"Good People"

It was trial day.... The first day of the trial.. Karen stood outside the courtroom with us...She was allowing us to run the trial completely, proof of her faith in us..but she thought she would caution us...

"Raphael Malph does not want this case to be successful...In fact he wants it to go away because he knows his name is going to come up...I want you guys to be careful...He's going to make a move..."said Karen.

"Well Maureen Thomas will be the  prosecution and neither he nor Stang will have anything to do with this." I said.

''Yeah Karen , what move can he make?" asked Natalie.

''Yeah Karen , what move can he make?"asked Brooke.

"There is no link to him...but somebody fished Maureen Thomas into this case.. Gary looked it up, there is nothing linking him personally to this case...but the money and influence came from somewhere...And as you'll find out...Your Judge has already been switched..

Elise Clemmons, perhaps the best judge for this case has already been switched out on another case...at the last minute...

"You'll be dealing with Judge William Brau.....Not the most sympathetic Judge you guys could face..

''And he's not through yet...He wants to slow this trial down, delay it...Get it out of the news ,at least until after the election in a few weeks..So trust me...He's going to make a move!...Be ready!" said Karen. 

We got ready for Voir Dire...

With Judge William Brau presiding..

Natalie did her thing...

Maureen looked like she was recovering from a hangover....She in fact was...She had been drinking all night..

In Curley's

Doing Tequilla Shots

with a young Attorney from her firm, whose name she could not remember right now

Had gone back to his house...

And spent a night of wild sex with him....

She was tired and hungover and definitely off her game..

Natalie was anything but...She got 11 of the 12 jurors we wanted..and all four alternives...

Brooke and I and Jessie and Chip applauded wildly....

But the very next day....

"It has been brought to my attention that a court officer was blabbing to the newspaper's about the proposed guilt of the defendent and a copy of this newspaper was givin to all of the jurors...They brought it to my attention immediately...They all said that it would not stop them from listening to the facts and evidence of this case fairly....but I'm afraid we are going to have to suspend this jury and declare this a mistrial. Sorry."said Judge Brau...

And here was his move.....These were the moves he made.. Getting our judge switched out...and getting a bogus article sent to the jury..

"That Newspaper article that the jury was given was from a phony newspaper that does not exist." I said.

"And that so called court officer is not on the payroll and has vanished Mysteriously.." said Chip..

"This was the move...This was the move he was going to make to delay the trial."said Natalie.

"Karen told us. This is definitely jury tampering."said Brooke.

''We'll never prove it!  Nothing comes back to him.We are not going to be delayed...I'm on the phone now to the 12th Circuit Court...I'm going to get another  trial date sooner, rather than later.." said Jessica.

"It's the only thing we can do..." said Chip...

TWO DAYS LATER-

We may have had to wait a month for a new trial to be set up...but the 12th Circuit court ordered a new trial immediately, made space for us and gave us a new judge..

Judge Keith Morrison , the father of our friend, Keith Jones...

Again we began Voir Dire..

Again Natalie did her thing...

Maureen Thomas was in a little better shape than she had been before..

We got a 7-5 split, going Natalie's way....Not as good as the first time, but good just as well.

"Good Job Baby!" I said to Natalie...

"Thank You.." she said, smiling..

I kissed her passionately...

"Good Job Buddy."said Brooke..

"I am sooo proud of Natalie..."said our client Mellissa. ''And so glad we are getting on with this." she added.

"No shenanigans this time." said Jessica.

" Let's get it onnn!"said a jubilant Chip...

''Alright we have a jury.....Trial will begin tomorrow at 9:00 AM... Attorneys please be on time and be ready for trial..."said Judge Morrison.

Raphael Malph was livid!  "I DON'T BELIEVE IT...I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!" he bellowed..He had thought that a new trial would be delayed for at least a month..A Month where he could do damage control..Where the story could have slowly faded out of the news...Now it was back in the news and there was nothing more he could do about it...

His Opponent, Judge Landon Hughes, who himself had been involved in a scandal years ago...(He was caught in bed in a hotel room with the mayor's wife!!) was gaining points and leading in the polls for State Senator. He had caught on to this case and was exploiting it and Attorney Raphael Malph's alleged prosecutorial misconduct in sending a woman to death row" for a crime that might not have even been committed" for everything it was worth....Tongues were wagging around town, which was just what Raphael Malph did not want!

Raphael Malph was livid!

II-

We all had breakfast at Sam Mother's Diner...

'We won a major victory today!" I said.

"That 12th Circuit court really came through for us...I didn't think they would." said Natalie.

"I thought we'd be waiting for a month, considering how crowded the court is with trial dates."said Brooke.

"The 12th Circuit saw it for what it was, a stunt...They moved one court date and carved us out a date...I was surprised that it was two days,,,,but  I'm glad we didn't lose any ground...The Case is fresh and we are ready to roll." said Jessica.

"And here comes our food." said Chip..

We all had ordered Pancakes, Hash Browns, Orange Juice and Coffee...

Raphael Malph and Arnold Stang walked in....They stared at us for a minute, but they didn't say anything...They sat down at the counter...

Lt. Tragg walked in...We hadn't seen him in awhile.....Naturally he walked over to our table...

"You know...I've had my fueds with Olivia and Beverly and that crew and with Yvette Jones and her gang...but nobody annoys me more than you guys, reopening long ago closed cases and throwing dirt on good people.." he said.

"If they were good people...There would be no dirt to throw, now would they?" said Natalie..

''And this is what I mean...People like YOU...People that think they know all the answers...You don't know anything.. The people involved in these cases were keeping people like YOU safe from the bottom feeders when you were in diapers..."said Lt. Tragg..

''So My client, Mellissa is a bottom feeder..She was working two jobs, trying to take care of three kids by herself..and a tragic accident winds her up on death row for 14 years....14 years, she didn't get to see her other two kids grow up...She has a grandchild she just met a few weeks ago...and all this for a crime that might never of happened...All so your so called good people can get a headline or a spot on TV...or worse advance their careers?? Your so called good people are disgusting.

"She had three kids in a span of years by three different guys...One when she was still in high school..She should have made better life choices..."said Lt. Tragg with a superior smirk...

"Ohhhh so because of that she deserves to die by lethal injection? How Judgemental of you.."I said.

''Welllll listen, the trained monkey speaks without the benefit of his puppet master...." snarled Lt. Tragg...

"Why I'll..." I said and lunged at him...but Brooke blocked me..

''David Don't..We don't have to justify why we take on any case....Especially not to him......We are Attorneys, this is what we do..."said Brooke..

He looked at Brooke..."What happened to you?   You were once a great prosecutor...What turned you around?"he asked..

''Why don't you leave our table?.. We were eating breakfast..."said  Jessica.

"You heard my wife, move along...There is nothing more we care to discuss with you."said Chip.

"It's unanimous, this conversation is over..."said Natalie..

Before Lt. Tragg could say anything else... he heard the voice of Sam Mother from behind the counter..

"ARTIE, EITHER ORDER SOME FOOD OR GET OUT!!! I'VE TOLD YOU ABOUT HARRASSING MY CUSTOMERS!" he bellowed.

Raphael Malph and Arnold Stang watched the entire thing, amused....

NIGHTFALL CAME!

We had gone back to work in our building and then gone home....

"Thank You for standing up for me today,...Wowwww you were really angry...I was surprised."said Natalie that night with a smile..

''Why ? Why were you surprised? You know I love you...I'm not gonna let anybody hurt you or disrespect you."I said.

"It's been a long time since I had a guy stand up for me..I appreciate that....And I love you too!"said Natalie softly...

"Come here." I said softly...

We kissed passionately. Natalie had teared up a little....

We began to undress...

I slipped her panties down...

"Natalie, you're just trying to turn me on..OH MY GODDDDD!" I remarked as I admired the panties she was wearing today.

"I don't have to try hard....You wake up with an erection.." she giggled...

"Yeah, I uh gotta stop that." I said.

"Don't stop on my account." she laughed...

I tossed her on the bed and opened her legs and entered her slowly and softly...As usual, she was so wet and smelled so good that I was losing my mind... She gasped as we began making love...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DAVID!!" she moaned..

"NATALIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?? AWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWD!" I moaned..

"WHAT AM I DOING TO YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME??UMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!!!!!" she cooed..

Our bed rocked and squeaked very loudly......the headboard rattled something terrible....

We made sweet,sweet love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!.....

We finished with Natalie lying peacefully on top of me...

"UMMMMMMMMMM DAVID, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ALL OF THE LOVE I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU!!" she moaned...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHH NATALIEEEEE!" I moaned.....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DAVID, I HAD AN ORGASM LIKE I'VE NEVER HAD BEFORE....WOUUUUU!" she said..

"I CAME SO HARD, I THOUGHT I WAS DYING!" I remarked..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM THANK YOU BABY!" she whispered softly.

She kissed me slowly and softly until I fell asleep...

III-

The Trial began...

With Judge Keith Morrison presiding...

Special Prosecutor Maureen Thomas was on top of her game. she brought out several residences who talked long and hard about Mellissa borrowing money from them to make ends meet and their belief that she wasn't taking care of the three children...

Brooke, Natalie and Jessica destroyed them all...every last one of them had a police record for shoplifting, prostitution and complaints from DHS about their children's welfare...

They pointed out that our client.

Had no police record period, prior to her arrest for murdering her child...Was never on Public assistance and always held down a job....

Chip pointed out that only two of them had a high school diploma, all but one of them had given birth, just like our client did , while in high school and that our client had a high school diploma, had taken some courses at Community College also..

"And you stand in judgement of her? I actually think Mellissa Leonard was the more mature and responsible parent." said Chip...

Gary's research had done us a great deal of good.

Maureen Thomas's case was falling apart...She didn't like being surprised like this.

She showed photos of the death scene and autopsy photos of the baby's skull....

This was difficult for Mellissa who passed out during the trial and was carried out into the hallway....

I spoke softly to her, but for a long time...

"You've got to be strong....We are this close to winning this thing, but we can't do it without you....Be strong..Stand up for Giselle....Stand up for yourself...You did nothing wrong and I'm going to shine a light on one of the people responsible for your pain, but you have to be strong for me...Can you do that?" I asked her..

She looked at me with love in her eyes and smiled..

"Yes.....Natalie is a lucky woman to have a man like you by her side.." she said.

Unknown to me, Brooke and Natalie were looking at me...

"Girrrrrrrrl, David is a beautiful human being period....And he loves the ground you walk on...You hit the jackpot with him..."said Brooke in admiration..

"I know....I knowwwwwwwwww." said Natalie, smiling....

The trial continued.... 

Maureen Thomas made a serious misstep.. She called Medical Examiners ,Dr. Hazel Baylor and Dr. Marcy Martin to testify.. The person who had done the original autopsy was long dead....

Both Dr. Hazel Baylor and Dr. Marcy Martin testified that after doing the most recent autopsy they concluded that this was an accident and not homicide..and they compared it with the death of Rudy Lubbers , who had died on the same stairwell two years before with the exact same injuries.. He had taken a fall after coming home sloppy drunk... They showed the Autopsy photos of his head...

I was stunned...I had planned on calling them, but she beat me to it and they were practically winning our case for us...

She tried to ask them the same questions over again, get them to change their statements...but it was too late..The cat was already out of the bag...This was a serious mis-step on her part...

Jessica presented the previous coroner, now deceased record of getting several autopsy results in-correct and how he nearly lost his license in a law suit, the year before this case, plus his record of alcoholism...

Chip questioned a very questionable transfer of $2000.00 dollars from the account of Assistant District Attorney Raphael Malph into his account on the eve of the first trial, 14 years ago...

This bombshell had the jurors fuming!!!

"I thought you said this girl was a heavy hitter....She's blowing the case...She comes in here drunk half the time, or nursing a hangover...and she's made several mistakes..She's killing me said Raphael Malph.

"I tell you she comes highly recommended. She's won several high profile cases...She knows her stuff."said Arnold Stang...

Lt. Tragg sat quietly...His face as red as a beet...He had been out drinking with her a few nights and having wild sex with her at his house on those nights....but he said nothing.

After another bruising day in court...Maureen made her final argument and closed her case....She left the courthouse as quick as possible and checked herself into a nice hotel... She needed a nice hot shower, and some sleep...

She turned her phone off and put it on charger.....She didn't want any bother out of anyone....

"Tomorrow it's your show David...This is right up your alley...I expect you to, how do they say it...Knock it out of the park.."said a gleeful Jessica, ecstatic at how the prosecution's case just fell apart at the seams..

"I looked at that Jury..they don't need much more convincing...Tomorrow we put Arnold Stang on the stand..." I said.

"You know, she's pretty good...I've seen her in court before...Remember when you and I were second chair on one of her cases a few years back Brookie??." asked Natalie.

"Yeah, she was the epitome of professionalism....buttttt after a few drinks or two...She was uh kind of loose...She allowed any guy who bought her a drink to grope her, get an undeserved kiss and god knows what more...

I witnessed her in a bar after we won that case....I was shocked and appalled.." said Brooke.

"Wowwwwwww I had heard the rumors...It's true huh?" said Chip...

"Well whether she is or not...She made a serious misstep in this case and we've got to strike while the opportunity is there." said Natalie...

Tonight we ate dinner in the cafeteria in our building with our friends..

They were having  New York Stripped Steaks and a baked potato tonight and a garden salad..

"AWWWWWW MANNNNN, THIS IS PERFECT!" I said as I chowed down...

"Good I want you relaxed and ready for tomorrow morning."said Natalie...

"He'll be fine...He's with you Natalie."said her best friend, Brooke..

"Ummmmmm well, I'll be relaxed...This is some good eating."said her husband Sean, who worked down the street, but almost always ate with us...

"I'm happy with the job we have done so far.."said Jessica..

"So am I and surprised at how flawed this case, really was."said Chip.

"Hey Guys...You're almost done with this case huh?" said Jazzy..

"Knock it out the park guys, get that poor woman off."said Dabnis..

"That poor woman was robbed of 14 years of her life, 14 years she can't get back... She's missed her two surviving sons growing up and just met her grand-daughter...I feel so sorry for her."said Kayla.

"I wish Arnold Stang , who was just a tad more efficient than Lt. Tragg could do the 14."said Ray.

"Yeah.."said Paris..

"I'll bet during the first trial...The old boys passed a lot of money back and forth and got a lot of cases swung their way."said Tony...

"They sure did and in some cases, that still goes on.. It's called "pay to play"said Virginia.

"It's practically, a Philadelphia tradition." said her husband, Jetty, chuckling......

"Lt. Tragg is no one to be lecturing anybody.." said Yvette...

"Lt. Tragg lecturing on "Good people" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT'S a laugh."said Jade.

"Good Luck tomorrow in court guys."said Keith Jones.

"Yeah, good luck." said Bee Bee.

"I feel for this woman so bad...That could have been any of us...Some of those guys were in such a rush to make headlines and be on Television that they didn't give a damn about the lives they were ruining."said Sofia.

"Which is why Lt. Tragg still is the way he is...He really doesn't want to be in law enforcement..he wants a television show."said Kahlil.

This brought raucous laughter from me, Natalie, Brooke and Sean.

IV-

THE NEXT DAY-

With Judge Keith Morrison presiding, We began our defense...

Natalie and Brooke and Jessica and Chip had up until now done the heavy lifting, disecting and taking apart the prosecution's case like a surgeon...with precision objections all based on laws from like cases, predicates and just plain laws... Taking apart every witness with conflicting statements from their original trial transcripts and new facts about them all here to for un known...

"But now I had to run the defense... I called the first witness...one of the most damning witnesses from the first trial..

Florence Strawberry..... I used her original testimony and the testimony of other tenents who refuted her entire story... I got them to question whether she had actually seen anything at all.. and finally got her to admit that she'd only seen the aftermath and had not actually seen the baby fall down the steps... I also questioned her about $2500,00 put into her bank account..She was behind on several utility bills and had gotten numerous shut off notices...I asked her who the payments came from and she admitted that they came from Detective Arnold Stang...

A Bombshell.....The Jurors were astounded..

Maureen tried to object....

but Natalie and Brooke had my back...objecting to her objections....

With the Judge, siding with us....

The Next day, I called Florida Tull to the stand... She stuck to her original story from the first trial...I presented several former residents who talked of her being a known gossip and busybody...

Maureen called it Hersay and objected....

Judge Morrison ruled in her favor and their testimonies were stricken from the record...but the jury had already heard this, which was what I wanted..

I got her to admit that she saw Ms. Leonard trying to control two rambunctious little boys while hauling groceries up the steps and that the little girl slipped and fell backwards...She was not pushed and that she knew this and willfully perjured herself in the case..

She broke down in tears and admitted  all of it, everything..

The Next Day, Jessica and Chip called Dr. Hazel Baylor and Dr. Marcy Martin of the M.E.'s office back again...They had done the second autopsy and they showed the jurors the staircase and the photos of the baby in death and x rays of the skull and the fractures and again testified that in their opinion, there was no murder, but an accident....

On the final day of the defense, I called Former Detective, Former Attorney, Arnold Stang....I had no idea how he was going to respond...I asked him about payments he made to the Coroner in the first case..He denied it!  I asked him about payments he made to Florence Strawberry, he took the 5th...In fact he took the 5th 10 times, saying only that he brought in a good case to the best of his abilities and that he believed it to be murder...

I asked him about his long association with then Assistant District Attorney Raphael Malph.., he denied it.. I asked him if in fact, he was working for him now as an investigator.. He took the 5th....

I smiled.. I didn't question him anymore.. I closed my case....

TWO HOURS LATER!

"We should have subpoenaed Raphael Malph, He was the real mastermind...Maybe I could have broken him down better than I did Arnold Stang.." I said..

"David! David,,,,Stop second guessing yourself.. You did a fine job...You made your points...We got this." said Brooke, hugging me...She smelled so good and her body ws like my wife's so soft....

"Brookie is right darlin...You did the damn thing in there....You knocked it out of the park..."said Natalie, who also hugged me... Her body was so soft and she smelled equally good, I was delirious being around both women.

''We did just fine...."said Jessica, who was pleased with our defense.

"Come on guys, the jury is back!"said Chip.

"HAS THE JURY COME TO A DECISION?" asked the Judge.

"We have your honor." said the Jury Forewoman.

The Bailiff  passed the Judge their decision...He read it.. His face showed no emotion..

"Read it!" he said.

"IN THE MATTER OF COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS.MELLISSA DELORES LEONARD ON THE COUNT OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, WE FIND HER NOT GUILTY!" HE READ.

The visitors in the courtroom which included her mother, two sons, daughter in law and grand-daughter all cheered loudly.....

"OHHHHHH NATALIE, NATALIE, THANK YOU BABY! THANK YOU SO MUCH...I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FREE...FREEEEEEEE! I KNOW YOUR MAMA IS VERY PROUD OF YOU!!!"said Mellissa, hugging Natalie..

"I'm just glad I was able to do it for you.."said Natalie.. Her mother and her late father were very proud of her...They told everybody who would listen when she graduated from Georgetown Law School.. She thought she'd live in D.C. permanantly...She never planned to come back to Philly, but now she was glad she did...

''And thank you, Thank you young man..You take care of my Natalie now." she said.

"I will...I will." I said, hugging her...

"Come here Brooke, Come here...THANK YOU GIRRRRRLLLL! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!" Mellissa said..She had really come to love Brooke.. The lone white person on our team..

"Oh you are so welcome.."said Brooke...

"We are going to try and get you some financial compensation from the city for your troubles...We are already planning to sue for false arrest..."said Jessica.

"And now that he no longer works for the city...Arnold Stang can be held liable for his part in this.."said Chip....

"Thank you so much." said Mellissa, without handcuffs or shackles on for the first time...

Her family brought her new clothes to wear home.. It was a joyous time for all involved..

''Arthur, I could use a drink.."said Maureen..

"Why sure baby....VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" said Lt. Tragg, 

anticipating a wild romp in the bed afterwords that was surely coming...

Arnold Stang slithered out of court...a beaten man...totally humiliated and put on the spot...

"Damn lawyers..." he snarled.

Natalie and I finished our afternoon in the Judges Chambers

, Kissing passionately, making out like two teenagers... A Perfect ending to this case.

EPILOUGE-

The City of Philadelphia paid Mellissa Leonard 2.5 million in a civil settlement...

Jessica and Chip got Josie Boyd, Beatrice Evans, Jasmine "Jazzy" Coley, Kayla Bennett St. Jacques, Dabnis Coley, Paris Boyd, Ray St. Jacques and Tony Billips to represent her pro bono...That's how strongly they felt about it..

The case was settled in our building in our conference room 

with Judge Jetty Dukes acting as an arbitrator.

Arnold Stang didn't go to jail, and wasn't held liable ,but the consulting company he worked with parted ways with him... He moved to Deleware and passed the bar with flying colors...but Deleware refused to give him a law license.. He's back in Philadelphia trying to get a P.I. License the last we heard.

Raphael Malph thought he had dodged a bullet..He hadn't been mentioned that much during the case...

but that didn't help him..People still knew that he prosecuted a case he should have seen was visibly flawed , fueled by gossip and very few facts and rumors spread that the deceased M.E. was paid to lie in court...Though not proven, people still had ideas and thoughts...This was the very kind of talk he didn't want stirred up by this trial coming to light and why he fought so hard to bury it and delay it!

His opponent Judge Landon Hughes beat him by a landslide in his race for State Senate....

And in our conference room...Karen Page addressed Natalie, Brooke and I-

"I am quite pleased with the three of you....and how everything worked out well with this case...

Ms. Leonard won a 2.5 million dollar settlement from the city after taxes...Raphael Malph lost the election as you know and old Arnold Stang has moved to Wilmington, trying to get his law license restored..good riddance to both of them.."said Karen Page, our supervisor..

''Alls Well that ends well.."said Brooke.

"I'm uh happy for her....I hope she can get her life back on track now." said Natalie.

"Oh, I've got 2.5 million reasons why she'll do that easily." I said with a smile.

We all laughed...

Yvette Jones-Lockwood, Bee Bee Evans and Sofia Garcia Ahmed appeared at our office door..

"Hey girls, We are going shoe shopping...There is a sale in the fashion center..."said Yvette.

''We wondered if you wanted to go with us." said Bee Bee.

"What do you say?" asked Sofia.

"I'm down." said Karen..

"Me too! Let me call Sean..."said Brooke.

"Uhhh I'll pass today...My husband and I have to meet to uh file away remaining case files...From the Ensumo case." said Natalie..

"We do?" I said.. I had filed those case files away a week ago..

"YES WE DO!" said Natalie, who took me by the hand.... "Have a nice lunch girls." she said.

Karen and Brooke looked at each other and smiled sheepishly...

It went completely over Yvette, Bee Bee and Sofia's heads... They just followed Karen and Brooke out the door.

We walked into Natalie's office...She drew the shades and locked the door and dimmed the lights..

"This is a....This is a nice dress you're wearing today....Short, tight...." I said, rubbing her hips and squeezing her butt softly....

"The way you like it!" she whispered to me....

"Yeah, with you in it." I said...

She ran her index finger across my lips....She smiled at me....

We began kissing.......

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I've wanted to kiss you all morning. You must have read my mind..." I said..

"It's not hard to do lately....All one has to do is gaze at your trousers.....Myyyyy goodness David..."said Natalie, laughing..."I know you love me, Everybody knows it...but can you be a little more discreet?" she asked, laughing the entire time..

"I'll try but it's hard..." I said..

"I know it's hard...Everybody knows it's hard.WOUUUUUUUU!" she laughed as we continued kissing...

For Shemiki