Counterpart - Robert F. Clifton (uplifting novels .TXT) 📗

Chapter One Arraignment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COUNTERPART

 

by

Robert F. Clifton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Counterpart

Copyright 2017 by Robert F. Clifton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means without written permission from the author.

 

 

The reader is advised that this is a work of fiction.

Any similarity to names, places or events is purly coincidental.

 

 

 

Dedicated to Cassidy Malouf, Lane & Adeline

Yomans....The Great Grand Kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Adam Bader is a young lawyer who as a Public Defender is assigned to defend a young man accused of murder. The Prosecutor for the State has eye witnesses that place the defendant at the crime scene. At the same time there is evidence of the man's DNA on the victim. Bader must raise a reasonable doubt in the mind of the jurors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table Of Contents

 

Chapter One.....Arraignment

Chapter Two.....Research

Chapter Three..Mullica Run

Chapter Four....Tyrone Lofton

Chapter Five.....Thaddeus Lofton

Chapter Six.......Trial Day One

Chapter Seven...Trial Day Two

Chapter Eight....Defense

Chapter Nine.....Counterpart

Chapter Ten......Verdict

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

Arraignment

 

At eight forty-five AM on a hot, July, Monday, Adam

Bader stood on the concrete sidewalk in front of the county court house. He silently counted the number of marble steps that led from where he stood to the landing that contained the doors of the building. “Fifteen steps. Fifteen steps that lead to another chapter in my life”, he thought to himself.

Adam Bader was new to his position as a Public Defender. He had graduated from Law School, passed the Bar exam, served as a law clerk and unable after that time to secure a position with a notable law firm applied for and was hired by the Public Defenders Office. After six months of reading files and court transcripts he was assigned to the Major Crimes And Complex Litigation Division. Now, today, he was assigned to defend a man accused of murder, a man he had yet to meet, but a man who had the right to an attorney and his day in court.

Bader began walking up the steps. As he did he thought of what might happen on this, his first day as a defense attorney.

“Today would be easy. The State will introduce its indictment after which I’ll enter a plea of “Not Guilty on behalf of my client, Ronald Pearl, accused of murdering Wanda Brewer. After that the judge will ask Pearl if he is satisfied with his court appointed lawyer. Once satisfied that Pearl approves of me the judge will then set a court date for trial, to be announced later.” It would be at that time that Bader would announce that he had just been assigned to the case. He would then ask for a reasonable amount of time in order to investigate the charges and to prepare his defense. Once the court proceedings ended Bader would meet in private with Pearl and look for answers to several questions.

 

Adam suddenly became aware of the change in temperature as he left the heat of the morning and stepped into the air conditioned interior of the building. On this day he was attired in a dark blue suit, white shirt and light blue necktie. Standing at an even six feet tall and weighing one hundred and eighty five pounds he had made the mistake of wearing a wool suit in summer. The decrease in temperature made him suddenly conscious of the now, cool, moisture that had formed in his armpits. At the same time he was glad the dark suit would hide any signs of perspiration. Then, entering the court room through two, wide swinging doors he was surprised to see that the room was practically empty. To his left and near the front of the room sat a balding, portly man who Adam assumed was a newsman. Near the judges bench a uniformed bailiff was in a deep conversation with a young female court reporter. His concentration was interrupted when he heard the words, “Ah, you must be Mister Bader, representing the accused,” said a tall man with white hair, dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and maroon, necktie.

“True, and you are?,” asked Bader.

“ Charles Belcamp, Prosecutor for the State,’ answered the man.

“ Adam Bader, a pleasure to meet you sir,” said Bader offering his hand.

“Well, I must say they’re sending you young pups into the fire of criminal cases right out of law school. How old are you

son?”, asked Belcamp.

“Twenty-nine.”

“Twenty-nine? When I was twenty-nine I was still reading case law preparing members of the Bar for court. Now days, as I have said, young lawyers receive a law degree, meet the qualifications to argue the law in court and set out to make first, a name for themselves and then a fortune. Are you the like of them?,” asked Belcamp.

“Not that I’m aware. Right now I’m concerned about defending my client,” said Adam.

“If your client is Ronald Pearl, I suggest that you consider a plea bargain. I’m willing to accept a guilty plea say, to Second degree murder. In exchange the State will request a sentence of fifteen to thirty years. With good behavior your boy could be out after serving, maybe fifteen years.”

“Mister Belcamp I haven’t met with Ronald Pearl or had time to even read the particulars of the case. What I will do is keep your offer in mind, but I doubt very much if we’ll take it.”

Belcamp smiled. “I expected as much. However, I’ll keep the offer open for awhile. You see, you’re coming in here like others before you. This is your first case in Criminal Court. Your office wants you to get your feet wet. Personally, I think they might be sending you in here to drown. For your information I’ve been prosecuting cases like Ronald Pearl’s for nearly twenty years. I’ve read the police reports, examined the evidence and as a result came to the conclusion that not only is your client guilty, but I’ll be able to convince a jury that he should be punished. That punishment could be life in prison. Unless of course you consider the plea bargain. It’s up to you.”

Adams reply was canceled when he heard the loud words,

“All rise! Judge Roger Parson presiding.”

Judge Parson banged the gavel and as he was sitting down said, “You may be seated”. Both attorney’s remained standing.

Parson shuffled a stack of papers that had been placed before him. Lifting his head and peering over his eyeglasses looked at Adam. “You must be Mister Bader,” said the Judge.

“I am your honor.”

“Well if you are here to represent Ronald Pearl I don’t see him in my court room.”

“He is on his way Judge,” said the bailiff.

“Then why did you call me out of my chambers if the defendant wasn’t in the room?”, asked Parsons.

“Sorry sir,” the bailiff said apologizing.

“Never mind. Here he comes,” the Judge replied.

Adam turned and saw a tall, young black man attired in an orange jump suit. The color of his skin was a deep black. Bader judged him to be over six feet tall. His hair was cut and styled close to his scalp and a thin mustache grew on his upper lip. A shiny thin, steel chain circled his waist and each hand was handcuffed to the chain waist high. Two Deputies escorted the man to where Bader stood.

“Are you Ronald Pearl?”, asked the judge.

“Yes sir,” Pearl answered.

“Mister Pearl, Mister Bader is your court appointed lawyer assigned to you since you have indicated at the time of your arrest that you could not afford an attorney. I realize that you two have not met until this moment so I can give you time to get to know one another or in order to save time you can inform the court that you accept Mister Bader to represent you. I will also advise you that at any time that you feel that Mister Bader isn’t representing you fairly you can then petition the court for new counsel. Should that happen then it would be up to the court whether or not to assign a new lawyer to represent you. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” said Pearl.

“And do you accept Mister Bader as your lawyer?”

“Yes your honor,” Pearl replied.

“Very well. You sir are charged with the murder of one Wanda Brewer on or about June the twenty first in the year two thousand and fifteen. How do you plead Mister Pearl?”, asked the judge.

“The defendant pleads, not guilty!”, said Adam.

“ Mister Pearl your lawyer has entered a plea of not guilty. Do you agree?”, asked Parsons.

“Yes sir,” Pearl replied.

“Very well. The court will research the docket and schedule a court date,” said Parson as he banged the gavel and got up out of his chair.

“All rise!”, said the bailiff loudly.

Bader looked at his watch. Turning then to Pearl he said, “Look, I’m going out for a cup of coffee. I’ll be gone maybe a half an hour. When I get back I’ll send for you and then we can talk. Do you need anything?”.

“A cup of coffee and a doughnut sounds good to me,” Pearl replied.

“No problem. See you in awhile. Now go with the deputies.”

When Bader walked out of the court house he was hit with the morning heat as the sun and temperature was both rising. He stopped and stood on the top step then reached into the inside pocket of his suite coat and removed a pair of sunglasses. After placing them over his eyes he descended the steps, set foot on the sidewalk then crossed the street walking to the small restaurant that had been catering to lawyers, reporters, witnesses and members of juries for years.

As he entered the restaurant he found it crowded, but seeing an empty table next to the kitchen door made his way to it and took a seat and removed the sunglasses. A waitress coming out of the kitchen saw him and said, “Be with you in a jiffy sweetie.”

“Take your time,” Adam answered.

Five minutes later the waitress stood at his table and said,

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll start with a cup of coffee and a couple of doughnuts. Also I want the same to go, but hold the to go order until I’m ready to leave.”

“Sorry, were out of doughnuts. The early morning breakfast customers usually clean us out. How about danish?”

“That will work.”

“Any special kind?”, she asked.

“Anything except prune,” Adam replied.

“No problem. I’ll be right back.”

As he waited for his order Adam went over again the information he knew about Ronald Pearl, most of which he gained from police arrest reports and records. “Supposedly Pearl was born sometime 1986. It is now 2016 making him just turning thirty. He is single. His occupation is that of a short order cook and supposedly had never been in trouble with the law until arrested for the murder of Wanda Brewer. OK, according to the police reports Wanda Brewer was jogging along the Mullica River. On the Sunday morning of June 21, 2015 she was attacked. The police believe that the reason for the attack was sexual. This theory is based on the fact that DNA was found on the waistband of Brewers jogging pants. DNA was also found on the victims throat left there when she was strangled to death.

Witnesses came forward two days after the homicide and told police that they remember seeing a Black male on that day. They told police that the man had been fishing and led the police to the spot where the man had been seen. At that place the police found an empty Styrofoam coffee cup and a paper bag which was taken into evidence. The paper bag had the logo and name of “Sally’s Diner.”The coffee cup and paper bag was sent to the laboratory. Laboratory examination found DNA which matched the DNA found on the victims body and clothing. Shortly after, the police then went to Sally’s Diner. There, in the kitchen they found Ronald Pearl.