VENTURES: The Left Hand Of Sin

Olivia lay on top of me... We had just finished a marathon session of sex...We were both exhausted..our body's drenched in sweat....

"Donnie Ray, that woman, Drena McGlowen....She's Lena's sister...They're almost twins...almost.... Drena is a year older...I looked her up...She's a para-legal and she's been an Office Administrative Assistant with a number of firms... She got her para-legal certification with help from her late brother in law, Vern Bailey...and a cushy position with the Law Firm of Wood, Powell, Bailey and Barnett." said Olivia.

"Yeah, you might say she slept her way into that position.." I said.

"Yeah, sleeping with her sister's husband...Vernon Bailey....He's dead now and she hasn't missed a beat...She's sleeping with Lawrence Wood, another partner...Who knows...Maybe he'll put her through law school? Like my niece says...The power of the pan-tays.."laughed Olivia..

''Well you know....I uh kind of uh slept my way into a position at your law firm." I said,smiling...

"You kind of did , didn't you? It's time for you to earn your keep again tonight.."laughed Olivia..

She gave me a wet juicy kiss..

which led to more passionate kissing...

and me slipping her panties down again...

And Olivia straddling me and riding me like a surfer rides the waves...driving me insane..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU !" she moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS Feels so dAMN GOOOOOD!" I said softly..

"UMMMMMMMMM IT DOES....THAT'S WHY I ALMOST NEVER TELL YOU NO!" she cooed.

''Donnie Ray, never let me go." cooed Olivia softly..

"Baby, I don't wanna." I said as she continued to ride me softly... It was nearly daybreak...

MONDAY AFTERNOON-Mid town Philadelphia

Beverly and I were back at the scene of the crime, but not the murder room, the hotel ledger.

"It's here ,just like you suspected Donnie Ray...Drena McGlowin, She checked in two days before the murder and checked out, the afternoon after the bodies were discovered.She was here already, just as my husband suspected." said Beverly.

"And she's two doors down from the "Honeymoon Suite" where Vernon and Delilah Barnett were staying...They probably didn't know she was there."I said.

''She didn't mind him cheating on his wife, her sister to be with her..But sleeping with another woman?

Nahhh she wasn't having that...The Hypocrisy is astonishing." said Beverly..

"It is, isn't it?" I said.

Sometime Later-

In our conference room

''Well ladies , how'd it go?" asked Olivia.

''Piece of cake Olivia." said a smiling Josie.

"We located her at a Ritzy Titsy Bar in town... You should've seen all the guys buying her drinks...She was just eating it up." said Bresha.

"She said she didn't remember us from this weekend at the Bed and Breakfast...She said we looked too young to be lawyers...We showed her our ID and she smiled.. "Cute" she said. She denied knowing Judge Barnett or his wife for that matter and said she didn't really want to talk about her late brother in law "Out of respect for the dead."said Josie.

"I placed the subpoena in her hand and said... "Well out of respect to the dead...you can talk to us in court." said Bresha.

She smiled and said "Cute, I still don't see how I can help you ladies...Like I said..I didn't know the Judge or his wife." said Bresha.

"You all did good work......"said Olivia.

Nelson and Beverly were sitting in the corner kissing passionately...

"You got a jury picked?" Beverly asked him...

"Yup." said Nelson..

"Then we are ready for trial.." said Beverly...

''Yes we are.."said Nelson.

As they continued kissing.

"You've got everything you need." I said.

Olivia smiled at me...

"Yes....Yes I do." she said.

II-

COURTROOM A- A FEW DAYS LATER

"Good Morning Attorneys and Potential Jurors...I am Judge Michael King.. A lot of you Attorneys know me.....This is beginning to sound like a broken record but Welcome to my courtroom....Due to courtroom crowding of cases , we are going to bypass a preliminary hearing...We know that a crime, a henious crime has been committed..A Brutal double murder of a young man and a young woman, so we are going to go straight to trial.. We will have Jury selection today...I'll be out tomorrow..So Wednesday we will begin with trial." said Judge King.. "We will start today with introductions.." he said.

Our defendent, Judge Barnett sat with his head bowed...Just weeks ago he was giving the same introduction in this very courtroom and now here he was a defendent on trial himself for a double murder of his wife and her lover. Funny thing about it.. He had no idea she was cheating on him prior to this double murder.. Maybe if he had of known, things might have turned out different, he mused.

"Olivia Bennett -Alexander, lead Attorney for the Defense , your honor." she said.

"Beverly West-East, Attorney for the Defense your Honor." said Beverly.

"Nelson East, Attorney for the Defense your honor." said Nelson.

"Josie Boyd, Attorney for the Defense." said Josie.

"Bresha Boyd, Attorney for the defense." said Bresha.

"Donnie Ray Alexander , Investigator for the Defense." I said.

''Representing the Commonwealth, Assistant District Attorney James Taylor, your honor." said Jumpshot Jim.

"Ingrid Stevenson, Investigator for the Defense your honor." said Ingrid who made it her business to sit in between Jumpshot Jim and Chris Garcetti. She didn't want to be anywhere near handsy Lt. Tragg.

" Representing the Commonwealth , Second chair, Assistant District Attorney Chris Garcetti." said Chris.

"Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, arresting officer your honor." said Lt. Tragg.

"Yes I know who you are Artie....Okayyyyy let's begin Jury selection.." said Judge King.

Chris Garcetti had taken a trial science class at Middleton Law School over the summer and was ready to go up against Nelson.. Despite the one class he had taken...

Nelson had minored in Trial Science during law school and had used it his entire career..He was a master of Voir Dire.Chris had no idea that Nelson already knew all there was to know about the jurors and which ones he'd find acceptable and which ones he wouldn't...Nelson had carefully worded questions ready for each person he talked to...

Josie and Bresha both was helping him today...They sat behind their laptops and whispered certain things they had talked about into his ear.. He smiled.

Nelson got 9 jurors to Chris's 3 jurors....

Chris thought he had done something..

But Jumpshot Jim knew that Nelson had gotten the better of him...he shook his head in exasperation...

Beverly and her Aunt Olivia cracked up laughing....

Much to Lt. Tragg's consternation... He didn't like any laughter.....At least not on our part...He glared angrilly at us..

"Alright...We have a jury...As I said...I'm out tomorrow..Trial will begin Wednesday Morning at 9:00 AM, Be on time and Be ready for trial." he said.

As we exited the courtroom I said to Lt. Tragg.."You got the wrong man...The Killer is not a man period." I said.

"You work your side of the street Donnie Ray and I'll work mine." said Lt. Tragg..

"You really are a butthead " said Judge Barnett to Lt. Tragg. "I've always thought so, even before this." he said.

''Come on...Judge Barnett, Don't get into it with him." said Olivia.

" We'll win in court your honor." I assured him.

"You know what they say, don't argue with a fool, somebody might walk by and not be able to tell the difference." said Beverly, smiling.

Judge Barnett laughed.. "You're absolutely right young lady." he said.

Nelson, Josie and Bresha broke out into gales of laughter..

Thin skinned Lt. Tragg was as red as a beet at being mocked and laughed at..

"MUZZLE HER OLIVIA!!! MUZZLE HERRRRR!" he snarled.

Olivia laughed even harder as we walked out of court with our client.

III-

TWO DAYS LATER-

The Double Murder Trial of Judge Vance Barnett began. It was the most talked about trial in the city...It was all over the news..

James "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor was happy to be back in the spotlight...being interviewed nightly and with a gaggle of adoring females swooning over the city's "Most Eligible Bachelor"

Lt. Tragg was happy to be back in the news and let everyone know that he was the arresting officer.

"I felt sorry for the guy...He just makes partner at a big time law firm and his partner is banging his wife...His wife... I totally understood...I saw the hurt in his eyes...the look of total betrayal and the look of guilt and abandon....I felt for the guy....but I had to do my job...I had to bring him in...." he said dramatically... The Media ate it up..

The Press mobbed us too!

"No Comment..No Comment Guys." said Olivia.

Judge Barnett refused to answer any questions..

Beverly and Her husband Nelson walked on both sides of Judge Barnett...

Me, Josie and Bresha came up in the rear......

The Trial Began...

With Judge Micheal King presiding.....

Opening Arguments began.. Jumpshot Jim gave an eloquent opening statement about love and betrayal and guilt...He went through the basics of what happened..The Judge had recently been made a partner at a prestigious law firm ,only to find out his wife was sleeping with one of the partners...He snuck into their hotel room, the honeymoon suite and gunned them both down...He reminded the jury that no matter how much they sympathized with the man, he had still stalked and deliberately killed two human beings ...He said this showed pre-meditation and that they had to find him guilty.

Olivia practically laughed at his sumnation....She said all she was going to do was present facts....And the facts were...Police , CSI and Medical Examiners office personnel found not one fingerprint, not one

and no DNA as well as not one piece of physical evidence linking Judge Barnett to the crime.. She said in fact...Hours later, Judge Barnett was in this very courtroom presiding over a case that she and her team were trying and awaiting a verdict.... "You've got to be very cold, calm and collect to gun down two people, one being your wife and the other being her lover, then come to work and function as if nothing happened." she said.

Jumpshot Jim and Chris Garcetti showed the jury large glossies of the actual , bloody crime scene...photos of Mrs. Barnett and Mr. Bailey on the floor, nude, his body still inserted in hers with the backs of their heads blown out!

The Jury was turned off by the blood and gore and one jury had to be excused to throw up in a waste basket...

Nelson, Olivia and Josie's objections were mostly over ruled by Judge King.

Despite their well researched objections , which he could tell they came prepared with, he found he had to side with the prosecution..

Jumpsot Jim and Chris Garcetti called several witnesses.....

Olivia, Beverly and Bresha cross examined them comparing what they told the police to what they were saying now...There were several discrepancies...

When questioning the Medical Examiner personell , The Crime Scene Investigators and the police at the scene they got them to admit that there was no evidence , no physical evidence that the Judge was at the scene.

The Hotel employees couldn't remember seeing the Judge at the scene....This didn't bode well for the case Jumpshot Jim and Chris Garcetti was trying to make.

On the fourth day of the trial, Jumpshot Jim again gave a searing and eloquent closing argument..saying that despite the lack of any eyewitnesses, despite the lack of physical evidence the judge was the only one who could have done this, the only one with motive and they had to find him guilty....

Nelson polled the jury....It looked like it was 9 to acquit, 2 who were undecided and one to convict...He didn't like it...

''Well we've got to convince that one juror and help those other jurors make up their minds.." said Olivia.

I was certain we could do that, with the defense we had planned.

IV-

We began our defense......

Olivia reminded the jury that there wasn't one bit of physical evidence placing the judge at the scene of the crime...

"All last week the Prosecution presented witness after witness, hotel employees, Crime Scene Investigators, Hotel guests, Police and Detectives at the scene, Medical Examiner Office Employees and not one of them produced a bit of evidence linking my client to the murder scene.Not ONE!!!! Funny ADA Taylor and ADA Garcetti say he was the only one who could have done it...and yet not one of their witnesses saw him and not one fingerprint or bit of DNA was found...Think about that...Not one person can even say they say him...."she said.

Nelson , Josie and I placed two life sized mannequins on the floor in the doggie style sexual position the two were in...

We used the actual autopsy report and crime scene report trajectory.....

We had Beverly, who was five foot , three stand and aim the gun at the heads....

Bresha explained that the trajectory, the way the bullets struck indicated that the killer was more than likely a woman or at best a very short man, who was left handed..

Jumpshot Jim and Chris Garcetti both objected , saying this was clear speculation....

Judge King Frowned but never the less cut us some slack and allowed the demonstration to stand...

"Mrs. Bennett-Alexander is there more to your defense than this demonstration?" he asked.

"There is your honor...The defense calls Drena McGlowin to the stand..

Drena walked to the stand.. Practically all of the male jurors and spectators watched her every move..

She was a vivacious woman, just like her sister...

She caught Lt. Tragg's eye.. "VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he said,practically salivating over her curvaceous figure and the tight form fitting leather pants she was wearing..

"Ms. Mcgowen, you and I are about five foot three , the same height right?" asked Beverly...

"Yes that's about right.." said Drena...

"And you're a lefty like my husband aren't you?" asked Bresha.

"Why Yes, I am." she said, smiling...

"You had a years long affair with Vernon Bailey didn't you?" asked Olivia.

"WHAT? NO! THAT WAS MY BROTHER IN LAW!" she snarled angrilly......

"You say you didn't have a relationship with him , can you explain these photos?" said Nelson , who showed the jury huge glossies of her and the late Vernon Bailey at "Bottom of The C" restaurant, "Curleys" on "Couples Night", "The Egyptian Club", "Aqua Bar", "Stoleys" Even kissing passionately.

"Your sister is nowhere in these photos....She hired a Private Investigator , who followed you two... I have here credit card receipts from a number of local hotels you two were in from time to time...

Nelson showed even more lurid photos of the two of them in hotel rooms, kissing, undressing,making love.

This titilated the jury, who ouuuuuuuuuuuuu and ahhhhed..

So come again about how you two weren't having an affair." said Nelson.

She broke down in tears...

''Yes...I loved him very much...Yes I had an affair with him...He said he loved me..He told he loved me and he was going to leave my sister for me...I told him not to do that...I was happy to share him." she said, now crying profusely....

Olivia talked to her smoothly...soothingly..She didn't want to come off like a bully...

"He said he loved you and when you discovered he was seeing another woman it incensed you didn't it?

You were in that hotel...We have your credit card receipts...You rented a room down the hall from him didn't you? You saw him and he didn't see you? You killed him.....You killed her.. You called your sister and told her they were dead.. The record here shows you called your sister FOUR HOURS before the police discovered the bodies... It was you wasn't it?" Olivia asked.

She composed herself..

"I don't think I will say anything else without the advice of legal counsel." she said and smiled wickedly.. She suddenly knew that Olivia knew and she knew she knew.

Olivia smiled. "That's a good idea...A damn goood idea...The Defense rests." she said.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER-

When a jury came back this fast, it was usually a good sign for us... Or at Least ir had been lately..

''They are back pretty fast....I don't like how this looks.." said Judge Barnett.

"I think it looks good for us." said Olivia, smiling confidently...

''With what that jury heard and saw there is no way they could convict you." said Beverly.

''My wife is right...and I polled the jury...We got to em...Every last one of em."said Nelson.

"We created enough reasonable doubt." said Josie.

''We gave em the killer on a silver platter thanks to our super sleuth Donnie Ray."said a cheerful Bresha.

I smiled...

''Damnit....I think we lost this one." said Jumpshot Jim..

"Yeah I think so too!" said Chris Garcetti...who looked at Lt. Tragg..

"Didn't you read the Crime Scene Report fully or the Autopsy report? They sure did...How did you miss that woman? You are the worst." said Chris Garcetti.

"MUZZLE IT BUDDY...MUZZLE IT! DID YOU READ THEM???" snarled an angry Lt. Tragg.

"I did! I told you the trajectory wasn't matching and that the judge's time frame..leaving his house and coming to the courthouse was troubling..None of you listened...Plus I told you about the strong smells of two different ladies perfumes at the crime scene..You just blew me off.." said a disgusted Ingrid Stevenson....who had no idea I had had the same conversation with him a day before..

"You're not gonna lay this on me....You guys got out lawyered is all..." said an angry Lt. Tragg..

"Has the Jury come to a conclusion?" asked Judge King.

"We have your honor." said the jury foreman..

"Bailiff!" he said.. The Baillif brought him the verdict....He read it and sighed..

"Read it!" he said.

"WE THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. VANCE BARNETT ON THE CHARGE OF CAPITAL MURDER, COUNT ONE, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY..

ON THE CHARGE OF CAPITAL MURDER, COUNT TWO, WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY.

ON THE CHARGE OF USING AN INSTRUMENT OF CRIME TO COMITT CAPITAL MURDER..

WE FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!

''We did it!! I knew we won the jury over!" said a jubilant Nelson.

''Thank you Jesus...My long nightmare is over."said Judge Barnett-"Thank you all so much." he said.

Olivia and Beverly high fived each other and leaped into the air..

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" they said jubilantly..

Judge Barnett hugged Josie and Bresha... "You two are wonderful attorneys...Stick with Olivia, you both will have long successful careers." he said..

"Thank you your honor.." said Josie.

"Thank you your honor." said Bresha...

''What are your future plans now?" I asked him...

"You gonna take that partnership?" asked Nelson.

''Oh Yes...I'm going to take that partnership.. I'm still going to sit on the bench for awhile..." he said.

He hugged and kissed Olivia and Beverly...

"Thank you two....Thank you soooooo much. I owe you my life." he said.

''All in a days work your honor." said a smiling Olivia.

''We told you we'd get you off." said Beverly.

"Damn it! I lost the case." said Jumpshot Jim...

Chris and Ingrid slipped out of the side door, leaving him alone to face the Media...

They were actually interviewing us...

Lt. Tragg angrilly stomped his foot and stormed out of the courthouse....Which meant...No melee today!

That was a good thing!

EPILOUGE-

Drena McGlowin was indicted and arrested for The Double Homicides of her brother in law /lover and Mrs. Delilah Barnett....

Her new Attorney /Lover, Lawrence Powell got her arraigned and released on bail.....

But she was never going to stand trial for the murders....

Sometime that night after being released..

She finished off a bottle of Tequilla and swallowed three Cyanide pills...

They found her body, clad in panties and a bra as stiff as a board in the morning...an empty glass still in her left hand..

The 40 caliber handgun she used to kill both people was found in her dresser drawer...thus closing the case.

ONE WEEK LATER-

We had two interesting guests in our conference room.. Lena Bailey and Attorney Kevin Powell..

She was sporting a huge engagement ring..

Beverly spotted it first..

"Oh My GOD! IS THAT AN ENGAGEMENT RING??" she said.

"You're getting married?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, Kevin and I are getting married.... I had no choice...The poor man can't keep his hands off of me., Tee Hee..." she laughed..

Attorney Powell looked totally enraptured with her.....She was seven years older than him, but that didn't seem to matter...

''We are getting married next month...We want you to come...Bring all of your lawyer friends.." he said,

''Sorry About your sister." I said.. We had heard about her arrest and her subsequant suicide..

"Don't be.... I've forgiven her...I've forgiven my husband...I finally claimed both of their bodies... I had them cremated and we spread their ashes out on the river.... Now , they're finally together." she said somberly....

She looked at Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bresha. Olivia's young associates