JETTY I'M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE YOU SOOO HAPPY!" said Virginia.
"YOU ALREADY HAVE!" said Jetty, trying to catch his breath...He didn't know if he was coming or going!
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YOU ARE SOOOO SWEEEEET!" she cooed.
She rode him slowly like a surfer rides the waves... Jetty was delirious.
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM HUSBANDDDD!" she cried out..
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WIFE!" he moaned.. "UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he continued moaning..
"You like it daddy?" she asked..
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH...AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWD YESSS!" he cried out...
They collapsed on the bed and made sweet sweet love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!
The sounds of their moans and coos could be heard outside as people walked by and smiled sheepishly at each other.
And At Ms. Yvette's house.. SIX BLOCKS AWAY-
"She's not the easiest client to defend... The Government has an open and shut case...they found the dope in her house right where the anonymous caller, her son said it was..." said Yvette.
"But did he say SHE put it there?" asked Gary..
"Don't you see? It's right there in front of you... His number two... Tony Watkins , the Caterer, the Event planner , planted those drugs there....He was stealing from the boss...He was trying to make a little dough on the side...He was as surprised as anyone when the DEA walked in....Why do you think he winds up dead the next day after Johnson's sister was arrested?/ Who do you think did that?? Nobody else would dare challenge Lonnie Johnson...Nobody...Lonnie made that happen himself to set an example to anyone else who got an idea to steal.....Plus he was upset that his own sister got drawn into this...You spin that story....You re-introduce yourself to that Jury..."said Gary..
Gary took her in his arms and kissed her passionately...
Yvette wasn't exagerating....he had gotten her aroused....She didn't know what all she was feeling, gratitude, arousal...whatever....She found herself crying like a little girl as he kissed her..
He slipped her panties down and off...
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm I love your selection." he moaned...
"I'm glad you do..." Yvette said and smiled..
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goddddd, everything about you drives me wild.." he said..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu does it?" asked Yvette, bemused..
"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" he moaned..
Yvette eased down on him and began to move up and down slowly, kissing him softly, slowly, driving him to near delirium...She was having a very intense orgasm...that caused her to cry even more....
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Garyyyyy, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." she moaned...
"Vettie, I love you , I just love you soooo much.." moaned Gary, beside himself with lust..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuu..I LOVE YOU TOOO!!! DON'T THINK I DON'T!! OUUUUUUUUUU!" moaned Yvette...
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." moaned Gary.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Garyyyyy, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.. All BIG AND HARDDDD! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LAWDDDDD!!!" she moaned...
"Vettie, I love you , I just love you soooo much.." moaned Gary...
"GARY!!! OUUUUUUUUU I LOVE YOUUUUU TOOO! OUUUUUUUU!"she moaned..
Yvette had had three to four intense orgasms in the EIGHT TO NINE HOURS of lovemaking...
Both climaxing in a crescendo of sweat!
She finished her night lying on top of Gary's chest....Gary wrapped his arms around her and hugged her...
She felt safe and confident.
"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she cooed
Monday was going to be a different day.
IV-
Your brother's number two... Tony Watkins , the Caterer, the Event planner , planted those drugs at your house.....He was stealing from the boss...He was trying to make a little dough on the side...He was as surprised as anyone when the DEA walked in....Why do you think he winds up dead the next day after you were arrested?/ Who do you think did that?? Nobody else would dare challenge Lonnie Johnson...Nobody...Lonnie made that happen himself to set an example to anyone else who got an idea to steal.....Plus he was upset that his own sister, namely you got drawn into this... You sasid he promised not to draw you and your son into this..Well he has, whether directly or not.. His world has come crashing into yours directly...If we get you out of this..You've got to seperate yourself from him."said Ms. Yvette.
She simply showed her a recent news story...
DEA ARRESTS SUSPECTED KILLER OF WATKINS!
Sofia said nothing, but she was reading the story too...There was a photo of him.
''Do you know this guy Alma?" asked Kahlil.
But realizing what we were saying was true and that her brother's lifestyle was bubbling over into her life and it was endangering her and her son.
"You are whether you want to be or not!"said Jade.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums made his final argument and rested his case.. He presents his final document which states that the substance found in Alma's house was indeed Heroin...He smiles.
"WHAT?" said Todd looking at the document...He himself was shocked....
"Your Honor....This nullifies the whole case—the prosecution can’t prove it’s heroin, so there’s no crime..I am asking for a direct verdict." said Ms. Yvette.
"OH MY GODDD!!! OH MY GODD!! WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" screamed Alma ,leaping up and cheering...
The air oozed out of Todd Dellums balloon....
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" asked a shocked Alma..
"My brilliant boss just got you off, that's what just happened."I said, smiling..
Ms. Yvette smiled...She was touched by what I had said..
Her old Law school proffessor would have been proud of her...She always told her and Olivia to" Look over every single document presented to you by the opposition and make sure it is thorough and completed right..One mis-spelling, one document not notarized could be a reason to toss evidence out and on the same token, make sure your documents are accurate and thorough..." she said.
Leon "Lonnie" Johnson's reign of terror and stranglehold on West Philadelphia ended...He was convicted of Solicitation of Murder and Federal RICO Charges and sentenced to 30 years in Federal Prison.
THANKSGIVING DAY-
Beverly and her husband, Nelson and his mother arrived shortly afterwords...
Josie, Paris and his mother and father arrived too..
Jessica and Chip arrived with their Parents and Jessica's Grand Mother..
Jade and her husband, Danny Ho arrived....
Yvette,and Gary and Ms. Yvette's Mother arrived next....
Bee Bee came with her mother and father...
To my surprise, My Father came with his new girlfriend...Someone we all knew
ADA Sharrone Stokes...
Zoey and Lem arrived and Karen Page and B.L. joined us.....
"The Prosecution rests your honor.." he smiles smugly.
Ms. Yvette was prepared with her argument...but she leafed through the document he presented first....Her eyes got as wide as saucers.. She stared at the Judge..
"Your Honor...The last page of this document is not notarized.." she said and showed it to the Judge.
"WHAT?" he said.. He looked at the documents...Not only the last page, but the page before that was not notarized.... He was flabberghasted....He sighed deeply...He looked sternly at Assistant U.S. Attorney Tod Dellums, a usually meticulous man who had scolded other Attorneys working for him for being sloppy..
"Well, maybe the pages got stuck together.. Look there is a Notary Republic right down the hall...I'll have it notarized...It'll take just a minute...." he pleaded.
"Mr. Dellums, you should have checked this thoroughly before you presented it..You know better than this..I've heard you scold your staff members for doing sloppy work like this.....Now you bring me an official document and you don't notarize every page? I regrettably am forced to throw this out!" said the Judge..
"WHAT????But you can't..YOU YOU..You...YOU CAN'T DO THAT!! That represents all of the evidence the government's case is based off of...Without that we have no case!" he protested.
"Well as I said.. You should have thoroughly checked this out before you presented this...I'm sorry...I am forced to toss this out..." said Judge Bedford.
"So Moved... All Charges are dropped...Ms. Johnson... You are free to go!" said Judge Bedford..
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!....I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" he said.. He had no one to blame but himself..
He tossed his suit jacket in the air..and kicked the table..
Ms Yvette and Ms. Olivia drilled those principles into us.
"Ms. Yvette How did you know?" asked Bee Bee.
"Yeah how did you know?" asked Sofia.
"I didn't know...but I had to look...... We had a defense...a good defense that we were prepared to argue...but I remember...one of my professors in law school told me to always look at documents presented as evidence by prosecutors, make sure every page is notarized....She said sometimes if it's something that can't be verified, they don't have it notarized and try to hide it.. I don't think Todd purposely did that..I think it just slipped his mind. He was so sure he was on the road to a victory."said Ms. Yvette.
"You said sometimes people get so cocky, so smug ,they make a mistake..Looks like he made a big one."said Jade.
"THANK YOU!! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! NOW I CAN GO BACK TO MY LIFE!"said Alma, who hugged and kissed every last one of us..
"You're welcome..."said Ms. Yvette.
"You're welcome...Looks like you'll be home for the Holidays..." I said.
"With your son."said Bee Bee.
"You're welcome...My partners and I wanted to wrap this up by Thanksgiving."said Sofia...
"Looks like we did."said Kahlil...
"Yes...I can use the extra rest...."said Jade.
"I'm closing the office tomorrow and not re-opening until Monday....I'll call Virginia and tell her." said Ms. Yvette.
None of us said anything to him...We simply stood there.
"Leon Lonnie Johnson!!! You're under arrest....Solicitation of Murder....You have the right to remain silent, Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...You have the right to an attorney...If you can not afford one...One will be provided for you..Do you understand these rights as I am reading them to you?" said DEA Special Agent in Charge, Carol Redding Cantrell..
"Hey this is some bullshit mannn! Alma, call my lawyer..." he said as he was carted off.
His sister, Alma Louise stood quietly as she watched her brother being driven off.......she said nothing, she just blankly stared.
"We finished just in time for Thanksgiving...It's four days away."said Ms. Yvette.
"Let's grab some cold ones."I said.
"That's a good idea..."said Bee Bee.
"Let's go to that bar a few blocks from here..The One Brooke and Natalie told us about.."said Sofia.
"Yeah..."said Kahlil..
"No argument from me."said Jade..
And we had capitalized on it and won this trial without even involving the jury....Ms. Yvette had thrown a Hail Mary and won!
"I'll say and it saved us another week of trial. Still teaching us... Always teaching us.. Ms. Yvette you are the best teacher I ever had!"said Kahlil.., who hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Awwwwwwwwwww thank you...I got lucky today, that's all... The important thing is to prepare like a demon... You won't always get a lucky break....but it's nice when you do." said Yvette, who had wrapped this case up with three days to spare before Thanksgiving.
Ms. Yvette had won this case on a technicality...We didn't need a jury's verdict... Which was leaning towards being hung.. 7 our way, 5 the Government's way... Kahlil had told me.
''YES , That's the most important thing...I can't thank you enough..." said Alma..
Her brother, the notorious West Philly Drug Kingpin, Leon Lonnie Johnson appeared...He was a pretty normal looking guy...Not at all what I expected.
"Sis...you're free...I heard these were good lawyers.. I want to thank all of you...Thank you for taking care of my baby sis." he said ..
He like her had no convictions for anything on his record...Not as an adult...Only a Juvenile record, two stints in Juvenile Hall.
A squad of DEA agents handcuffed him and took him away..
The gunman accepted a deal and told the government that Lonnie had paid him to shoot Tony Watkins for stealing from him and getting his sister in trouble..
The Government had arrested Lonnie Johnson, finally and his number two, Tony Watkins was dead.. They had essentially broken the back of his street empire...Another Kingpin had fallen...
Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums smiled. The real target of their investigation, Leon Lonnie Johnson was in handcuffs, Tony Watkins was dead..It was a good day for the Feds after all.. He no longer cared about losing to us in court...
As we all walked down the street.
EPILOUGE-
Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her elite detectives of the Criminal Investigation Division and Deputy Special Agent in charge, Sharon Hopkins and The FBI/ATF rounded up 78 of his associates between them, effectively ending his organization's hold on West and Southwest Philadelphia and parts of South Philadelphia.
A nice Thanksgiving present for them...
A Jubilant ADA Keith Wallace and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Dellums smiled and announced the arrests to the Press...
While a furious and bitter Lt. Tragg looked on...
"THAT WAS MY CASE....THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY CASE! That Damn Todd Dellums...I shoulda decked him..." he snarled...
Kayla and her husband, Ray St. Jacques hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at their house.. They used the top floor of their house...
Her cousin, Olivia, Donnie Ray and her "Aunt" Alfreda prepared the Thanksgiving meal and Thanksgiving Table..
Donnie Ray's Sister and brother in law and his Niece and Nephew were up from New Orleans this year and were dining with us....
Bresha, Tony and Alfreda's husband, Rockland arrived.....
Jazzy, Dabnis and their parents arrived...
Sofia and Kahlil arrived with their parents and Sofia's Grandmother.
I didn't know they were an item until they arrived at this party...
Newly engaged couple, Virginia Shaw and Jetty Dukes Arrived to cheers and whistles and news that they soon were going to be our neighbors...buying one of the last two empty houses on our block.
Jetty brought Champaigne and Wine..
"Now it's a party" he declared as everybody cheered.
The Caterer arrived with a tray for everybody... An Italian Buffet, A Pan-Asian Buffet, A Latin Buffett, A Middle Eastern Buffett and a Soul Food Buffett...
Everyone's Parents were impressed and really happy that we had thought about all of the different heritages our group consisted of
Our circle of friends was growing even wider.....That was a good thing!
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