VENTURES: To Get Ready

The train was headed towards Greene Correctional Institution where both of our clients were on death row...Perhaps we could bring them some good news today...

We were sitting three rows behind Brooke and Sean...

"David you think this dress is a little too form fitting and clingy for a prison full of men?" asked Natalie..

I couldn't take my eyes off of her....I smiled.. "Uh No...It's perfectly fine..." I said.

"Oh why did I ask you? You're practically drooling..." she said and playfully swatted at me..."I remember when we were Public Defenders I used to catch you looking at me the same way some mornings...practically drooling." she laughed.

"Not just me, all of the young Black lawyers in the office and a couple of white guys too!" I said.

"For real?" she said...incredulous and smiling...

"Oh you knew....You and Brooke both...outside of Jessica Sanchez,

you were the two hot girls..

Jessica, Brooke and Me were the only three women in the office not going through menopause at the time....Well! I'm just happy being YOUR hot girl." said Natalie,leaning her head on my shoulder and giving me a soft sweet kiss..

They were the three youngest women in the office and the most attractive at the time.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she moaned..

"I'm happy too!" I said as we continued to kiss...

A few seats up, Brooke and Sean sat together... There weren't a lot of people on the train today...

Brooke stared deeply into Sean's eyes..

Sean stared deeply into hers...

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm you can't keep your hands off me can you?" she asked him as they kissed.

"I plead guilty...I can't." he said as they continued to kiss passionately...

"YOU ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY VANILLA!" Sean moaned..

''Meooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"she cooed and leaned over and continued kissing Sean passionately...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmph....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." Brooke moaned...

Brooke giggled "Ouuuu look at you! " she said. She could see that his trousers were standing out like a circus tent... ,

She softly rubbed his erection and continued deep throat kissing him....

He opened her blouse and slowly unhooked her bra....There was no one to the side of them or directly in front of them or in back of them...Natalie and I were four rows behind them and other than us.. only one other man was in our car and he snoring....Most of the riders had gotten off awhile ago.

Sean sucked on her breasts and kissed her breasts, her neck and her cheekbones and finally her lips....She moaned and leaned her head back......She was giddy with excitement....

He continued kissing Brooke from her mouth down to her breasts, He began giving her french kisses, He moved his lips slowly across her breasts down to her body, He kept kissing her body as he lowered his head to her waist and hips. Brooke was wearing a nice short sheer skirt and Sean lifted it..

As Sean got to her marching panties, he placed a hand on both of her shapely legs and slowly spread them, Instead he kissed and licked her vagina through her panties and even squeezed it slightly with his lips,

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ,OHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDD!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, CHOCOLATE DADDDY!!" she moaned. her body trembled and tears flowed like a river down the side of her face.....

Brooke was near delirium.. Sean ran his tongue softly over her panties... He kissed her through her panties for a few minutes He moved slightly lower, kissing along her inner thigh. He licked & kissed her inner thigh... He yanked her panties to the side and licked her vagina some more.Then he began deep throat kissing her again...

Brooke was breathing heavily and her body was shaking.. "OH MY GODDDDD HUSBAND! ....UMMMMMMM!" she cooed. She was having an intense orgasm...

"OHHHHHHHHHHH VANILLA!!...OHHHHHHHHHHH!" SEAN moaned softly.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, OHHHH MY GODDDDD!" she moaned. She was having another orgasm on top of one..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, YOU NASTY BOY!" she cooed.. she was trembling something crazy at this point...

She kissed the head of his penis and licked it and then took him in her mouth and began going up and down...Sean was losing his mind...

An HOUR AND A HALF of this was all he could stand....He exploded like a gusher....

Brooke straightened her clothes...fixed her bra...pulled her panties up and took some tissues out of her purse and cleaned up around them... Sean likewise fixed his clothes...

She was as red as a beet...Sean had a sheepish grin on his face... They got up and moved to another seat...

"You are sooo nasty." Brooke said, a little embarrassed about what had just happened..

Sean had a devilish grin on his face.

"I love you.." he said quietly...

"I love you too!" she whispered to him.

We found a diner to have Breakfast in near the prison as soon as we got off the train...

We ordered breakfast....With Natalie, Myself and Sean being the only African-Americans in the diner, we got plenty of stares as you can guess.. With Brooke obviously being with Sean, and her being the only white woman with three Blacks...She got even more curious stares...but no one said or did anything to us..

We ordered and were served our food and we ate breakfast without incident...

They figured we were attorneys and headed toward the prison.

Mark Williams seemed like a pleasant enough person...A Gentle soul...Certainly not a man who could have murdered someone.. He did have a conviction for burglary in which he had served two years and another conviction for a armed robbery in which he had served five years...but never anything actually violent and he swore up and down that after his last stint in prison he had gone straight.. He had a good job working in a factory...repairing furniture and delivering it and that the night of the murder..He was nowhere near the reporter's apartment complex.

He told us that the so called eyewitness was near sighted and had testified and had perjured herself at least three other times..

He didn't know us....We told him that his Public Defender had given this case to us and we were going to do what we needed to get him out of jail...Not just get him off death row, but out of jail period..

For the first time since he had been convicted and sentenced....He had some hope..he said.

II-

Not to far down from them I sat with my client..

"That's your wife down there? She's pretty...You're a lucky man." said Rufus Haney, who could see

Natalie, Brooke and Sean from where he was sitting..

"Thank you...We all work together out of the same office in Philadelphia. We believe both you and Mark Williams were falsely or let's say wrongfully convicted and we are going to try to get both of you out of here." I said.

"I tried to tell both of those rotten detectives on the case that they were mistaken...but talking to them was like talking to a brick wall...they didn't want to hear it...they just wanted a quick conviction and time on the television." said Rufus..

"By the way...Who were the two detectives on your case?" I asked.

"Lieutenant Arthur Tragg and Detective William Swift." he said.

I was not surprised...Those two were known for doing sloppy police work...Especially Lt. Tragg.

I laid his case out to him and how I planned to argue in Appellate court on his behalf.

He was surprised that I was ready so fast.....but we now had less than 80 days of his stay of execution left...

"You know I was prepared to die....and then you got me a stay...I didn't expect to see you back here this soon...You are indeed the truth..." said Rufus, feeling hopeful for then first time..

"I do what I can." I said with a faint smile.

We found a motel near the edge of town to stay in for the night...

''Well this isn't the best hotel I've been in...but it'll do."said Natalie, smiling at me.

"I've had fantasies of taking you to a hotel or a motel.I never knew I'd be married to you before that happened." I laughed..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU..."laughed Natalie....

"Here's a chanced to make your fantasy come true..." whispered Natalie in my ear as we began kissing..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu baby!" I moaned...

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm husband!" she cooed. I loved it when she said that.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMMMMMMMM I feel like I should have fantasized this myself." she said as we began undressing each other. still kissing.

I unhooked her bra and slipped her panties down..

"OH MY GOD NATALIE!" I moaned upon removing them......

"OHHH HUSH UP!" she laughed.

"Just hush up and let me get on this." she giggled as she eased down on my waiting penis..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU......UMMMMMMMPH!" she moaned...."This thing feels like it got bigger....oh my god David...." she cooed...

"It did get bigger, just now." I laughed.

"You are so nasty....but big and harrrd!" she moaned.

She opened her legs wider and really began to ride me....as I gripped her hips.. She was so soft, so wet,I was nearly delirious....

"Honey....ouuuuuuu...Sugar....OH MY GOD DAVID!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed loudly..

"NATALIE....OHHHHHHHHH NATALIE....UMMMMMMMMM!" I moaned...

Soon we got into a nice little rhythm of going cowgirl style on the small bed...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! OH MY GODDDD DAVID..OUUUUU!" she cooed...

"Natalie....Natalie.....Natalie?" I moaned.

"What baby?" she cooed.

"I'm losing my minddd!" I cried out....

.Making sweet sweet love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

and sleeping as peaceful as possible.

While next door..

''Seems like we were always sneaking around to motels like this outside of the D.C. Area when we first met." said Sean....

"I know...This place brings back memories...We were so scared of people finding out about us and how it might affect our jobs back then....both of us were working for the federal government....but in this day and age, we shouldn't have worried." she said.

"No we shouldn't have.." said Sean as he took her in his arms and began kissing her....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Vanilla." he moaned..

"My Chocolate Daddyyyyyyy!" she squealed.....

as he unhooked her bra and panties..

"OH MY GOD BROOKE, I LOVE THESE PANTIES." he said.

She laughed...

"DO I HAVE ANY PAIR THAT YOU DON'T LIKE?" she asked.

"Well maybe those granny panties that you have." he chuckled..

"Oh Hush up silly." she laughed.

In no time he had Brooke on the bed...her legs parted and his body entwined with hers....

She was as usual.very wet and very soft....smelling like a newborn baby....driving him out of his mind...

Her head turning from side to side....and tears streaming from her eyes...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SEAN!! OUUUUUUU MY CHOCOLATE DADDY!! GIVE IT TO MEE...OUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VANILLA!! I LOVE YOU!" he cried out...

"OH DADDY!! CHOCOLATE DADDY, I LOVE YOU TOO! OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cried out.

Brooke was experiencing one orgasm on top of another.....and crying like a school girl as Sean masterfully stroked her..

LIKE US .THE NEXT EIGHT TO NINE HOURS in that hotel room saw their bed get a good workout..

Both of our beds in both rooms were squeaking like crazy....

Neither couple thought about going out for dinner that night....We rested in each other's arms.

III-

I took an Uber to State Appellate Court...

Despite the ancient building, the courtroom had been completely refurnished..

I argued my case in front of Judge Robert Redding...a somewhat Liberal Judge...

and the original prosecutor from Philadelphia, Courtland James....

I gave my oral argument-

Dr. Corazon reached her conclusions that Baby Mellissa’s death was murder and the mechanism of death without any understanding of Baby Mellisa's complex medical history. The grossly incomplete picture Dr. Corazon had of Mellisa's medical history renders her opinions unreliable and invalid. In 2021, Dr. Corazon admitted that she did not consider any of the following essential information before reaching conclusions regarding the cause and manner of Mellisa's death: Mellisa's medical history from birth, including the records of her recent illness the week of her collapse and the drugs that had been prescribed to her by both a pediatrician and an ER doctor,

The CT scans taken of Nikki’s head when she was admitted to the Palestine Regional ER the morning of her collapse (which were inaccessible to the defense for 15 years),

The EMS records (which the State has lost) reflecting Nikki’s treatment in transport from Paoli to Philadelphia,

A medical reference book to determine whether Mellisa'sorgans were of an abnormal weight at autopsy (which both the lungs and the brain were), ; The scene where Mellisa collapsed including: the fact that the bed where she had been sleeping was propped up on cinder blocks, The expertise of a biomechanical engineer or biomechanical research regarding the injury-potential of short falls, Data about the potential height, trajectory, or impact surface associated with the reported fall, trajectory of the fall, or the impact surface, The relevance of Mellissa's height, age to determine whether it was physically possible to generate sufficient force through shaking her to cause the injuries observed, The wash rag and bedding obtained from the scene containing small specks of blood,

Any information regarding “promethazine” a drug found in lethal quantities in Mellisa's system, as identified by a toxicology report that Dr. Corazon had requested but never reviewed and All of the intervening medical treatment, transports, and medications that were applied to Mellisa after she arrived at the ER on January 31st until she arrived at the crime lab on February 2, 2022, including having a pressure monitor surgically implanted in her head, which Dr. Corazon later claimed was an “impact site, .

After another doctor, Dr. Regina Squires made her Shaken Baby diagnosis, which was used as the basis to arrest Mr. Roberson on February 1, 2022, Mellissa was taken off life support and pronounced dead. Before Dr. Corazon performed the autopsy, she was told by a member of Detective Swift's team that Mr. Haney had already been arrested for capital murder.

That same law enforcement officer, Detective William Swift then sat in on the autopsy.. These are circumstances now known to create pronounced bias.

When Dr. Corazon performed the autopsy, the lab was not accredited and thus not governed by recognized quality-control standards.. Dr. Corazon had been employed there for a year and a half.and was rumored to have had at least two romantic relationships with the heads of the Autopsy Unit.

The multiple signatures on the report are not an affirmation of anything. As Dr. Corazon admitted, she alone did the autopsy—and with great haste. There has never been any evidence that her work was vetted in any way. Mellisa's autopsy was the 456th of as of February 2, 2022, which may explain why Dr. Corazon would have felt rushed to reach a conclusion as to cause and manner of death the same day as the autopsy without even waiting for the results of various tests she had ordered.. Dr. Corazon's autopsy report uses the phrase “blunt force injuries”, but at trial, she expressly defined “blunt force” as being caused by some unknown combination of “shaking “ and “impacts or blows”. I said.

"So Mr. Charles, Tell us what YOU mean by Blunt force?What causes Blunt force?"

"Typically in a– Especially in a child this age, blunt force can be caused both by– well, by an impact to the head, so being struck with something or being struck against something.

Shaking also falls into this definition of blunt force and when enough– And although it doesn’t seem like, you know, shaking is not necessarily striking a child, when you are– When a child is say, shaken hard enough, the brain is actually moving back and forth within, again, within the skull, impacting the skull itself and that motion is enough to actually damage the brain.

Dr. Corazone's trial testimony repeatedly described Baby Mellisa's injuries—the triad—as caused by shaking/blunt force; relying on the triad to presume inflicted head trauma is the discredited “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” ( subdural bleeding saying: “this is another type of bleeding that we see with blunt force injuries and shaking.” described as a retinal hemorrhages as: “Again, this is something that is typically seen in a blunt force or shaking type of injury.” described brain swelling saying: “Subdural hemorrhage alone, the subscalpular hemorrhage alone.

You know, it’s a small amount of blood loss. Again, these injuries themselves are not going to kill this child, but what is going to kill this child are the actual injuries to the brain. And so these other things, the subarachnoid hemorrhage and the subdural hemorrhage are markers that the brain is injured in this way. What actually happens is when the brain is shook or struck hard enough in cases such as you might find here, the actual nerves, the actual individual cells that make up the brain are injured. So those same cells that create our memories or tell our hearts to beat and remind our lungs to breathe are actually damaged and along with, when those cells are damaged like that we get the bleeding into the brain and we get the swelling or the edema.” Mellissa's medical records, as Dr. Corazon admitted in 2022, show that she had DIC, a blood clotting disorder that causes “increased susceptibility to bleeding and bruising,” yet Dr. Cporazon did not include this information in the autopsy report put before the jury or factor it into her assessment of Mellisa's condition. Because Dr. Corazon did not review any of the medical records, she had no way to account for the effects of two days of extensive medical treatment on Mellisa's body before the autopsy was performed." I said.

"I see you have researched this quite well Mr. Charles...Can we get Dr. Corazone here to testify?" asked Judge Redding.

"Unfortunately no your honor....She died last year in December....She had a brain aneurysm that caused her death..." said Assistant District Attorney Courtland James.

"From what I've heard here...I am compelled to void this entire sentence....and order a new trial altogether. He'll be transferred to a holding facility in Philadelphia..."said The Judge..

"Your honor please!" pleaded ADA Courtland James.

"FIND SOME NEW EVIDENCE...OR DROP THESE CHARGES COUNSELOR!!" said the Judge sternly..

"Oh My God...Oh My God...Oh My God...What does this mean?" asked Rufus Haney...

"It means you are leaving here, you're off Death row...You're going back to Philadelphia where I'm going to defend you on the original murder charges...I told you, I'm going to get you out of here." I said.

"Oh Thank you...Thank you...Thank you..." he said as guards lead him away....

Natalie stood in the back of the courtroom smiling..

"Nicely done counselor.....Let's go celebrate." she said.

"Mmmmmmmmm back to the room eh?" I said.

''Nooooooo we always do that....and we'll probably do that tonight....No I mean let's go out and eat somewhere nice tonight." she said taking me by the arm..

"Oh Okay! but don't I get a congratulatory kiss or something?" I asked..

"That's my sweet sweet baby." she said and kissed me passionately..

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm you happy now." she said as she laid a soft one on my lips..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...AWWWWWWWWWWW, Yes I am... you sure you don't wanna go back to the room?" I whispered.... but before Natalie could answer.

"Congratulations David."said Brooke

Giving me a soft kiss also...

"Hey you two....Sean and I found a nice place we can eat tonight...We are happy about the way our oral arguments are going." said Brooke.

"Nice thick Steaks and nice cheap drinks.." said Sean.

Sean didn't lie...The Steakhouse had incredible food.. Great Steak and Potatoes

Great Drinks

and Great Beers

"Well, what do you guys think?" asked Sean.

"Great call Sean...Great Call...These Steaks are great..."I said.

"The food is delicious...."said Natalie.

"I'm surprised a place like this is up here...I miss all of our friends eating together with us...but we'll be home the day after tomorrow." said Brooke.

We had rented a car and had driven out to this place.

and then driven back to our motel with full stomachs tonight.

IV-

Tonight in Philadelphia- Our friends were eating at a Tony new restaurant. They were celebrating the successful conclusion to all of their cases... This restaurant was outside of Philadelphia in a different direction. Naturally, Olivia's buses had transported them there.

"Wow I miss Natalie and David and Brooke and Sean.. They're up in the styx right now, probably having dinner in some dump."said Jazzy.

"I know Sean...He's as big a foodie as Donnie Ray...He'll find a good restaurant...He'll rent a car and drive to a spot..."laughed Dabnis.

"I saw on the news that David got Rufus Haney's entire conviction voided... Haney is being transferred here to await a new trial."said Kayla.

"Oh Man, that's major.." said Ray.

"We've been following his case...He did well...Chip and I will offer him our help now that our case was successfully concluded....Thank you Nelson for your help."said Jessica.

"Yes. Thank you." said her husband, Chip..

"Don't mention it, I was glad to help." said Nelson.

"David did a good job... A Damn good job...and I expect my girls, Natalie and Brooke and Sean to do just as good of a job tomorrow." said Karen.

"I'm going up there with a crew to cover their oral arguments tomorrow...I should have had a crew covering David." said B.L. as their platters were served.

"This is a great restaurant and a great way to celebrate the resolution of all of our cases."said Zoey.

"Beverly, Josie, thank you both once again." said Lem.

"Oh you're welcome...It was fun, working with you guys and eating practically all of our meals with you guys."said Beverly...

"You're welcome...and yes,like Bev said, it was fun...It wasn't like work, almost."said Josie.

"Liv ,thank you and Bresha for helping me..."said Renee.

"Oh no problem, no problem at all."said Olivia, hugging Renee.

"It was a learning experience for me...I should thank you for asking me to help out on this case." said Bresha.

"Olivia this is a great restaurant...I never heard of it." said Tyrell, Renee's husband.

"My husband actually discovered this place..He's the foodie."laughed Olivia.

"Some of my musician friends raved about this place....So I thought...Since we finished up all of our cases..Why not celebrate here?" said Donnie Ray.

"This is nice...I really wish Natalie, David, Brookie and Sean were here." said Beverly.

"We can come back at some other time.." assured her husband, Nelson...

"The Food here is just delish.." said Josie.

"Yeah and the drinks are cold and cheap...I love it. It was fun working with you all week Nelson.." said her husband, Paris.

"It was so cool working with the boys again..."laughed Nelson...

"This is a nice restaurant..It's just so far from where we live....but that's okay...it's still a great place." said Bresha.

"Yes indeed. And when you got transportation...You never have to worry." said her husband, Tony.

"You know you can all buy extra platters and save it for Brookie, Natalie, Sean and David."said Alfreda,laughing. This brought the entire room to a roar of laughter....

She had come with Olivia and the gang that week and had helped them co-ordinate their papers for each case.....Jazzy supplied a small office space for her.. She got to experience being out of the office too!

"Anybody getting dessert?" asked Rockland.

As Apple Pie and Creme Brule was offered to them all..

"Mmmmmmmmmmm this will all go to my hips.." laughed Yvette..

"No problem there." said Gary.... He had acted as my investigator and had been invaluable in the information he uncovered..I owed my victory to him.

Gary rubbed his wife Yvette's butt.. and moaned.. "Ummmmmmmmmm"

Yvette giggled like a school girl..."Stoppppppp, cut it out will you?" she said laughing, but loving how Gary simply adored every inch of her.

"I love this place.."said Keith Jones..

"I see...You haven't looked up from your plate since we got here.."laughed his wife, Bee Bee.

"Neither has my husband." laughed Sofia.

"This is a great place to celebrate." said Kahlil.

"I agree...MAybe we can have some birthday celebrations here." said Jade.

"I love this place."said her husband, Danny.

"Shame we are all finished our cases." said Virginia, who enjoyed the extra camraderie...The days the women all went shopping together, The afternoons after litigations when everybody used the spa in their building.

"It's not a shame...It's a celebration."said her husband, Jetty raising a glass of champaigne.

"To our friends still out there." he said.

The Next Day Natalie, Brooke, Sean and their client met in State Appellate Court ,

the same court I had been in the day before and prepared their clemency argument..

They were arguing in front of a different Judge....

Our client, Mark Williams was brought in ,in shackles.

Mr. Williams was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. In 2020, he was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and burglary in the 2019 killing of Felicia Hershey, a former Philadelphia Daily News reporter.

His conviction primarily relied upon the inconsistent testimonies of two incentivized witnesses, with no physical evidence linking him to the crime scene.

While DNA evidence not available at the time of Mr. Williams’ trial proves his innocence, it has not been considered in court.

Our Friend and our supervisor's husband, B.L. Benz was in the courtoom with a Television crew from his show HARD BOTTOM and his Podcast to cover their case. He waved at us and smiled.

"Look there is B.L. And he's here with a camera crew." said Sean...

"I gotta hand it to B.L. As a Lawyer, he's a damn good Journalist..."laughed Natalie.

"He has a B.A. in Communications /Journalism and a JD in Law....So He's both.I imagine having those two skills comes in handy."laughed Brooke.

and so the arguments began.....

They were ironically enough arguing against the same prosecutor who had sent my client to death row,

Assistant District Attorney Courtland James... I suspected he was up here for the week also and probably not staying in a cheap motel like the four of us were...

Brooke and Natalie, who he knew and Brooke's husband,

Sean , who he did not know argued that Mr. Williams conviction primarily relied upon the inconsistent testimonies of two incentivized witnesses, with no physical evidence linking him to the crime scene. While DNA evidence not available at the time of Mr. Williams’ trial proves his innocence, it was not considered in court.

"WELL WHY WASN'T IT CONSIDERED?" asked the Judge..

"Well..Well....Well.." mumbled ADA Courtland James..

"What the helll is going on in Philly? What is going on with you? In two days...two days we have had two different capital punishment cases that you've prosecuted that were sloppily done....Two people 's live in jeopardy.....One man was just hours from losing his life....MY GOD MAN....I am vacating this man's conviction and ordering a brand new trial...Get the DNA samples and all other evidence and either drop the charges completely or at least nring a brand new prosecution...My Godddd!" said the exasperated judge.

ADA Courtland James was livid...He didn't like being in this town in the first place and he hated that two of his closed cases...Cases he had won convictions on had been challenged and overturned in one week..ONE WEEK!! and by two attorneys he knew quite well, two attorneys from his office.

Brooke Marks and Natalie Charles....

with help from Sean Marks, A U.S. Public Defender and husband of Brooke Marks and me , just the other day...

and me of course , David Charles.

Mark Williams was ecstatic..He was one month away from being executed...His conviction had been thrown out...He was headed back to Philadelphia and a new trial....He hugged Brooke and Natalie..Tears were in his eyes...