Her Last Day in Court

"Ron, I can't take much more of his sleazy behavior! I really don't think you are going to win this case for me anyway. I've lost everything; at least I can have the pleasure of making sure the jury knows their judge is another sexual power tripper, going in to his chambers to satisfy himself with the bailiff while he screws me over under the law! I don't..."

"Gloria, we still have Coach Nestorovic and the jury could be 'hung'. They already see what the judge is doing. Please let me 'do my thing'!"

"Sure! Easy for you to say! You get paid while risking nothing. You didn't have a thing to lose. I had to sell my house to pay your bill. This whole system is screwed. I informed the police, as soon as I knew what was going on!"

"Your husband's testimony made them think you had a pretty good idea a long time before that! It can easily be settled if you turn state's evidence on the Mafia bosses you worked for!"

"Well, how will that protect my kids now that he has filed for a divorce and custody? He'll be awarded custody with me in jail, for certain. He's made it clear he has no intention of entering witness protection. Even Witness Protection might not work, you know! They have people inside the system that might find out where we are anyway. You know that I'll do anything to protect them!" Gloria was distraught and pacing the floor in the little room of the Long Beach courthouse set aside for lawyer/client consultations. She kicked a chair knocking it over. "Damn! HIM!"

"If you blow up on the judge you can forget any chance of being found innocent. He can make you spend thirty days in County jail before your sentence for fraud begins. I don't want to see this happen, Gloria. Despite what you think about me; I've done everything I can do and we do have a chance."

"Fat One maybe! I see how he looked at me when I was on the stand! It made my skin crawl!"

"He has already told you the next time you confront him he will find you in contempt of court. We can use his behavior in an appeal."

"I don't have the money for that! The situation doesn't warrant an appeal anyway. They had enough proof to hang me out to dry when the State engineer lied about the soil samples and engineering data. I'm sunk! I'm not going to sell my antique doll collection just to pay you some more money!" Gloria sat down and took her shoe off to massage her toe that hurt, from when she kicked the chair, and looked out the window to see another beautiful California day, with sunlight and soft breezes rippling through the palm fronds.

"This is a big case and there were many people ripped-off in the land development swindle. You know they have to have a conviction for the media! I can only tell you that I think you have a good chance to get custody of your kids if you are in the witness protection program. The Mafia isn't as strong here as they are in places like New York. I don't think they'll kill your kids!"

"I can't take that chance. They are everything to me! I've only had a few months with Susie?" Her eyes showed the signs of tears but he could see she didn't want to cry.

"You are one stubborn Red-Head, that's for sure! Its part of why you didn't want to see that all the money they were paying you was part of knowing it would make it difficult for you to turn them in. You are prone to 'stick to your guns' and keep your mind closed to what is happening."

"Well! What do you know? Some philosophic insight! Hell, how would I know about soil samples and the like? I'm an M.B.A. not a geologist! Sure I might have seen it a little earlier, but I needed to get 'the goods' on them. The city was backing them 'big time'. No one would have listened to some young WOMAN! This is just a railroad job. They know I'm not guilty, of anything!"

The police came and knocked on their door and summoned them to return to the proceedings. Gloria went back into the room with her lawyer Ron Vance. She surveyed the crowded courtroom for what she knew was likely her last time. After her tennis coach gave some character witness support it would be lunch, then the summations would take an hour. She felt a sense of being cornered, but that had been the case throughout her 25 years on earth. It was December 19th 1968 and just two days earlier she had turned twenty-five. Her husband wasn't in the room as he sometimes had been.

She remembered the day before when she had seen him sitting with some young tart that she was sure he was sleeping with. God, men can be wicked! She smiled sheepishly at Coach Nestorovic and remembered back to a more innocent time when he had been her mentor as she worked her way through university. Her tennis and golf scholarship had paid for much of her education. A poor girl from a Riverside trailer park whose father had died before she came to Long Beach sure hadn't any money for school clothes or the high life. Then she had the misfortune of falling in love with a lying lothario! She wasn't depressed yet; that was something she rarely ever let herself do.

Ron put his hand on Gloria's as the judge resumed the proceedings. He had to admit she was right about this supposedly 'Honorable' judge. It was a travesty how he had stopped the proceedings everyday to get his rocks off with the handsome police matron assigned to take Gloria back to her cell each evening after the session had begun. He truly felt a little sick to his stomach but he didn't want to let her know how badly he felt. Lawyers need to be positive and give their clients confidence. That is what his great teachers and heroes of the profession had always told him. He also knew it was important to getting the bills paid.

Author and activist for ethical social systems.

In The News:


Google News
Updated : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:08:18 GMT

Reuters Entertainment Summary - Washington Post

Reuters Entertainment Summary
Washington Post - 3 hours ago
VENICE (Reuters) - Eleven days of red carpet galas, 21 films in competition and countless interviews, photo calls and parties at the Venice film festival boiled down to just one man in the end -- Mickey Rourke.
Aronofsky Gracefully Wrestles Golden Lion Out Of Venice eFluxMedia
Buyers mixed on Toronto films Hollywood Reporter
San Jose Mercury News - Bloomberg - Variety - Los Angeles Times
all 509 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:41:41 GMT

Federer is set for his fifth consecutive US Open final (Keystone) - Swissinfo


San Diego Union Tribune
Federer is set for his fifth consecutive US Open final (Keystone)
Swissinfo - 29 minutes ago
Switzerland's Roger Federer has won his semifinal at Flushing Meadows against Novak Djokovic of Serbia in four sets, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
Video: Federer Beats Djokovic to Reach US Open Final AssociatedPress
Federer Reaches Final Before Rain New York Times
BBC Sport - Los Angeles Times - Fort Worth Star Telegram - Boston Globe
all 2,879 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:38:36 GMT

Health Buzz: Immunosuppressive Drug Warning and Other Health News - U.S. News & World Report


dBTechno
Health Buzz: Immunosuppressive Drug Warning and Other Health News
U.S. News & World Report - Sep 5, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration has asked the manufacturers of Humira, Cimzia, Enbrel, and Remicade—which belong to a class of medications known as tumor necrosis factor alpha blockers (TNF-alpha blockers)—to strengthen the warning for risk of fungal ...
FDA urges more caution over TNF blocker infections Reuters
Arthritis Drugs Linked to Risks From Infection New York Times
WebMD - eFluxMedia - Scientific American
all 622 news articles

Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:23:08 GMT

Fannie, Freddie Capital Concerns Prompt Paulson Plan (Update1) - Bloomberg


ABC News
Fannie, Freddie Capital Concerns Prompt Paulson Plan (Update1)
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
By Dawn Kopecki and Alison Vekshin Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decided to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after a review found the beleaguered mortgage-finance companies used accounting methods that inflated their ...
Video: Obama Calls for Changes in Mortgage Giants AssociatedPress
RPT-US Treasury sets news conference;GSE plan expected Reuters
MarketWatch - New York Times - USA Today - Forbes
all 2,446 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:59:54 GMT

Suicide blast kills 35 in Pakistan; Zardari set to take power - International Herald Tribune


Boston Globe
Suicide blast kills 35 in Pakistan; Zardari set to take power
International Herald Tribune - 53 minutes ago
AP, The New York Times PESHAWAR, Pakistan: The death toll in a devastating suicide blast has reached 35, officials said Sunday, as Pakistan prepared for Benazir Bhutto's widower to take over as president.
Pakistan's Zardari urged to change image and focus Reuters
Pakistan's Zardari prepares for presidency AFP
PRESS TV - Los Angeles Times - Monsters and Critics.com - Xinhua
all 3,657 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:14:31 GMT

Malkovich gets mad in Coens' 'Burn After Reading' - The Associated Press


Canada.com
Malkovich gets mad in Coens' 'Burn After Reading'
The Associated Press - 36 minutes ago
TORONTO (AP) - The Coen brothers' new movie gave John Malkovich a chance to blow off some steam. Malkovich's seething character in "Burn After Reading" bursts out in perpetual tantrums, a nice exercise in anger management, according to the actor.
Toronto Film Festival vs. Brangelina – Who Gets the Spotlight? eFluxMedia
Pitt Rocks to Madonna FOXNews
Newsweek - Dallas Morning News - Los Angeles Times - Reuters
all 331 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:31:53 GMT

Michigan spared sting of West Nile - Detroit Free Press

Michigan spared sting of West Nile
Detroit Free Press - 6 hours ago
BY SHERI McWHIRTER • RECORD-EAGLE • September 7, 2008 TRAVERSE CITY -- West Nile virus hasn't seriously bitten Michigan this year and seems to have spared the state's northern reaches.
Yes, the mosquitoes were nasty this summer Yakima Herald-Republic
Aerial survey being conducted to find mosquito breeding grounds San Jose Mercury News
Lower Hudson Journal news - San Francisco Chronicle - Shelbyville News - Los Angeles Times
all 362 news articles

Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:53:44 GMT

Clickbank Data Feeds
Work From Home


PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Dreaming of Love and Peace

She dreams of touring Europe and the US to sing... Read More

Mexican Living: Doctors, Doctors, Doctors

I am sick. I don't know what's wrong nor if... Read More

Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed

Good feng shui often requires making wise decisions based on... Read More

Rasputin

GRIGORY EFIMOVICH NOVYKH (RASPUTIN):'Hail, Hail, Ras-putin'. This man's story has... Read More

Hello I Must Be Going: The Vanishing Twin

They walk among us. By the mid nineties, science had... Read More

Celebrating Obscurity: A Tribute To J. K. Rowling

A single-parent rose from obscurity in 8 years to become... Read More

The Red Violin - Film Review

The film portrays the creation, fate, and redemption of a... Read More

Brazil--Comments by a Gilliam Fan a Little Too Late

Either I am one of the darkest people ever or... Read More

A Look At The Years of Celebrities Wearing Jewelry

As far back as one can remember famous celebrities have... Read More

How to Create a Multi-Artistic Piece (Article 1 of 2)

In the late 19th century the music world was graced... Read More

Yes Tarot Readings Are For You!

Have you ever thought?What is the best way out of... Read More

Moissanite Earrings, The Modern Brazilian Beetle

The history of earrings is a varied history indeed. And... Read More

When We Was Kids In Chicago (Part 2)

From an early age my Mother sent me to the... Read More

The Western Cowboy

In the State of Texas the Western Cowboy can be... Read More

Body Jewelry and Todays Stars

Body jewelry and body piercing practices have been observed by... Read More

Art, Women, and Creativity

Women have been given the greatest gift of creativity there... Read More

Smart Art Investments - Buy What You Love!

Collecting art can be one of the most enjoyable ways... Read More

Art, Artists, and the Web: Part 1--Why Every Artist Should Have Their Own Website

First rate art is in danger of being left behind... Read More

Murder Solved From The Grave

I am very interested in reading about ghostly stories and... Read More

Nessie, the Beast of the Loch

They were fierce hill tribes in what is now Scotland,... Read More

Building Catapults Required Engineering Know How

When building catapults, armies had to include in their ranks... Read More

African Americans: Get the Winning Edge

Everybody wants an edge that will give him or her... Read More

Troubadours

CHRETIEN DE TROYES:Academics will freely admit that this man was... Read More

Native American Astrology: The Hawk (March 21 - April 19)

The Hawk is the first sign of the Native American... Read More

Mythology and Parables in Modern Communication - Part 3

Our Self is the true center of our being and... Read More