A Woman Undone: Part 57/?
Hello Everyone! I hope I haven't kept you all waiting too long with this update. The drama continues here, and I hope you like it. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
Part 57
Alex quickly made her way to Judge Petrovsky’s office hoping to get there before Richard did. She stood outside of her door, straightened out her suit, and knocked lightly on the wood. When a gruff voice told her to enter, she did so immediately only to see Richard sitting there in front of the judge’s desk, waiting for her.
“Have a seat, Ms. Cabot,” Petrovsky instructed her firmly.
Alex did as she was told, ignoring Richard’s piercing stare that was meant to intimidate her but was failing miserably.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, your Honor,” Alex apologized even though she knew she was more early than late.
“That’s okay,” the judge replied sharply before turning her head to Richard. “Mr. Lewis here seems to think that the ‘early bird catches the worm’ saying applies to all facets of his life. What he doesn’t know is that that early bird doesn’t fly here.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Alex could see Richard smirking, though showing no signs of regret for his early arrival to the meeting. Seeing him sitting there made Alex ill - his crossed legs, his hands settled neatly in his lap, his suit in pristine condition, not a hair out of place on his head, and that cocky grin made her want to clobber him even more so than she had wanted to clobber Robin at the banquet.
“Well, there may be no early birds here, just a worm,” Alex stated casually - no biting sarcasm - just a calm, cool statement that certainly got her point across.
Richard shifted in his seat and looked to the judge as if she was their mother sitting there to settle a spat between two siblings. She disappointed him, however, when she ignored the ADA’s little jab and continued to the business at hand.
“I understand you want to file a motion to suppress the People’s evidence. Is that correct, Mr. Lewis?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Richard responded quickly, “Very much so.”
“You sound a little eager to get going on squelching the prosecution,” Petrovsky said harshly. “Is the defense afraid to add a loss to their record?”
“Hardly, your Honor,” Richard answered with that demeaning arrogance in his voice that made Alex sick. “The defense just wants to make sure that the People play by the rules.”
“And I’m sure the People want to make sure the defense plays by the rules as well, so you don’t need to worry about that, Mr. Lewis. What are your grounds?”
“Illegal search and seizure,” Richard answered her as he handed her the motion as well as a copy of the warrant the detectives had obtained before going through Tennyson’s house.
“I don’t see a problem here,” Petrovsky said as she quickly glanced over the documents in her hand.
“Allow me to explain,” Richard replied all too politely, if not a little condescending. “As you can see, the search warrant covered all areas inside of my client’s residence. Nothing was stated about his limo or any property outside the walls of his house.”
“So what’s the problem?” Petrovsky asked getting annoyed that he hadn’t yet reached his point.
“Your detectives,” he said turning to Alex, “Did their jobs correctly up until the point when they marched over to my client’s limousine and decided to take it upon themselves to send a CSU team sweeping through there.”
“Probable cause, your Honor,” Alex argued calmly as if it was the simplest argument in the world.
“Doesn’t apply here,” Richard argued back. “The warrant should have initially covered the car if there was probable cause, but it didn’t. It was limited to any and all property inside the house.”
“Ms. Cabot?” Petrovsky said, looking to Alex for an explanation.
“The limo that was searched was the car used to drop off both of the victims at their apartments the night Tennyson picked them up at his club,” Alex argued. “That’s probable cause right there as well as the fact that the limo was in plain view for the detectives on site. People versus Brown, your Honor: When executing a valid search warrant, officers may properly seize contraband not mentioned in the warrant but in plain view.”
“I’m not talking about contraband here, your Honor,” Richard said in defense. “The detectives had no reason to believe that the limo was either the weapon used to commit the crime or the scene of the crime itself because both of the victims’ bodies were found in their respective homes. There was no testimony leading anyone to believe that the crime took place in that car, so the limo is not considered contraband in plain view, and any findings in it should be tossed out.”
The judge turned her head to hear Alex’s argument in return.
“People v Powers, your Honor,” the ADA stated with confidence. “A search warrant authorizing the search of a defendant’s house justified a search of his car.”
“Your, Honor, that ruling doesn’t apply here,” Richard interrupted. “That car was parked at the premises in that hearing. My client’s limousine was not on his property. People v Dumper: A search warrant that did not specifically authorize the search of an automobile could not be used to search a car that was driven into the driveway of the house specified in the warrant.”
“It was parked on the street by the side of his house,” Alex argued aggressively, highly annoyed at Richard’s tactics. “United States v Combs certified the valid seizure of a gun from a defendant's car, under a warrant for his house, on the theory that the car was “on the premises” situated close enough to the house to be within its curtilage.”
“Did your detectives find a murder weapon inside the limo, Ms. Cabot?” Petrovsky asked, interrupting the argument happening in front of her.
“No, but they did find traces of Sadie Koffler’s blood on one of the seatbelts.”
“Your Honor…” Richard interjected, but the judge immediately held up her hand to quiet him.
“I’m denying your motion to suppress the evidence found in the limousine, Mr. Lewis,” she stated firmly. “Moving on.”
“Your Honor,” Richard pleaded.
“Moving on,” the judge repeated more harshly this time. “What’s this about a pair of bloody shoes found in the trash?”
“They weren’t in the trash,” Richard argued coldly. “They were outside, in a bag nowhere near the garbage can.”
“Five feet away, your Honor. This is getting ridiculous,” Alex said as she sat back in her chair.
“I agree with Ms. Cabot,” Petrovsky said without wavering on her decision. “I am denying both of your motions, Mr. Lewis. All evidence found is admissible and will be heard by the jury at the People’s discretion along with the new evidence the People found today.”
“Thank you, your Honor,” Alex said very pleased with the decision that had been made. To be perfectly honest, she was actually a little surprised that the judge had awarded things in her favor. She had been prepared for the worst, but now she was actually allowed to hope for the best. Alex had never been one to get overconfident with any of her cases, but this was the closest she had ever come. Richard’s ass was hers.
After giving the attorneys her decision, Petrovsky, seeing that Richard had no other motions to file, dismissed them both, and told them to be very well prepared for trial. Both lawyers assured her that they would be ready and quickly left her office, closing the door quietly behind them.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Alex,” Richard said as they walked a few steps down the hall, “I honestly didn’t think you’d win that one.”
“You underestimate me in a lot of ways, I think,” Alex shot back.
“I’m beginning to see that,” Richard responded as he stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Alex,” he called to her back as she kept walking ahead of him.
“What?” she answered, stopping and turning around to face him.
Taking a few steps forward with one hand in his pocket, he approached her rather gingerly. “Where are you staying tonight?”
Alex couldn’t help her shocked expression as she answered him. “I don’t think now is the best time to discuss that,” she said rather curtly as she glanced at her watch and continued down the hall again.
“You’re still my fiancée, Alex, and I’d still like to know where my fiancée is spending the night if it’s not at home with me.”
“I think for the duration of this trial, it’s probably best if you don’t think of me as your fiancée and think of me as more of your adversary. It’ll make squashing each other that much more appealing, don’t you think?”
Richard laughed at what he thought was a joke. “That’s my girl, all vim and vigor and full of aspirations.”
Alex scoffed at his comment, as if beating him in court was such an impossible goal - such a high aspiration for her. She shook her head and stood there quietly, waiting impatiently for a real reply to her request.
“All right, Ms. Cabot,” he said with a sigh, “You win this time. You win the battle, I’ll win the war.”
Alex shook her head and took a step closer to him, folding her hands together down in front of her and looking at him with a smirk on her face. “Do you know why the nation of France turned against Napoleon Bonaparte?” she asked him. When Richard didn’t respond, she answered for him. “It was because he was a little man with a huge ego who still lost the war.”
Nothing more was said. Richard stood there struggling to think of a comeback, but before he was given the opportunity to say anything, his worthy adversary turned and walked quickly and confidently down the hall.
One for the prosecution. Zero for the defense.
Part 57
Alex quickly made her way to Judge Petrovsky’s office hoping to get there before Richard did. She stood outside of her door, straightened out her suit, and knocked lightly on the wood. When a gruff voice told her to enter, she did so immediately only to see Richard sitting there in front of the judge’s desk, waiting for her.
“Have a seat, Ms. Cabot,” Petrovsky instructed her firmly.
Alex did as she was told, ignoring Richard’s piercing stare that was meant to intimidate her but was failing miserably.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, your Honor,” Alex apologized even though she knew she was more early than late.
“That’s okay,” the judge replied sharply before turning her head to Richard. “Mr. Lewis here seems to think that the ‘early bird catches the worm’ saying applies to all facets of his life. What he doesn’t know is that that early bird doesn’t fly here.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Alex could see Richard smirking, though showing no signs of regret for his early arrival to the meeting. Seeing him sitting there made Alex ill - his crossed legs, his hands settled neatly in his lap, his suit in pristine condition, not a hair out of place on his head, and that cocky grin made her want to clobber him even more so than she had wanted to clobber Robin at the banquet.
“Well, there may be no early birds here, just a worm,” Alex stated casually - no biting sarcasm - just a calm, cool statement that certainly got her point across.
Richard shifted in his seat and looked to the judge as if she was their mother sitting there to settle a spat between two siblings. She disappointed him, however, when she ignored the ADA’s little jab and continued to the business at hand.
“I understand you want to file a motion to suppress the People’s evidence. Is that correct, Mr. Lewis?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Richard responded quickly, “Very much so.”
“You sound a little eager to get going on squelching the prosecution,” Petrovsky said harshly. “Is the defense afraid to add a loss to their record?”
“Hardly, your Honor,” Richard answered with that demeaning arrogance in his voice that made Alex sick. “The defense just wants to make sure that the People play by the rules.”
“And I’m sure the People want to make sure the defense plays by the rules as well, so you don’t need to worry about that, Mr. Lewis. What are your grounds?”
“Illegal search and seizure,” Richard answered her as he handed her the motion as well as a copy of the warrant the detectives had obtained before going through Tennyson’s house.
“I don’t see a problem here,” Petrovsky said as she quickly glanced over the documents in her hand.
“Allow me to explain,” Richard replied all too politely, if not a little condescending. “As you can see, the search warrant covered all areas inside of my client’s residence. Nothing was stated about his limo or any property outside the walls of his house.”
“So what’s the problem?” Petrovsky asked getting annoyed that he hadn’t yet reached his point.
“Your detectives,” he said turning to Alex, “Did their jobs correctly up until the point when they marched over to my client’s limousine and decided to take it upon themselves to send a CSU team sweeping through there.”
“Probable cause, your Honor,” Alex argued calmly as if it was the simplest argument in the world.
“Doesn’t apply here,” Richard argued back. “The warrant should have initially covered the car if there was probable cause, but it didn’t. It was limited to any and all property inside the house.”
“Ms. Cabot?” Petrovsky said, looking to Alex for an explanation.
“The limo that was searched was the car used to drop off both of the victims at their apartments the night Tennyson picked them up at his club,” Alex argued. “That’s probable cause right there as well as the fact that the limo was in plain view for the detectives on site. People versus Brown, your Honor: When executing a valid search warrant, officers may properly seize contraband not mentioned in the warrant but in plain view.”
“I’m not talking about contraband here, your Honor,” Richard said in defense. “The detectives had no reason to believe that the limo was either the weapon used to commit the crime or the scene of the crime itself because both of the victims’ bodies were found in their respective homes. There was no testimony leading anyone to believe that the crime took place in that car, so the limo is not considered contraband in plain view, and any findings in it should be tossed out.”
The judge turned her head to hear Alex’s argument in return.
“People v Powers, your Honor,” the ADA stated with confidence. “A search warrant authorizing the search of a defendant’s house justified a search of his car.”
“Your, Honor, that ruling doesn’t apply here,” Richard interrupted. “That car was parked at the premises in that hearing. My client’s limousine was not on his property. People v Dumper: A search warrant that did not specifically authorize the search of an automobile could not be used to search a car that was driven into the driveway of the house specified in the warrant.”
“It was parked on the street by the side of his house,” Alex argued aggressively, highly annoyed at Richard’s tactics. “United States v Combs certified the valid seizure of a gun from a defendant's car, under a warrant for his house, on the theory that the car was “on the premises” situated close enough to the house to be within its curtilage.”
“Did your detectives find a murder weapon inside the limo, Ms. Cabot?” Petrovsky asked, interrupting the argument happening in front of her.
“No, but they did find traces of Sadie Koffler’s blood on one of the seatbelts.”
“Your Honor…” Richard interjected, but the judge immediately held up her hand to quiet him.
“I’m denying your motion to suppress the evidence found in the limousine, Mr. Lewis,” she stated firmly. “Moving on.”
“Your Honor,” Richard pleaded.
“Moving on,” the judge repeated more harshly this time. “What’s this about a pair of bloody shoes found in the trash?”
“They weren’t in the trash,” Richard argued coldly. “They were outside, in a bag nowhere near the garbage can.”
“Five feet away, your Honor. This is getting ridiculous,” Alex said as she sat back in her chair.
“I agree with Ms. Cabot,” Petrovsky said without wavering on her decision. “I am denying both of your motions, Mr. Lewis. All evidence found is admissible and will be heard by the jury at the People’s discretion along with the new evidence the People found today.”
“Thank you, your Honor,” Alex said very pleased with the decision that had been made. To be perfectly honest, she was actually a little surprised that the judge had awarded things in her favor. She had been prepared for the worst, but now she was actually allowed to hope for the best. Alex had never been one to get overconfident with any of her cases, but this was the closest she had ever come. Richard’s ass was hers.
After giving the attorneys her decision, Petrovsky, seeing that Richard had no other motions to file, dismissed them both, and told them to be very well prepared for trial. Both lawyers assured her that they would be ready and quickly left her office, closing the door quietly behind them.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Alex,” Richard said as they walked a few steps down the hall, “I honestly didn’t think you’d win that one.”
“You underestimate me in a lot of ways, I think,” Alex shot back.
“I’m beginning to see that,” Richard responded as he stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Alex,” he called to her back as she kept walking ahead of him.
“What?” she answered, stopping and turning around to face him.
Taking a few steps forward with one hand in his pocket, he approached her rather gingerly. “Where are you staying tonight?”
Alex couldn’t help her shocked expression as she answered him. “I don’t think now is the best time to discuss that,” she said rather curtly as she glanced at her watch and continued down the hall again.
“You’re still my fiancée, Alex, and I’d still like to know where my fiancée is spending the night if it’s not at home with me.”
“I think for the duration of this trial, it’s probably best if you don’t think of me as your fiancée and think of me as more of your adversary. It’ll make squashing each other that much more appealing, don’t you think?”
Richard laughed at what he thought was a joke. “That’s my girl, all vim and vigor and full of aspirations.”
Alex scoffed at his comment, as if beating him in court was such an impossible goal - such a high aspiration for her. She shook her head and stood there quietly, waiting impatiently for a real reply to her request.
“All right, Ms. Cabot,” he said with a sigh, “You win this time. You win the battle, I’ll win the war.”
Alex shook her head and took a step closer to him, folding her hands together down in front of her and looking at him with a smirk on her face. “Do you know why the nation of France turned against Napoleon Bonaparte?” she asked him. When Richard didn’t respond, she answered for him. “It was because he was a little man with a huge ego who still lost the war.”
Nothing more was said. Richard stood there struggling to think of a comeback, but before he was given the opportunity to say anything, his worthy adversary turned and walked quickly and confidently down the hall.
One for the prosecution. Zero for the defense.