Prosecuting Attorney

I was sitting in a police interrogation room in the medium-sized Midwestern U S city that I had lived in all of my life, with my friend and attorney Ralph Boston sitting next to me. Ralph whispered to me for the second time in the last five minutes "Lucas, I advise you again not to say anything; just invoke your right to counsel."

I'm Lucas Worthington. That's a high class name (especially if you combine it with my pretentious never used middle name "Rockefeller") because my parents are filthy rich. I am too, but not because of their money; I made my own as a dot.com whiz so at 29 years old I'm worth more than $50,000,000. However I'm not a high class guy -- I'm a regular guy who just happens to have money. I drink beer, play pickup basketball, sit in the bleachers at baseball games, have scuffles and fights, and spend at least forty hours a week doing volunteer work, mostly -- although not exclusively -- at the charity I set up for underprivileged kids in the poorer sections of my city.

I'm about to be interrogated by two detectives about the untimely murder of my beautiful but unfaithful wife Ashley and one of her lovers, Brad Sidley, which happened a couple of nights ago at Sidley's apartment. I'm not really broken up about it because once she married me Ashley's true gold-digger cheating persona blossomed and I was going to file divorce papers within the next two weeks on the basis of adultery. As far as Brad Sidley is concerned, he was a complete tool who I had kicked the shit out of on two occasions, although not over Ashley but simply because he was a loud-mouthed braggart who said the wrong things to me at the wrong times.

When experienced detective Roy Benson strode into the room he was followed by rookie detective Will Watson, although Watson had been a beat cop for several years. How Watson got promoted to detective I have no clue; he's good looking and a real bullshitter (which some people consider "charming") but in my view as dumb as a doorknob. My eyebrows raised and I inwardly smiled. Benson started out "I understand that you're willing to talk to us Lucas despite the presence of your mouthpiece."

"First of all Detective Benson I'm not your friend so you'll refer to me as Mr. Worthington..." I said but before I could complete my thought Watson snickered "Entitled ass."

I turned to Watson, stared straight at him and said "You know Will every time I see you I think of the movie Animal House." He got a perplexed look on his face but before he could say anything more I said "I remember Dean Wermer telling Flounder 'Fat, dumb and ugly is no way to go through life, son.'" (Well that's not a completely accurate quote, but close enough). "You so remind me of Flounder and to facilitate this interview you keep your fat, dumb, and ugly mouth shut or I'll have to do to you what I did in the locker room our junior year at good ole Hudson High after football practice. You remember that don't you shithead."

That brought back a fond memory for me, not so much for Will. In the locker room after football practice Watson had called me an entitled wimp and pushed me. I knocked him on his ass, got him in an arm-lock and stuck his head in a toilet. So I got suspended a game--it was worth it.

"There's no reason to talk like that Mr. Worthington," Benson snapped.

"Then tell your lap dog to shut the fuck up. I'd like to give this interview but I'm not putting up with his 'tude," I snarled.

Watson looked like he wanted to jump me, although he was too chicken to do it. You may wonder why I was stupid enough to enrage a cop who could make things difficult for me -- the reason will become clear later.

Benson whispered something to Watson and he leaned back in his chair staring daggers at me.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted I was also going to say that this interview is going on only because your department has agreed to video the entire interview and with the understanding that the first time that you lie to me it's over. Also, ask your questions efficiently because after two hours I'm done."

"We don't agree to time limits," Benson said, visibly irritated.

"Obviously either you didn't talk to Chief Jackson, or didn't listen to him, because I made those conditions clear to him and he acknowledged them. Do you agree or do I walk right now?"

Benson and I had a thirty second staring contest before he said "OK, let's get started." I made a display of taking off my watch and starting the timer function.

Benson, with Watson only whispering to Benson if there was something he wanted to ask because he knew I'd never respond to any question from him, started his interrogation. I answered all of their questions honestly (although it was clear that they didn't believe me) since I knew that they could never prove that I killed my cheating wife or her paramour. After about an hour after Watson whispered something to Benson he said "How do you explain your DNA on Sidley's clothing?"

I stopped my watch's timer, put it on my wrist, said "That's your one lie, goodbye," stood up and Ralph and I got up and walked out. Benson and Watson both yelled something at us but I wasn't listening and didn't really give a shit what they said.

Ralph and I walked to his office, only a few blocks from police headquarters, chuckling to each other most of the way. When we got in a closed conference room Ralph laughed "I don't know if you're the bravest or stupidest client I've ever had?"

"Can't I be both?" I chuckled.

"Why were you so confident in dealing with those cops, Lucas?"

"Two reasons; one I didn't do it, and two I have an unassailable alibi backed up by video for the entire possible time frame for the murder which the medical examiner says was between noon and three p. m. on the 5th of this month."

"Where is the video from?"

"It's from a basketball clinic I was running in a city ninety miles away, the entirety of which was videoed, starting at 11 a. m., an hour break for lunch at 12:30, and then not concluding until 4:00 p. m. It was taken by a guy whose normal job is as a police videographer but I paid him to film that clinic since I'll use much of it for presentations to boys and girls clubs around the country in association with my charity. I have a dozen copies in my safe at my house."

"Let me have a paralegal go with you to get a copy for me," Ralph smiled.

"Only after you buy me lunch; dealing with Watson and Benson has made me hungry," I snickered.

************

Two days later Watson and about a half dozen other cops served a search warrant on me at 6:30 a. m. I'm sure that they wanted to wake me up and make it inconvenient for me but I had already been exercising for a half hour. Watson had a big shit-eating grin on his face when he served the warrant. "Have fun, asshole," I snarled as I got out my bicycle to finish my workout outside. "Don't steal anything I have all my valuables cataloged."

Watson responded with an irritated "Fuck you."

The two reasons why I had no problem leaving them to search my house were because I didn't have anything to hide, and because I had professionally hidden hi-tech cameras in every room -- which is how I originally caught Ashley cheating although I never apprised her of that evidence.

When I got back from my bike ride a little over an hour later the cops were leaving. Watson saw me and with a big grin held up an evidence bag that appeared to have a gun in it. Since I didn't own a gun I knew it had been planted, but was unconcerned because the cameras would catch it being planted.

After checking my camera feeds -- it took about an hour -- I immediately called Ralph and brought him up to speed.

Two days later I was arrested. A friend of Ralph's at the police station gave him a head's up so he and I showed up at the station just as the task force was about to leave to arrest me at my charity in the most public way possible, having already arranged for two local TV stations to be there. They were really pissed that I stole their thunder -- I just smiled. Ralph had already filed a request with the fairest judge in the local court for a bail hearing the next morning.

I spent only one night in jail. The assholes put me in a cell with a real bad ass named Melvin Brixey who I'm positive that they had arranged with to beat me up. That also didn't work out for them for two reasons.

I caught Melvin off-guard by telling him as soon as I entered the cell that I knew the cops had promised him something to beat me. I immediately followed that by telling him that I was rich -- and a bad ass myself -- and that if he testified on my behalf I'd pay for the best criminal defense attorney in the area to take his case, and that if he didn't like that deal he'd be surprised at my physical response and that I wouldn't stop until one of us was dead.

Given his size and background Melvin would have eventually beat the hell out of me, but he immediately liked me because of my aggressive approach. When Ralph met me for my bail hearing the next day I told Ralph that I was paying for Melvin's defense and to have his senior partner criminal defense attorney meet with Melvin that same day. I shook Melvin's hand goodbye as the two jailers escorting me looked at us slack-jawed.

The DA himself -- it was an election year -- attended the bail hearing. He is a complete jerk who had had dealings with my father when he was in private practice and got the short end of the stick. He looked on this as a high profile case to ensure his re-election. He made very disparaging comments about me, which really pissed me off. Luckily Ralph has a much cooler head than I do so he blunted the DA's arguments with logic instead of calling him the asshole that he was. Ralph also pointed out the disruption of my charity work that would occur if I was jailed and that I clearly wasn't a flight risk. I was released on $2,000,000 cash bond and had to forfeit my passport, but no ankle monitor.

When I got back to Ralph's office we hammered out our strategy in a little over two hours. We had shit-eating grins when we finished. He immediately got his tech expert to massage the DVD of my alibi that I had given him, we put the appropriate scenes from my home cameras during the police search into an easily displayed format, and Ralph started contacting the alibi witnesses to tell them not to cooperate as little as possible with the police. The first thing that Ralph did, however, was to file a notice with the Court that we were exercising our right under state law and local rules to have the trial within ninety days of my arrest, infinitely faster than the prosecutor or court were used to. Most criminal defendants -- especially if out on bail -- want to delay things as much as possible.

Also unlike most criminal defendants I didn't avoid the media. I gave an interview to every reporter who asked for one, radio, TV, newspapers, social media, whatever. In every interview I called the DA a boob who was incompetent and needed to be ousted in the next election and the police detectives handling my case to be between corrupt and ineffectual (while at the same time praising the rest of the police force). I know for sure that I pissed lots of people off -- that was my intent.

************

The DA assigned female prosecutor Susanne Carney as the lead in the case. She was young, but already experienced, although she had just transferred to his office from a larger city after a messy divorce that I found out about by looking her up on the Internet. She was only thirty years old -- only a year older than I am -- and from the photos I saw a real knockout.

Despite the fact that she was obviously smart and competent, having less than 90 days to prepare her case -- when she also had other duties and was in a new work environment -- was really hard on her. Therefore she asked for a plea conference with Ralph and me after she had the case for about two weeks. We agreed only because I wanted to meet her.

We went to her office where she was waiting with two assistant prosecutors, Benson, Watson, and an attractive though oddly dressed young woman whose exact position I wasn't sure of and who was not introduced to us. Ralph and I were both polite but said little.

Carney went through the highlights of her case. The murder weapon -- a.380 handgun -- was found in my house during the search and positively identified by ballistics, and with my DNA on it; the video of my alibi cut out at 1:50 p. m. giving me plenty of time to commit the murder by 3:00 p. m., the outside time according to the coroner; my motive was a strong one because Sidley and Ashley were having an affair and getting rid of her was cheaper than divorcing her; and my history of fights with Sidley in the past where she alleged Sidley got the best of me (clearly not true, but the source of that information was a friend of mine who while not actually lying was miss-reporting it). However, due to her magnanimous nature she was willing to accept a plea of first degree manslaughter, eight-fifteen years in prison.

As prearranged, Ralph and I merely smiled during her presentation -- that seemed to unnerve everyone on her side. When she was done I said "Ms. Carney, would it be possible for you and I to meet individually without anyone else present."

That really took her entire team aback. "I...uh...I can't do that; it's unethical for me to talk to you alone when you are represented by counsel."

"Actually, Ms. Carney," Ralph smiled, "since both Mr. Worthington and I are entirely agreeable there is no ethical problem, and we will both sign a statement to that effect."

After a minute of uncomfortable back and forth I said "Please call your secretary, dictate a statement to her or him and ask him or her to bring it in here for signature by both Ralph and I," I grinned.

Susanne called her secretary, dictated what she wanted, and while we waited for the document I engaged Susanne in the most pleasant non-legal conversation that I could, constantly smiling at her. In less than five minutes her male secretary entered with the document -- I was glad that I said "her or him." After a quick look Ralph and I both signed it, and the secretary and one of the assistant prosecutors witnessed our signatures, and the secretary left to make copies for us. With that everyone left the room except for me and Susanne.

As soon as the door closed I started. "Susanne, since you're relatively new here I want to tell you some things you may not know. Detective Watson is corrupt and your boss the DA is incompetent. If you go through with case both the police and your office will be completely embarrassed -- embarrassed enough that it will be difficult to recover from it. Others who are working with you don't have your best interests at heart."

"Do you have anything specific you want to tell me?" she huffed.

"No, I'll save that for trial if you decide to go ahead. I'm just warning you that things are not what they seem and you should look into the finding of the gun and my alibi more carefully. I don't want you personally to take flack for this. If you don't do a further investigation I suggest that you have the DA re-assign the case."

"Why do you care?" she huffed again.

"Because, I'm attracted to you and am looking for a new relationship now that my cheating wife is out of the picture; and I'd like to get to know you," I replied with a smile.

Apparently Susanne was gobsmacked because she just stared at me gap-jawed for a full two minutes. She finally regained the ability to speak and asked "Are you serious or is this some trick?"

"I'll tell you how serious I am. I know that Bon Jovi is your favorite performer and on my iPhone I'll buy us two front row tickets for his show in New York City from a contact of mine for his next concert exactly 123 days from today, and I am inviting you to go with me," I smiled, taking out my iPhone.

After another long pause she said "You're nuts. Just tell me whether or not you accept my plea deal which after today goes away."

"Ms. Carney -- I'm sorry if I've upset you. Maybe after I'm found innocent you'll reconsider, and I'll be as kind to you as I possibly can. In specific answer to your inquiry, however, I decline your offer and all possible future plea deals because I'm innocent."

At that point, while she was still semi-shell-shocked I quickly took her hand, kissed it, and walked out of the room.

As we walked out of the building when we passed Watson I gave him the finger. Ralph chuckled. "How did it go?" he asked me.

"She declined my offer for a date at a Bon Jovi concert in NYC, but I got her interest. I'll try again after the trial."

"With what's going to happen there will she ever speak to you again?"

"I hope so," I chuckled. "Maybe she'll have a sense of humor."

"Dream on," Ralph laughed.

***************

I don't want to spoil the result of my trial for you in advance, but I should tell you several things. The DVD we gave the prosecution of my alibi seemed to cut off at 1:50 but if you continued playing it for another thirty minutes of static it restarted at 1:50 and then showed me until it really cut off at 4:00 p. m. If the prosecutor's office or the cops had kept playing it instead of it cutting off at the static they would have seen it. Also, the prosecutor's office was under the impression that I didn't have a pre-nup with Ashley; however I did, although the only people who knew about it were my business attorney, Ralph, and a friend of hers who witnessed the signing but now lived 2000 miles away. We had identified her as a witness in a long list of them, but the prosecution was never able to get ahold of her and under the local rules we didn't have to disclose what fact witnesses might say.

Fortunately we got a good, but no-nonsense judge, although given the strength of our case any would do. A jury was picked in just two hours; our jury consultant and Ralph were happy with it. Although we felt we had everything in the bag there was no reason not to pick a good jury.

The prosecution started out by putting on the medical examiner to show the grisly death photos and talk about the time and cause of death. "Between noon and 3:00 p. m. on the 5th," "two.380 bullet wounds to the head of Sidley, and a through-and-through which killed Ashley," was his salient testimony. Ralph's only cross-examination was to precisely pin him down on the time and manner of death.

A police witness who evaluated my net worth testified about how much money I would have had to pay Ashley if we divorced since adultery was not a grounds to consider in a divorce action, and how there was no evidence of a pre-nup. Ralph scored lots of points by introducing the pre-nup as an exhibit (documents and other exhibits used only for impeachment don't have to be identified to the other side before trial) which limited her payout if we divorced because of her infidelity to only $50,000 and if for any other reason only to $1,000,000. Ralph also embarrassed the witness by asking if she had ever attempted to contact my business attorney to see if there was a pre-nup instead of just going on what she had heard from friends of Ashley's. Her answer of "No" caused several jurors to get what looked like disgusted looks on their faces.

Susanne then called the ballistic expert who positively identified the.380 handgun recovered from my house as the murder weapon, and a DNA expert who testified that my DNA was on the weapon. Ralph cross-examined them just to get across that the ballistic expert had no personal knowledge of how the gun had been found, and the DNA expert testified that there was no DNA on the bullets in the gun and that given the locations on the gun where the DNA had been found it could have gotten there by transfer.

Up until then Susanne seemed confident. She got her first real indication that her prosecution was going to unravel, when she called her star witness, Detective Will Watson.