VENTURES: Exhumation

PRELUDE- PHILADELPHIA PA- DAYBREAK! THE NEXT DAY

"Good Morning Husband... I couldn't sleep, so I was just looking out the window.."said Natalie..

I put my arms around her waste and hugged her..rocking her back and forth.......

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm can I look with you?" I moaned , squeezing her..

" Sure you can......Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, you feel sooo good!and hard!!!!!" she said.

"So do youuuuu!" I said, squeezing her tight and kissing her earlobe....

'Ummmmmmmmm you woke up with that boner. didn't you?" she asked... rubbing the crotch area of my pajama bottoms...,"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU DAVID!!! MYYY GOOOODNESsS!!! OUUUUU!" she exclaimed.

"I was dreaming about you.." I said, smiling...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I bet you were after last night..I really put it on you....You were calling my name in your sleep!" she moaned.....and laughed..

"Yes you did....ouuuuuuuu!" I said.

We kissed passionately in the dark of the early morning........

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu your lips are so damn soft....they drive me wild." I said..

"My breathing drives you wild David." she said in between slow, soft kisses..

I slipped her panties down...

"OOOOOOOOOOOU!!! You want a morning quickie?." she laughed..

"It would be nice." I laughed..

"Yesss, it would be.." she said.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I moaned...as we stood near the bathroom door, kissing and slobbering all over each other...Me squeezing her butt...

"Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine being with you like this." I said.,

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DAVID!!!YOU ARE SO HARD!!! YOU STAY HARD! " she moaned silently..

My pajama bottoms dropped, I stepped out of them....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DAVID!!! LOOK AT YOU!!!!!! MYYYYY GOODNESS!!!!"she said...She smiled and momentarily put her hands over her mouth.....

I lifted her up and slowly entered her........She was so warm,so soft, so very wet....I was slowly losing control of myself.. I didn't know if I was coming or going..She felt the same way too....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DAVID!!! DADDY YOU ARE ALL UP IN THIS HERE...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LAWD!!!" she moaned silently..

"OHHHHHHHHHHH..AWWWWWWWW!!!UMMMMMMMMMMMMM AWWWWW LAWWWD!" I moaned..

I sat her on the sink, spread her legs and entered her while thrusting mightily.....

We kissed passionately and stared at each other in amazement as I continued to thrust inside of her... Her body trembled.Her legs shaking....her head turning from side to side and tears streamed down the sides of her face....

"DAVID OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" she cooed.....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NATALIE...I LOVE YOU!!!" I cried out..

"I LOVE YOU TOOO!!!UMMMMMMMMMMMMPH! " she said...as we continued kissing and I continued thrusting inside of her....

TWO HOURS slowly drifted by...

She had an intense orgasm....and it wasn't long after, that I came and came hard....My whole body shaking.....

Natalie gave me one last long sloppy kiss... "Ouuu, let's get in the shower..." she said. "OUUUUUUUU!!!" she cooed..

"OH MY GOD!" I gasped..

She cracked up laughing and grabbed some body wash and two wash cloth's off the shelf and took me by the hand and led me into the shower...

We took a hot soapy shower together.... A nice way to begin the day!

HOURS LATER- We were all in the cemetery, across town where the body of Baby Giselle Leonard was being exhumed..

We watched as the casket was lifted out of the grave..

It was a solemn moment.

"This is the first exhumation I've ever been to..." I said.

"Me too! And I hope it's my last.." said Natalie, hugging me...

"I feel so sad... I wish we could let that precious baby rest in peace."said Brooke.

"It's the only way to find out what really happened to her.." said Jessica..

"The only way we can finally close the door on this case." said Chip.

"It should only take us a day, two at the most to come to a conclusion on this..."said Dr. Hazel Baylor..

"It's never good to autopsy babies and small children...especially with her being dead for 15 years."said Dr. Marcy Martin...

The Body of the child in the small casket was placed in an ambulance. The Ambulance pulled off...

We all got in Brooke's car and pulled off..heading back to work...There was nothing more we could do here.

II-

THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL PROSECUTOR MAUREEN THOMAS-

Maureen Thomas , fresh off of five straight major courtroom victories looked at the files of the five attorneys she was going to be up against....It wasn't Olivia and Beverly and that team or Yvette Jones-Lockwood and her young upstarts...She felt relieved.. She looked over our files..

BROOKE KENNEDY-MARKS

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls.Philadelphia PA.

B,A,- Administration Of Justice/Trial Advocacy/Pre Law- Lasalle University

J.D.- Middleton School of Law, Bayside,PA.

Speaks Spanish/French and Russian fluently.

Passed the Bar in Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York/ Deleware

Law Clerk for Pennsylvania's Chief Judge of Appeals, Carter Baum

Trial Attorney for U.S. Department of Justice's Anti- Trust Division, Washington D.C.

Married to Attorney Sean Marks, A Trial Attorney for The U.S. Department of Justice, Anti Trust Division.

DIVORCED after two years. No Children.

Public Defender's Office-Philadelphia

Assistant District Attorney- Philadelphia Districts Attorney's office.

Married to U.S. Attorney Sean Marks

Staff Attorney-WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT\

NATALIE JEAN TENNISON CHARLES

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from The Philadelphia High School for Girls,Philadelphia PA.

B.A.- Trial Advocacy/ Pre Law/Administration of Justice - Temple University

JD-Georgetown University Law Center

Passed the Bar in Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Deleware / New York

Associate Litigation Attorney at Akin/Gerard/ Jordan/Hester & Field

Public Defender's Office- Philadelphia

Assistant District Attorney-Philadelphia

Staff Attorney - WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT

Married to David Charles

DAVID KEITH CHARLES

Born in Philadelphia Pa.

Graduated from Simon Gratz High School, Philadelphia PA.

BA-Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre-Law- Temple University.

JD- Temple University School of Law

Passed the Bar in Pennsylvania/New York/Deleware/New Jersey

Speaks Spanish And French Fluently..

Public Defender- Philadelphia PA.

Single, No children

Assistant District Attorney-Philadelphia District Attorneys Office.

Staff Attorney -WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT

Married to Natalie Jean Tennison-Charles

JESSICA SANCHEZ- BURROWS

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls

BA-Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre-Law- Temple University.

JD- Villanova University

Passed the bar in Pennsylvania/New York/Deleware/New Jersey

Speaks Spanish And French Fluently..

Public Defender- Philadelphia PA.

Staff Attorney - The Innocence Project- Philadelphia.

Married to Attorney Charles "Chip" Burrows

CHARLES "CHIP" BURROWS

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Central High School..

BA-Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre-Law-Georgetown School of Law.

JD- Georgetown School of Law

Passed the Bar in Virginia/ Maryland / Pennsylvania/New York/Deleware/New Jersey

Associate Litigation Attorney at Akin/Gerard/ Jordan/Hester & Field

Senior Associate Attorney - Dan Stevens -Claude Perkins Attorneys at Law-Philadelphia PA.

Public Defender

Staff Attorney - The Innocence project- Philadelphia.

Arnold Stang...once a decorated detective, once a great attorney, now disbarred and working for a consulting company was now elevated to a major player in Senate hopeful Raphael Malph's campaign walked into the office...He looked over her shoulder...

"Good...I see you are acclimating yourself with the attorneys you will be going up against.."he said.

"Two of these attorneys I actually know personally, Brooke Kennedy...it's Marks now..She's gotten married and Natalie Tennison, it's Charles now..She's Married to one of the other attorneys, David Charles... A few years back they both worked as second and third chair on a big case with me..They were very good, very astute, very proffesional. They aren't slouches...They both are very formidable as I suppose the other three are." said Maureen.

He tossed the age old case files on her desk..

"Good! Get yourself acclimated with the case....These are the original trial transcripts, the autopsy report and the crime scene photos..." he said.

"Thank You...I'll get on this."said Maureen...

"Uh how about after work, you and I uh going to Curley's for some drinks and uh quiet conversation?" asked Arnold.

"Uh Thank You , but I uh have a dinner date with my boyfriend....but thanks for the offer.." she lied.

She didn't have a boyfriend...but she had no desire to spend the afternoon with Arnold Stang..None at all..

In our conference room for the next two days...we received a lot of help on the case from our building mates and associates...Jazzy, Dabnis, Paris, Kayla, Ray, Tony and our boss, Karen...They all felt strongly about this case and wanted to help..

"Thank you all for helping us...We very much want to win this case and get that poor woman out of prison and away from the specter of the needle."said Natalie.

I held Natalie tight...She appreciated my support..She didn't have to put on a facade of being strong, when she was not at the time...She hugged me.

"Everybody has been so helpful...Olivia ,Beverly and their team gave us a bus and the use of their catering service for food when we took Mellissa's family members up to see her the other day..." said Brooke.

''And you guys have helped us get this case together much faster than we could have..We are very grateful to you all."said Jessica.

"Hey, we are all family here..We've all been working together off and on for years...and now we all live on the same street and work in the same building."said Jazzy...

"Yeah, we don't just hang out together..We Work together too!"said her husband, Dabnis.

Paris, who was a para-legal and on his way to law school correctly pointed out several mistakes the prosecution made in the original trial...

''Wait til I tell Josie..She's going to be so proud of you."said Kayla.

Ray smiled...

Tony also spotted some inconsistencies in certain people's testimonies and asked common sense questions..Questions we were going to be asking...

Chip was very glad to have the extra help...It was a lot of reading and we had to be meticulous...

Karen nodded her approval.

as we went through the case files...

Upstairs in Yvette's Office..

The Five of us, Myself, Natalie,Brooke, Jessica and Chip used Yvette's Law Library and conference room to do our research of Laws pertaining to this case, laws pertaining to like cases and Capital case, Predicates and studying what the prosecution did wrong in the original case as well as witness statements..This took another two days...

"Thank you so much for the use of your facilities..." I said.

''Everybody has just been wonderful. I have never been in such a cooperative community of attorneys."said Natalie, who was almost emotional.

''Me Neither...We are so thankful.."said Brooke.

"Yvette and her people have always lent a helping hand to us in the Innocence Project...Olivia and Beverly too!" said Jessica.

"Yes they have." said Chip..

"We were just too glad to be able to help you guys with this case."said Bee Bee.

''Yeah, we almost wish we were going to court with you."said Sofia.

Ms. Virginia, though no longer an attorney was only too glad to give suggestions and sage legal advise to us.

Next door, Natalie, who was going to be doing Voir Dire worked closely and listened to advice from Keith Jones, Kahlil Ahmed..Ms. Yvette and Ms. Jade on how to proceed, which jurors she should key on.

"You know, Olivia and Beverly and You guys have taken Trial Science to a new level."said Natalie.

"Ms. Yvette basically taught Kahlil and me everything we know....She actually took it while in Law school."said Keith Jones.

"Nelson East took it while he was in law school and taught to to Olivia, Beverly, Josie and Bresha..." said Kahlil.

"There is a three week summer seminar at Middleton Law School on Trial Science if any of you feel like taking it.. I had Keith, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil take it last year and Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Josie and Bresha took it the same time. Got their certificates."said Ms. Yvette.

"I took it too." said Jade.

We left the building that night and said our goodbyes and thank you's to everybody...We were now prepared to go to trial almost...

We didn't take the train...The four of us, Brooke, Sean, Natalie and I went home in the car tonight..We felt good!

"You guys look happy, Like you had a good day."said Sean.

"We've had a good week." said Brooke.

"We are ready for trial.right now!" said Natalie.

"All we need is to know the results of that autopsy."I said as we pulled off.

onto the afternoon.

III-

THE NEXT DAY-

I went to the Medical Examiner's Office to see the Autopsy first hand

None of the girls wanted to go....

So I went along with Yvette's husband, Gary Lockwood, an Investigator for the D.A.'s Office...He had once been a Homicide Detective.

"I'm gonna tell you something David...I was a Detective in Robbery-Homicide...I've seen Death.....all kinds of death and killings, but nothing has disturbed me more than seeing a dead child..a dead baby....

Here are photos taken at the crime scene....These photos were never seen by a jury.... It shows Giselle at the bottom of the stairwell...Her head struck the edge of a step and the iron finishing at the bottom of the stairwell... This is consistent with a fall. I'm willing to say, it happened the way Ms. Leonard told it...The toddler got away from her and tripped and fell down the steps.....A year before, a grown man, Rudy Lubbers, was drunk and fell down these same stairs and struck his head and died...same way, see? Nobody was told about this...A Jury never heard this...

What they did hear was the testimony of two neighbors...One...Florence Strawberry, who didn't see the accident at all...She came out of her unit, after the child had fell and was dead and began raving that Ms. Leonard pushed the child down the steps...purposely.... Ms. Leonard had two grocery bags and was trying to reign in, two active little boys at the time..this could have easily of happened before..

The second witness, Floreda Tull, also did not witness it...but she was a known gossip, who heard the account from Strawberry and talked loud and long to the police, and the media about the case... Arnold Stang built his entire case on the testimonies of these two women...

I found them......They're still alive and still live in that same Housing Project......

Brooke and Natalie gave Florence Strawberry a subpoena...She was speechless...She told them that Arnold Stang had told her not to talk to them..

"Oh you don't have to talk to us now...but you'll talk to us in court..."said Natalie.

''And So will he." said Brooke.

Jessica and Chip gave Floreda Tull, a subpoena.. She ranted and raved about why should she have to testify again...She testified 14 years ago.

''And you'll testify again, for us." said Jessica.

"See you in cour." said Chip with a smile.

Arnold Stang paid them both a visit afterwords......He was livid that we had served them with subpoenas...He had planned to give them money to get out of town for awhile..

Then I paid HIM A VISIT....Along with Natalie and Brooke and we gave him a subpoena...Needless to say...

Natalie and Brooke told him that what he tried to do was very, very close to witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

"You aren't beyond any dirty trick are you Mr. Stang? I see why you got disbarred."said Natalie.

"Shame on you!"said Brooke.

He was not a happy camper.." said Gary..

The Autopsy was over!

"We've found that the two skull fractures are consistent with her head hitting the metal steps and the iron railing at the bottom of the stairwell....Exactly the same way Rudy Lubbers head hit the same thing two years before and his death was ruled an accident." said Dr. Marcy Martin.

"In conclusion...Dr. Martin and I don't believe this was a Homicide...We believe this was an accidental death." said Dr. Hazel Baylor, who signed off on the official affadavit.

"This is excellent news for us..." I said.

"It is..." said Gary, managing a smile and shaking my hand.

Karen didn't want us compromised in any way...

She Hired Private Investigator, Kevin Morris...Who advised us to move around.. He and his operatives swept our offices and Yvette's offices all week....He swept our conference room and Yvette's as well and our phones to make sure we weren't compromised..

We communicated with Portals.....I was 100 percent certain that they had gotten no information about our activities.

Arnold Stang and Raphael Malph met outside a food truck, across the street from our building..

"They are running a pretty tight ship..They hired somebody who has swept their offices and they keep moving around...A whole bunch of them are in their conference room one day...Then they're a floor up in another office the next day...Their phones have been swept and shut down and they communicate through portals... My operatives haven't been able to get a damn thing....and I fear they are ready now...Ready for trial...

A bunch of them took her mom, auntie, her two grown sons, one of em's girlfriend and a baby up to the prison along with a catering tray of food and they stayed until the end of visiting hours at the prison. the other day.."said Arnold Stang.

"Damn it... Three days ago...Brooke Marks, Natalie Charles, David Charles,Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and Charles Burrows went into court with an exhumation order..

Maureen opposed them....but the damn Judge

Elise Clemmons, that bleeding heart liberal...allowed it!

They've exhumed the body and it's being autopsied... This is falling apart around us before it even gets to court..." said Raphael Malph...

"What are we going to do?" asked Arnold Stang... "I've been subpoenaed..." he added.

"Damn it...gotta find a way to delay this..." said Raphael Malph...

IV-

It began to pour down rain in the city...

It was Thursday Night- Couples Night in the bar....

The Four of us were at a round table and had actually ordered food..

''Well the autopsy is done.. The Medical Examiner's Office says that it was an accident...and the little girls body goes back into the ground tomorrow."I said. According to Gary, we have a very good case...The two main witnesses are flawed, they didn't see a damn thing." I said.

"I know..I read Gary's report....He did good work."said Natalie.

"We are all ready for trial."said Brooke.

"Just be careful...Raphael Malph is ruthless...He's going to try something...I know it..Something to delay this." said Sean.

We enjoyed Pasta and some wine...

At the next big table right across from us sat Olivia Bennett-Alexander, her husband, Donnie Ray, her niece and Partner, Beverly, her husband , Nelson and her associate attorneys, Bresha Billips and her husband, Tony and Josie Boyd and her husband,Paris and Office manager, Alfreda and her husband, ADA Rockland Cambridge...

"I hear you kids wrapped up your preparation today...Good for you..."said Olivia..

"Yes, and I can't...We can't thank you guys enough for lending us the bus and the services of your catering staff." I said..

"You and everybody have been such a great help." said Natalie...

"Yes we are really grateful."said Brooke.

"Hey we are family and we got a community amongst us..." said Donnie Ray...

''We were only too happy to do our part to help right an age old wrong.."said Beverly.

She hugged her childhood friend, Natalie.

"Just watch out for Arnold Stang...He's a slippery bastard.."said Nelson...

"You guys will be going up against Maureen Thomas...She's good." said Bresha.

"Buy her a fifth of any kind of whiskey...That'll slow her down." joked Bresha's husband, Tony... He had heard that if you got her drunk...She'd give you the keys to her bedroom and her car,..though he didn't say that...

Josie laughed.... "Stopppppp it!" she said.

"Well it's true...Even I have heard she has a drinking problem.."said Paris.

"She won't be drinking in court....You kids just be ready..."said Alfreda..

Her husband, Rockland, smiled..

They had all ordered New York Strip Steaks, a Baked Potato and like us...Wine for the table...

Yvette and her team were sitting at a big table right next to them...

"It was a good idea to have dinner here...but this rain sucks..."said Yvette, who was at the next table with her group..

"That's okay...We are all in here, nice and safe and warm and dry..."said Gary...

"Maybe the rain will keep you know who from showing up." said Keith..

"We can only hope.." said Bee Bee.

"Not a chance.He'll be here."said Sofia.

"Well, he hasn't shown up yet." said Brooke.

" At least we are enjoying our meals first.without him standing over us, brow beating us.. I really hate that!" said Kahlil..

"I hate it too..Somebody should smack him."said Sean.

"Oh I think he has been smacked..He's got a hard head." I said.

''And a short memory." said Keith Jones..

''Let's not talk him up."said Bee Bee.

"Yeah he is living rent free in our heads."said Sofia.

"Yeah."said Kahlil.

" This complimentary wine.at all three of our tables is really good"said Jade, changing the subject..

"This is good wine.."said her husband, Danny Ho.

"Ummm Yes it is.." said Virginia...

"Good Pasta too."said Jetty..

as their meals arrived...

At individual tables near us was the rest of the crew... Zoey and Lem, Jazzy and Dabnis, Kayla and Ray and Jessica and Chip.....

"Rayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, take your hands from underneath my skirt...OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" cooed Zoey...."Wait until we get home." she whispered..

"I don't know if I can Zoey, I've been away in business all week..I've missed you."said Lem..

"I've missed you too."whispered Zoey...

Natalie was at the table across from them...She hugged her friend, Jazzy...

"Thank you guys for chipping in, helping us get ready.." she said.

"Ohhh girl, if you don't stop...We been ridin for each other since 7th grade...Come on now.." said Jazzy..

"You guys really go back huh?" said Jazzy's husband, Dabnis.

"They go back to 7th grade... Beverly and I both met them both in 9th or was it 10th grade?" asked Kayla.

"I had a class with Beverly in the 10th Grade and we got chummy and I met you at Lunch, 10th grade year....and found out you and Jazzy were chummy and Beverly was your cousin......"said Natalie.

''Damn High school, college, almost law school...You went to Georgetown right Natalie..?" said Ray..