Collateral Damage

8:30 AM- MONDAY MORNING!

Inside the loft that both Charlotte and Kelly Ann called home.... Charlotte and Eric were in her living room enjoying a kiss.

"Ummmmmmmmmm you did the damn thing last night....My right foot is still shaking a bit..wooow!"said Charlotte...

"You weren't so bad yourself.....you really blew my mind girl." said Eric in between more slow soft kisses...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" she moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU girl!" he moaned.

''We've got to stop now...You've got to go to court...Your trial starts today.." said Charlotte, easing out of his embrace..

"Yeah, I know." he shrugged.. This trial meant everything to him...Once it was over and he was cleared..he was free to work with Tanya Mosely, the States Attorney in a capacity that could put him back in the winners circle... He also had plans for Charlotte.... He was thinking of moving in with her or at least into this loft...There was an empty unit available..He would lose the money he had on his lease across town, but he was in love, he didn't want to leave Charlotte and truth be told, She didn't want him to leave her...

 She took a disinfectant wipe and wiped her lipstick off of his lapel and his face and straightened his clothes out...

"Good Luck in court today.." she said as he left...

9:30- Courthouse waiting room

"Heyyyyyy Everybody!" said Eric, looking dapper and carrying tumblers of coffee for himself and everybody else.. 

 

 "Thank youuuuuuuuu... I was getting ready to send Bee Bee and Sofia out for coffee."said Yvette.

"Hey Thanks man." I said.

"Ready for trial?"asked Bee Bee..

"Of course he is.." said Sofia, smiling...

"Whether he is or he isn't....Trial begins in a few minutes...." said Kahlil...

"Thanks for the coffee...We are ready to present a robist defense." said Jade.

"I'm ready...and thank you guys again for taking up my case."said Eric as we drank our coffees and prepared to enter the courthouse...

ADA Richard Gray walked by us... He knew Eric from years before when they were colleagues..

He looked at him and said..

"Hi Eric..uh I'm sorry." he said.

"It's okay Rich....You have a job to do.. I understand." said Eric..

 

 II-

COURTROOM B- 10:00 AM-

"ALL RISE FOR THE HONORABLE JUDGE MICHAEL KING!" said the Bailiff.

ADA Richard Gray stood...he turned and looked as Lt. Tragg walked in...

Lt. Tragg arrived late, but he was immacculate, Nice new suit, every hair in place, expensive and shiny shoes and no trace of Kelly Ann's lipstick on his lapel.

Ms. Yvette, Eric and all of us stood.

 

 

Eric looked a bit nervous...I'm sure he was...His first time in court as a defendent..

"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...Tomorrow  we will begin with trial." said Judge King.. "We will start today with introductions.." he said.

"Assistant District Attorney, Richard Gray your honor." said Richard.

 

 "Lead Attorney for the defense, Yvette Jones -Lockwood." said Yvette.

"Attorney for the Defense, Keith Jones your honor." I said.

"Attorney for the Defense-Mrs. Beatrice Evans-Jones." said Bee Bee.

"Attorney for the defense, Mrs. Sofia Garcia-Ahmed."said Sofia.

"Attorney for the Defense-Kahlil Ahmed." said Sofia.

Jade just smiled... "Defense Investigator." she said.

."Okayyyyy let's begin Jury selection.." said Judge King.

Richard and improved greatly since the last time we did battle with him...We could see it in the questions he asked and in his objections..

But Kahlil and I had improved too under Ms. Yvette's tutelage...and we were four years better ourselves...

plus we had our wives, Sofia and Bee Bee , who were learning the art of Voir Dire looking at their laptops and whispering questions and advice to us...

We ended up with an 8-4 split going our way including the Jury Foreman....

Yvette sat back and smiled serenely...like a proud mother....She had molded the four of us into pretty good attorneys..

"Alright...We have a jury...Trial will begin  promptly tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, Be on time and Be ready for trial." he said.

''All these Judges always want us here at 9:00 in the morning...Damn!"said Bee Bee.

"It could be worse....It could be at 8:00." laughed Sofia.

"Don't even joke like that."laughed Kahlil..

I laughed....

NIGHT TIME-

Some of us went out to Food Court to have Ice Cream and Pizza later on that night.. All of us younger attorneys took a walk, (some of our friends drove) to the Food Corner, which was a few blocks from us....Six blocks from where we live now and approximately six blocks from the apartment complex the four of us used to live in before...

Many of us had Banana Splits.....

Some of us had Pizza.....

"This is a nice respite, I haven't been here in a minute...." I said..

''Same Here. Glad you and Charlotte, Eric." said Bee Bee.

"I feel so free, so hopeful right now..." said Eric, who was sitting with Charlotte in a booth.

Charlotte smiled, looking at him lovingly.....

"Nice to see you out too Charlotte." said Sofia, walking by with her Banana Split..

"Nice to be out and about!" said Charlotte, purely glowing and smiling from ear to ear.....

"This is like the calm before the storm."said Kahlil.

"I know the feeling, the night before a big trial....you guys will be alright..."said Jazzy...
 

''We are going to miss you tomorrow at Breakfast...but we know you're going to be doing the damn thing in court." said Dabnis.

"Yeah, good luck to you guys." said Kayla.

"It's nice hanging out in our neighborhood for awhile..Isn't it?."said Ray...

"Yeah, no bus ride...no cars, just a nice short walk back to our homes."said Jessica.

"Yeah , a nice walk..." said Chip..

"Well we drove down, but it would have been a nice romantic walk."said Natalie.

"Yeah a long romantic walk...Twelve Blocks...We'd of been exhausted when we got here."joked David.

"This is a nice comfortable and cool place to eat and hang out."said Brooke, here for the first time.

''Yeah, we gotta come back." said her husband, Sean.

"I love this place...Just one other nice spot in this neighborhood."said Renee, here for her first time.

"Yeah, I love this place." said Tyrell ,enjoying a Banana Split.

"We've been coming here for years huh babe?" said Paris.

"You started talking to me, flirting with me in here..."laughed Josie.. They were the first two to come here, back when they started courting...

"Nice." laughed Tony....

"I came here with Josie when I first moved into the neighborhood."mused Bresha.

"Yeah Josie hipped me and Nelson to this place too, So many years ago..."laughed Beverly....

"I remember..." said Nelson....

It was a beautiful night...

And at Ms. Yvette's house-

"This is getting to be a ritual....The night before a big trial..." laughed Gary...

"Please !You're on top of me damn near every night that I can have sex..."laughed Yvette...

She and her husband began kissing....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU VETTIE!! THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S SO DAMN GOOOOOD!" Gary moaned..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! THANK YOU!" she moaned.

Kissing passionately.....

And getting closer and finishing undressing each other...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE FRESH HUSBAND!" Yvette  laughed..

"And YOU ARE SO ROUND, SO CURVACEOUS!  UMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned in between soft kisses.

..

She was rubbing his now engorged penis..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOODNESS GARY, YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE, WHOOOOOOOO! BEING SO HARD AND SO DAMN BIG!! OUUUUUUUUUU" she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWD!" GARY moaned...

.

Gary unsnapped her bra.

and slipped her panties down..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU  VETTIE  GIRRRRRL!" he said as they laid down in the bed and he slowly entered her warm , wet center....Her legs were shaking with anticipation...

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried out....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  VETTIE GIRL!! OUUUUUUUUUU!" he moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH  GARY!!!JUST PUT IT IN ME...ALL OF IT.....OHHHHHHH MY GOD!!" she moaned.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GIRRRRRRRL!" he cried out, humping away...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he moaned...

And for the next NINE TO TEN HOURS they were in coital bliss....

She finished up sleeping on top of Gary...his hand gently rubbing her butt.

"I would give you some more...but I've got to get my sleep" said Yvette , who looked over at the clock..

It was almost 2:00 am...

"I understand baby." said Gary...

"I love you Gary." Yvette whispered..

"Love you too!" he said as he dozed off!

III-

The trial was more contentious than it should have been...

With ADA Richard Gray showing the jurors photos of the murder scene and parading Crime Scene Investigators and Every policeman and detective that was at the scene before the jury.....Then he hauled in 13 witnesses that heard the many arguments and altercations between Eric and Valarie.....

Bee Bee and Yvette didn't challenge the forensics, They did challenge his witnesses who all heard arguments through the walls and doors of their apartment complexes in both Philadelphia and Cherry Hill...They never saw any instances of violence  on either party...

Sofia even cross examined the police who had been called out to their many altercations...Not one of them said that any violence was involved, just loud yelling and screaming...No arrests were ever made

Kahlil and I began talking about the other victim , Ray Studevan , suggesting for the first time that maybe he was the real target of the double homicide and that Valarie Robinson was just collateral damage, in the wrong place at the wrong time...

ADA Gray Objected to all of this...

but our legal arguments were on point with predicates, examples from like cases and current laws on our side..

Judge King was forced to rule in our favor more times than he may have wanted to,

Yvette allowed  ADA Gray to continue with his narrative that Eric Becker was the sole conspirator and had hired someone to kill Valarie Robinson...

She asked for proof..

I had a record of his bank statements, his credit card and debit card statements...There was no exorbant payments to anyone...in the past three months...Just Bill payments and a few dinners and bar tabs..

Kahlil called Lt. Tragg to the stand..

We asked him what proof he had if any that our client hired someone to kill the two, since he wasn't at the scene and he had a rock solid alibi....He was meeting with us and eating lunch with States Attorney Tanya Mosely...

Which she , Al Davis and our own Ms. Virginia testified to...

Lt. Tragg was beet red....he couldn't answer how he had come to his conclusion....He was livid and we saw traces of the old unhinged Lt. Tragg...

"They made me look like a fool." he muttered as he returned to his seat..

"You made yourself look like a fool...I TOLD YOU TO GET ME SOME MORE EVIDENCE!  "said a very angry and frustrated ADA, Gray.

Sofia argued that there was no prenup and that Eric didn't stand to gain anything from Ms. Robinson's death.

ADA Gray was frustrated.....We had torched his entire case and he could look at the jury and see that he had lost them....He practically argued jury nullification as he closed his case.....

Our client smiled and hugged Yvette..

"Ha Ha...Damnnnnnn girl, you guys are the truth....You practically don't need to launch a defense.." he said.

"That was our idea....to sabotage his entire prosecution....but we have one more nail to put in his coffin.."laughed Yvette.

With the prosecution's case closed and the defense beginning, Eric was in a  festive mood....

Charlotte was happy for him, but sad because that meant he'd be leaving her soon..... She had really enjoyed waking up in his arms every morning.... Making coffee for him, cracking two eggs and frying bacon for him while he showered....And him coming home and making sweet love to her until all hours in the morning.....She was going to miss ,sleeping alone again..

Unknown to Charlotte, Eric felt the same way...He enjoyed having a woman around he could laugh and talk to with no arguments, no mood swings...and who was sexy as hell....Who made him breakfast every morning.. He loved waking up next to her....squeezing her boobs, rubbing her butt...and her sweet kisses..

She kissed him passionately when he came in this afternoon after a great day in court..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM CHARLOTTE!" he moaned..

"I WANT TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD!" she said.

"YOU'RE DOING THAT!!" he said.

"UMMMMMMMMMMM TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF!" she cooed..

"AWWWWWWWW CHARLOTTTE!" he moaned as he slipped her panties down..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned.

"YOU'RE SO SILLY!" she laughed.

"WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU  WEEEEEEEEEE!" she cried out as he lifted her and entered her..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW  LAWDDDDDD!" he cried out.....

He sat her on the bathroom sink, spread her legs and entered her again....Her legs shaking with anticipation...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY DAMNNNNN!" he cried out...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I'M ABOUT TO CUMMMMM!" she cried out loudly....

They sat on the side of the bed as Charlotte rode him extra slowww...

"I'm going to make  you lose your mind.." whispered Charlotte..

"OH GIRL....I ALREADY HAVE LOST MY MINNNNDDDD!" cried Eric...

Charlotte rode him cowgirl style.....

And he finally flipped her over and entered her missionary style..

Her head turned from side to side..tears flowed down her face....and her whole body trembled....She was having an intense orgasm..

He was humping away with pure joy!!! Charlotte could see it in his eyes....She smiled..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ERIC!!!" she cried out..

They made sweet sweet love the rest of the afternoon, the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

IV-

COURTROOM A-

Detective Barrett squirmed in his seat...He was sweating profusely...He couldn't imagine what he was doing here...

His Attorney , F.O.P. Attorney Louis Brown nudged him..".Will you pipe down?" he said.

 

 Ms Yvette began our defense...We argued that Valarie Robinson was not the real target of the killing at all, thus totally exonerating our client of any wrong doing, but rather collateral damage In the wrong place at the wrong time....She argued that rather, her boyfriend , Ray Studevan was the real target of the murders and that poor Valarie was just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

I brought up the fact that Ray owed a Chinatown Gambler named Eddie Lee Almost 100 large in gambling debts...

To the ADA's surprise... Bee Bee produced Eddie Lee...

Who Testified that three days before he died, Ray paid him in full to the penny....

Sofia showed Valarie's bank account.... She had taken exactly 100K out of the bank four days before and given it to Ray to pay off the debt...

A Witness said she gave him a stern warning to get some help for his gambling and that Ray actually signed up with Gamblers anonymous the day before he died...

Yvette argued that Mr. Studevan was a ladies man and that he had been carrying on with another woman...Nadine Barrett, the wife of a Philadelphia Police Detective.

And for the first time since she vanished in weeks...Detective Barrett saw his wife.. She strode into the courtroom and testified that she indeed had been seeing Ray Studevan and that her husband , a very temperamental and jealous man beat Ray Studevan up, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him!

Kahlil interviewed several witnesses from the bar who witnessed the incident....

Both ADA  Richard Gray and Detective Barrett's attorney, Louis Brown argued relevance and argued that Detective Barrett was not on trial here...

"But he should be.." said Ms. Yvette....

She showed his Marine service record.... Showing he was an expert marksman... And Philadelphia Police record as a Range Instructor.....

Our investigator, Ms. Jade, herself a former Homicide Detective

Used a 75 inch monitor to show the jury the murder scene  and show the Street cam which was shot out!!!

and the perfect shot to Ray Studevan's heart and his temple

"The military calls that a double tap.." We think this was done with a home made silencer on a .22 caliber pistol."

She showed the one gunshot to Valarie Robinson's head, all that was needed to kill her.

"She was probably killed because she saw the gunman...." said Jade.

"IT'S A LIE!! IT'S A LIE!! IT'S A DIRTY STINKING LIE....YOU HAVE NO PROOF!" screamed Detective Barrett...

"Will you pipe down?" said his lawyer, Louis Brown...

"COUNSELOR, CONTROL YOUR DAMN CLIENT!! ONE MORE OUTBURST AND HE'LL BE REMOVED." said Judge King.

Ms. Yvette called Detective Barrett to the stand...

As was to be expected...He was surly, defensive and wondered why he was being called...When asked of his whereabouts on the day of the murder , he said his office, looking over files.

''Sir we interviewed three detectives from your office and they all said that you didn't show up for work that morning." said Bee Bee.

''Well I still wasn't out killing two people, you have not a shred of proof..Not a shred!" he said .

I continued..."I'm afraid that's not true Detective... with a search warrant this morning.....detectives found these in your house..." I said.

"

"This  .22 pistol with a silencer..."said Sofia, holding one of the guns up for the jury to see.

"And this .38 throwdown gun...." said Kahlil, holding it up for the jury to see.

"And with a ballistics check....I'm certain these guns will be a match for the double murder..." I said..

He looked like he'd swallowed a canary...

"The Defense rests your honor." said Yvette

"In Lieu of this compelling new evidence, The People move to drop all charges against Mr. Becker."said Assistant District Attorney Richard Gray, who was relieved he wouldn't have to send his one time friend and colleague to jail for life or worse..

"I concur....This matter is concluded...Baillif's take that man into custody...

"NO!!! I DON'T BELIEVE THIS....NADINE YOU BITCH THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" screamed now former Detective Barrett as he was handcuffed and dragged out of the courtroom.....

Nadine Barrett sighed relief..She was free from her husband at last...

"Wow!I'm free...Thank you Yvette, Thank you Keith, Thank you Beatrice, Thank You Sofia,Thank You Kahlil and thank you Jade." said eric, hugging us all...

 

 "You're welcome and you go home or uh to Charlotte's and get you some rest and then we have a meeting with Tanya..."said Yvette.

"This is what you've been waiting for." I said.

"This is a load off your back...huh?" said Bee Bee.,

"Maybe we'll celebrate at a later time." said Sofia.

"That'll be real cool." said Kahlil.

"And you know, we know how to celebrate."said Jade.

"Oh Look theres Cheryl." said Virginia.

"Hi Guys....Nice Work in court...I'm here to offer you the position Eric, just sign the paperwork...Your Attorneys are here so they can read the fine print...And here are invitations to you all and Liv and the rest to a gala party we are throwing this weekend...I hope you all can come." said Cheryl... 

 ''Who doesn't love a party?" said Yvette.

"I know I do." said Virginia.

"Wow. Laundry Day last Saturday, A party this Saturday....I love it." I said.

"Never a dull moment.."laughed Bee Bee.

''Well, it's Wednesday Night...I'm going home and chill."said Sofia.

"Yeah me too! "said Kahlil..

"What are you doing Eric?" asked Jade.

"Well, tomorrow I've got to see my landlord and a realtor.."laughed Eric. "Things free men do." he laughed.

EPILOUGE-

Former Detective Mike Barrett was convicted of the murders of Valarie Robinson and Ray Studevan and given two life sentences.....

Nadine Barrett was  granted a divorce...She put their house up for sale and moved to an undisclosed location.

SATURDAY NIGHT- JOSIE'S BAR AND GRILL!

What better place to have a party than at Josie's...in our neighborhood....

We had a section cordoned off for just our group....It was catered with sandwich trays, and pasta as well as plenty of drinks...

"Thank you all for coming out tonight.." said States Attorney Tanya Mosley...she was ecstatic that we all showed up! she picked Josie's because she knew it was close to where all of her good friends lived and because she herself had had many fun nights in this place... It was cool and comfortable.. Our safe place...

Her Boyfriend, Attorney Joey Bishop was by her side....

Her right hand man, Attorney Al Davis was there

with his boyfriend, Attorney Charles St. Patrick

And Her Staff Attorney Cheryl Williams was there 

with her boyfriend, Attorney Austin Lewis..

Her staff Attorney Linda Gorman was there too..

"Welcome to the team , Eric, We can't wait until Tuesday when you start.." she said.

"Thank you all so much for giving me this opportunity and Charlotte I'm so glad you came, I have a surprise for you....I moved...." said Eric.

"You did?" she asked..

"Yup...There was an empty unit in your loft....Two floors up...I bought it...We are neighbors now and as soon as I get settled in....You can come up and spend the night with me... I can't cook..but I can order breakfast for us..." said Eric.

"Awwwwwwww you are just too much." said a very happy  Charlotte.

She kissed him slowly and softly......

then passionately....

Her friend, Elaine smiled...She was happy for Charlotte... 

 "This is a great night...I'm Happy for Eric and for Charlotte too!  They're a couple now and he has moved into her loft...." said Yvette...

"Wow, you know the scoop, don't you?" laughed Gary...

"I'm his lawyer...I handled the negotiations with his landlord and got him some of his money back from his original lease.." said Yvette proudly...

"This was a satisfactory case...One of the most satisfying." I said.

"Yeah, I really felt good exposing that neanderthal husband of Nadine...."said Bee Bee.

"Yeah....Now she is free....Free of him.."said Sofia.

"This truly was a satisfactory case...good job Jade, Damn good Job!"said Kahlil...

"It was a team effort..We all did our part." said Jade.

"Once Again Lt. Tragg bungled another case....Captain Cantrell and the Deputy of Operations called him on the carpet and really let him have it yesterday..... He was pretty upset when he left..." said Danny,laughing...

"I imagine he's probably been at our old building looking to take it out on us..." said Virginia.

"Isn't it great that he doesn't know where you guys work....but he does know where we live....but he'd better not ever come to our door." warned Jetty.. 

 "This is a great night...I'm Happy for Eric and for Charlotte too!  They're a couple now and he has moved into her loft...." said Olivia.

 

"And it's nice to celebrate here at Josie's ,our safe space! How did you know about his living circumstances?" asked Donnie Ray...

"Vettie is his lawyer still..and she's like my sister...She told me the whole thing about the landlord negotiations...Even asked my advice.." said Olivia...

"This is a beautiful night. I'm glad to be here for Tanya...and for Eric..." said Beverly...

"He's a good guy..."said Nelson....

"I'm happy for Nadine...she's free now...She can breathe easy and not have to worry about her crazy unhinged husband." said Josie.

"I'm glad we are in the neighborhood tonight....Walking Distance." said Paris.

"Me too Paris..." said Bresha.

"Yeah tonight is nice." said her husband, Toni....

"I love Josie's...I always have." said Alfreda.

"Yeah Me too!" said her husband Rockland.

"You and I were coming here before we lived in this neighborhood." said Jazzy to her husband, Dabnis.
 

"Yes indeedy..We had some good times here.." said Dabnis.

''We did too, didn't we husband?" said Kayla.

''Sure Did.. I'm glad we live around here now." said Ray.

''I am too....I love it here.." laughed Jessica.

"I came here quite a bit.." said Chip, remembering when he dated Jazzy and they came here as a couple..

"I used to pop in here with Olivia and Vettie..." said Karen.....

B.L. was one of the few people who had no history here at Josie...but he was happy to be here with his friends...

"This is soooo nice...and I feel safe here..Not on edge at all." said Natalie, resting her head on her husband's shoulders...

''We all do..." said her husband ,David, who was holding her..

Brooke was making herself a sandwich and smiling at her husband, Sean... She didn't have a history here...She didn't come in here in the past....but she was coming in here 

Her husband Sean had been here before he met Brooke by himself....but now loved coming here...

Zoey and Lem had a history of coming in Josie's as long as they were a couple....

"Hey How you guys doin?" said Lem to Renee and Tyrell.

''We are just loving this.." said a very jubilant Renee.

"Ditto " said her husband, Tyrell who had a plate of sandwiches..

Nina  Rios had come here with her friends, Olivia and Yvette, She always felt at home..

Her boyfriend, Carlos Rios was a newcomer here, but he felt at home..

There was a live band

and a D.J. 

Lots of dancing....Eating, Drinking and fellowship between good friends...  It was a truly happy ending!