by Mark Porto
Johnny has to pause for a moment before saying he didn’t have any doubt the demise of a loved one devastated one’s family members, “Their grief is not the issue, I have information which may lead to the crux of the case.”
She displays distress in her voice, “Excuse me, what do you mean by information and how did you get it?”
As Johnny is thinking while holding the receiver, he explains about a trip he and Doreen made to Montauk and how he talked with a man who lived in Black Meadows. “There’s information that this lawsuit is likely funded by the same person responsible for incarceration.”
Ms. Valentine says she needs to see the papers first, before bringing it to the court’s attention. “It better be soon, because they’re expected to be at the Tappan County Civil Courts Division in a couple of weeks.”
“Wait a minute; I thought we were going to have a change in venue?”
Ms. Valentine tells him she tried her best to have the trial elsewhere, but Mr. Padgett managed to convince the administrative law judge of the thirteenth district of the state supreme court, that he would get a fair trial in Tappan County.
Johnny informs her about the contents of several rejection letters he has received from a few companies. She tells him to send the information to her, so she could ascertain whether any libel, slander and defamation of character occurred.
Johnny wore his heavy winter coat despite a mild, yet rainy day with snow still on the ground. He, his family and attorney arrive in Knickerbocker at the County Courthouse and walked to the Civil Courts Division.
Amid a swarm of media and spectators, the plaintiffs and defendant got to their seats without any trouble. Johnny shows Ms. Valentine a few sheets from one file; she examines it raising her eyebrows, but then hands it back to him saying she’ll use it if necessary.
After James Bzuda arrives calling the court to order, Mr. Padgett addresses the jury, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the life of a young was taken. He was only sixteen with his whole life ahead of him. Yet, it was taken by a trigger happy young man who decided to take the law in his own hands. His legal team will claim his family and patrons were danger, well, why didn’t he call the police, that is why they’re there!” He says with open arms, long and wide, then turning around to stare at Johnny.
He continues with sweat pouring down his face, “Please ladies and gentlemen, consider how Mr. Bellow killed Mr. Dennison, he shot him six times. The Dennison family has suffered, while no amount of money will bring him back, you must understand we are a nation of laws.” He turns to sit down.
She nods upon rising. Ms. Valentine places on her glasses; stand in an erect fashion to straighten out the jacket of her suit. Walking like a swan to the jury box, she places both her arms straight down and clears her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, when I was in college, I performed in the theater.” She glances at her opponent. “Mr. Padgett is right; we are a nation of laws. He claims my client should’ve called the police, however, if you were to see a loved one in grave danger and you had the tools by which to defend them against such an act of aggression, you would defend your loved one. Mr. Bellow had every right in the world to defend them, if you are to serve the best interests of society, you must say my client is not liable for Mr. Dennison’s death. I will prove to you and this court with the preponderance of the evidence, Mr. Dennison and his associates were the only ones responsible for this thuggery!”
Padgett objects, his voice is loud as well as annoying, but he reminds everyone Mr. Dennison is not on trial.
Ms. Valentine takes off her glasses to address it, “Your honor, I was merely indicating the decedent came into the situation, acting of his own free will.”
Padgett points his finger at her, “Defense counsel is slandering the decedent!” His voice becomes louder wanting sanctions against her.
She tells the judge, she didn’t call the decedent a thug. “I was merely describing the act this gang had committed as one of thuggery; Mr. Padgett ought to know the difference.” She held her glasses with one hand and a couple of papers with another.
The judge sits reclined in the chair, “Ms. Valentine, save it for the rest of trial.” He motions for her to finish.
“Excuse me, your honor, what about my objection?!” Padgett shouts as his arms shake.
The judge removes his glasses, “Mr. Padgett, your objection has been addressed and decided upon.” He motions for him to return to his seat, pounding the gavel motioning for Ms. Valentine to finish.
Before she could, she has to take a moment to reorganize her thoughts. There was a brief glimpse of the sun, which permeated the room. She uses the light to quickly review her notes while the judge was staring at her, while asking if there was anything wrong.
She turns to him, “No sir, I was just organizing my thoughts.” She turns back to the jurors. “I will prove my client isn’t liable.” Georgia walks back to the table to sit down.
The judge tells Padgett to call his first witness; he sits to view the witness stand.
Padgett stands up and calls Mrs. Alva Dennison. The woman strolls up to the stand in a flowered decorated dress; her brachcyclic face and dark curly hair enhance a wide smile. The smile foreshadows her stout torso. He asks her how she reacted to her son’s death and about his character.
She responds with tears in her eyes, “Roy was a good boy, before he got involved with Cain; he participated in the church choir. While he was in school he took several advance placement courses for college.”
Johnny sits motionless, but riveted on Mrs. Dennison’s face, he leans over to whisper something to Georgia, she nods while listening.
Padgett speaks softly, sitting next to her with eyes which softened with every word asking her to describe the last day of her son’s life.
She clears her throat, “I don’t know, but, a few days before he was killed, I was cleaning his room and found drugs and literature on how to identify an undercover agent.
Johnny flinches during the exchange. Padgett’s eyeglasses dangle off his fingers, while slumping against the witness box, “How did you react to this?”
She sighs, cracking a smile with another tear dripping down her face. “I talked to my pastor, Rev. Harold Daniels. He’s a good man; he motivated me to talk to Roy.” Padgett upholds his chin with his hand as she continues, “Roy refused to speak to him, because he wasn’t going to have a pastor tell him how to live his life!”
Padgett yields to Ms. Valentine, she walks up to her and sits down; her voice was soft, but audible. “Mrs. Dennison, I can only imagine how you felt towards the death of your son, but how did he get involved with Cain Lipshutz?”
She tells her, she and her husband worked for the family; she as a servant with her husband as a chauffeur. Georgia says to Mrs. Dennison that she knew the family and the kids interacted. Mrs. Dennison continues, “After several years, Mrs. Lipshutz got me a job at the Greater Tappan County Chamber of Commerce. It was a great job that paid more than double what I was making working for her.”
Georgia removes her glasses, “Why did she get you that job?”
Mrs. Dennison hesitates to speak; she would only say it was after she had problems with her son.
“How soon afterward did your son start changing?”
Alva straightens up uttering, “Roy changed almost overnight!”
“What did you do about it, please explain.” Ms. Valentine folds her arms waiting for her to answer.
Alva’s voice shrieks, “Well, we tried talking to him, but Cain was his idol and he would always get mad whenever he felt you talked against him. So, my husband and I just didn’t do anything.”
“Mrs. Dennison, when you couldn’t sway Roy from emulating Cain, did you talk to Mrs. Lipshutz about your concerns?”
“I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to worry her.”
Ms. Valentine stands there listening with her arms akimbo. “I don’t understand you didn’t want to worry her?” She straightens up. “Why didn’t you
think she should be told? I would think as a friend, you could talk to her to try to stop Roy from ruining his life.” She resumes her former position.
“Mrs. Lipshutz is a woman who easily gets upset. You couldn’t talk to her about Cain, if you tried, she would simply walk away and shut the door.”
“I understand not wanting to upset her, but in this case, her son was engaging in something nefarious...”
Padgett stands up to scream an objection. “Your honor, I object to the use of the word ‘nefarious!’”
“Your honor, Mr. Padgett is out of line, it’s been established Cain was the leader of a gang which proved to be responsible in a series of attacks against the citizens of Black Meadows! I can prove Roy was his lackey...”
“I object to the decedent being referred as the late gang leader’s lackey!” His shouts reverberate the room.
She waves her hand to explain to the judge that both accusations had unimpeachable evidence. “With all due respect to the court and to my opponent, Mr. Padgett is splitting hairs!”
The judge sits straight while pounding his gavel, his face freezes while hardening. He orders Ms. Valentine to rephrase the question.
Georgia asks Alva, “Wasn’t it your duty to tell Mrs. Lipshutz about not only Cain’s activities, but also how it was affecting your son?”
“Well, I can’t do anything about it, now.” She shakes her head grinning while looking in Padgett’s direction.
The judge directs Mrs. Dennison to step down and call the next witness.
Padgett’s tone turns mellow as he calls Mr. Wesley Dennison to stand. He asks, “Now, Mr. Dennison, do you love your brother?” Wesley cries looking at the jury as the lawyer places his hand on his shoulder. “I can imagine you do. What type of person was he?”
Still in tears, Wesley says his brother was a kid, but admits he did things that were stupid. “Face it, who hasn’t?”
“What is about him do you miss?”
Wesley tells him how he missed his brother’s companionship. “He and I were always together. I was always in charge when my parents were working and we got along.”
Padgett wants to know what he had done to cope with his brother’s death.
Wesley says he has been in therapy and had regular chats with Rev. Daniels. “I have had the support of my family and friends.” He winks his eye towards his mother.
Padgett thanks him, yielding the floor to Ms. Valentine.
Before she could pose a question, Johnny nudges her. “Your honor, May I have a moment with my client?” The judge nods while she places her hand on the microphone at the table. She asks Johnny what’s so important; he slips her several papers from the file Elmer gave him. First, she requests a brief recess, which the judge grants.
During the recess, she reads the paper he has given her asks why she hadn’t been shown these papers before, Johnny says there are so many papers, and I must have lost it in between.
When court resumed, she majestically stands up and walks toward the witness. He displays a cherry smile as Georgia began her questioning. “Mr. Dennison, you said you were in therapy, however, isn’t it true you were in therapy, because you were experiencing hallucinations on several occasions due to use of illicit drugs in the past six months?” Her arms remain erect. “Isn’t it also true, you’ve been hearing the voices of people who aren’t there?” She stands there with the file.
Mr. Padgett rises rigidly, “Your honor, I object to this character assassination of my client’s son! In addition, according to the rules of discovery, I’m entitled to see that file!”
Ms. Valentine is situated to the judge’s right with her hands folded with a strong voice, “Your honor, I’ve got unimpeachable evidence about Mr. Dennison’s state of mind, it is imperative that it would be called into question.”
“Your honor,” Padgett steps forward, “My client is not on trial here!” At that point, he is shouting at the top of his lungs.
Judge Bzuda tells Padgett to curb the outbursts motioning for the two attorneys to approach the bench for a sidebar. The judge covers the microphone, “How is Mr. Dennison’s state of mind relevant to this case?”
Georgia explains if he were non compos mentis, “I would not any choice but to seek a dismissal in the interests of justice.”
Padgett nearly bursts out laughing, “Don’t be absurd.” He turns to the judge. “Your honor, this is irrelevant!”
The judge motions for Ms. Valentine to show him the evidence remarking to Padgett that he will decide what’s relevant!”
She gives him the file; he decides to call a recess, so he could read the file, when he returns, he tells the parties he will take this information under advisement, he motions for the trial to continue warning Padgett about his habitual objections.
When Wesley is asked about the hearing of the voices, he admits it as his head turns in another direction. “I’ve taken drugs, but who hasn’t.”
“Really, Mr. Dennison, I haven’t, my client hasn’t. Isn’t it also true you were charged with drug possession and possession of a hallucinogenic?”
Wesley is serene claiming he discontinued drug use after he started attending church.
“Please answer the question!” She reiterates her previous question.
Mr. Dennison admits to the charge while talking of being acquitted, looking up to address her, he states Mr. Padgett did a good job in representing him. Padgett, in the meanwhile, smirks while looking at his former client.
“Have you been using illegal drugs for the past six months?”
Wesley lowers his head saying he couldn’t remember, his voice is barely audible and is asked by the judge to speak up. Georgia reiterates her question; it was then Padgett objects claiming counsel is badgering the witness, prompting her to withdraw the question.
“It has come to my attention your finances are in disarray.” Georgia begins to ask, prompting Padgett to object loudly about the witness not being on trial. “Your honor, the Dennison family finances are relevant, before this trial, he wasn’t even able to pay the retainer for Mr. Padgett.”
The judge leans forward, “Where is the relevance, Ms. Valentine?”
She says to the judge the Dennison family was being funded by an anonymous source.
The judge mentions he didn’t recall it ever being illegal for someone to help them.
Ms. Valentine illustrates if there was a group funding the family. “I want to know why my client is being targeted by them.” Mr. Dennison’s head is oscillating, in the meantime.
Padgett smiles stepping in front toward the bench, “It seems to me Ms. Valentine is claiming her client is being persecuted.” His tone is sarcastic. “This premise is preposterous!”
Georgia turns to the judge’s direction, “My client and I are entitled to know the group funding this lawsuit. It would behoove Mr. Padgett as to why my client is being targeted. With due respect to the court, it is part of discovery.” She picks up another file Johnny hands to her. She continues, “Your honor, this file contains information about certain funds that were deposited into both Mr. Dennison’s and his mother’s bank accounts.” She walked up to hand the information to the judge. “The dates will reflect the same date this lawsuit was filed.” She stands near the judge’s bench as Padgett looks demur at the transaction. Ms. Valentine was permitted to resume the questioning and the judge overrules the objection instructing the witness to answer.
Wesley admits the family for a long time has had financial problems.
“Are you aware of several bank deposits made by a John Smith?”
Wesley sweats profusely wiping his face off with a cloth. “Come to think of it, there was a man wearing a leisure suit with long hair who heard my family wanted to sue Mr. Bellow. He offers to pay for the retainer while giving us money to live on.”
“This person identified himself as ‘John Smith’.” The witness nods as she continues, “Does he work for a group or for someone in Tappan County?”
“That’
s right, he said he works for a public interest group, he wouldn’t say more and we didn’t ask any questions, we just took the help.”
Padgett cringes while inconspicuously sliding down in his chair. He glances at Johnny. Ms. Valentine says he doesn’t have any further questions.
The judge stares at Padgett wondering if another objection was on the horizon. He stands up calling two professional witnesses concerning the crime scene and they were cross examined by Ms. Valentine. Her investigation into the deposition of the two witnesses; gave nothing to Johnny’ defense as he sits up straight while biting his lip.
Suddenly, four witnesses the plaintiff summonses appear in the courtroom, they are dressed in suits with their hair is neat and cut. The foursome’s gait consists of oversteps, but stops short of being normal, which cause some jurors to shiver. They take the stand and speak in a clear, concise voice testifying to Johnny’s allegedly violent demeanor while looking him straight in the eyes.
Under cross examination, Ms. Valentine asks Wilson “Wild Willy” Dickenson, as to why he was called, ‘Wild Willy’?”
He snickers, looking her straight in the eye. “Well, ma’am, it’s just I like to have fun.”
Ms. Valentine’s arms folded, “Does this fun involve bank robbery and physically assaulting pregnant women?”
Padgett shouts an objection reminding defense counsel Mr. Dickenson wasn’t on trial. Ms. Valentine explains the witness’s character must be called into question, since her client’s reputation no doubt will be subjected to securitization.
Judge Bzuda says he will allow it, but warns the defense counsel to keep to the facts of the case.
“Of course, your honor, Mr. Dickenson, please answer the question.” She stands in front of him looking him in the eye.
“I’ll admit it, I’ve done those things.” His head bows down. “I have remorse for what I did and I’m testifying to ensure justice is done.”
Georgia displays a wry smile, “Civic pride, I take it; you must have an altruistic reason why you’re in court today.” Her eyes penetrate his face like the sunlight, which painstakingly tries to break through the clouds. It is then, he never looks at her. “One more question, isn’t the real reason you’re here is the promise of immunity for a past crime that recently has come to the attention of authorities?”