Needless to say, the next day was as riveting as expected. Rafael had had trial prep and spent a lot of time on the phone as usual, but it actually ended up being one of his less busy days lately, which was a blessing. Neither of them was a fan of the event they had been forced to attend that night, however. They'd stayed there for two hours, making the rounds, before they felt they'd been there an acceptable length of time.
Dodds had offered drinks, but, thankfully, Dodds didn't argue with the 'there's a babysitter getting paid by the hour' excuse. It was true but had definitely been way more of an excuse than anything.
Things had been hectic since the event though, as it turned out that Nikki Staines was raped after the event. Rafael had passed that case off to his senior ADA, due to his own heavy caseload, but had been kept in the loop, nonetheless.
The case was a mess, so he was watching it carefully. Staines was all sorts of paranoid and apparently she kept really good records of things on her phone, which had been lost. Information. Blackmail. You name it.
Both Rollins and Olivia had trusted their instincts when they were directed to the lawyer, Rob Miller, for help. They'd all met Rob the night before, and Rafael had met the man once or twice previously. Miller had a massive sense of false charm and basically had Chief Dodds eating out of the palm of his hand. Rob is one of the people who really runs this town.
The man had flirted with Olivia and, slightly with Rollins. This led to Olivia deciding to agree to go for a drink with the man, in order to get dirt on him. Rafael hadn't been entirely comfortable with the fishing expedition but had been even more irritated when it became clear the Miller knew he was being played by Liv. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt and after that and another lead they'd gotten enough to be able to take him into custody. Rafael doubted they'd get the indictment, unfortunately.
The man had also gotten Liv pulled over, with Noah in the car, and basically caused a massive scene. When they finally got enough to bring him in, at least temporarily, Rafael was relieved. She'd apparently made herself quite the enemy.
He'd also taken to getting some more driving practice in on the weekends and they were looking at buying a second car. He'd gotten his licence when he was younger and kept it current, although, he hadn't really needed it in New York City. He really did need to get back into practice before he was comfortable, in any case.
His mother, in particular, had been over the moon to find out that everything was now official with Noah. They'd also called his family back in Cuba; all of whom were quite happy for him. The entire squad had been extremely supportive as well, although Fin made sure to tease Rafael some. Rafael quickly pointed out that Fin of all people was already a grandpa so the old man could share his wisdom.
Based on everyone's reactions to the comment, Fin's included, Rafael definitely won that round. Simple pleasures.
In other news, over the following week, he only had one problem with Collins and, after writing out extensive notes for him to reference and giving the guy a legal glossary, he seemed to take the hint and was a lot less problematic. Why EADA Lee had hired him... oh, well. He'd just have to deal with the mess.
Thankfully, Rafael's first hire, although coming with little actual experience, was more studious and had a firm grasp that Collins just couldn't quite manage. Was he perfect? No. However, the initiative was night and day. When Summers didn't know something, Summers damn well didn't act and looked it up immediately, taking the initiative and retained the information, also taking notes like no other. Overall, Summers was much much easier to manage.
He'd hired another new ADA as well, who started two days ago. He hadn't seen enough to make a decision about Brooks yet, though. She was doing alright, he supposed, but she seemed to be struggling with the sheer amount of paperwork. He figured organization was the problem more or less and every ADA ever went through that. It took time to learn the organization and time management skills needed to keep most of your sanity.
She'd probably be fine, before long. She likely just needed a little more time to adjust. Their being in Sex Crimes also meant that cases sometimes hit a lot closer to home for some women, so he'd definitely give her an adjustment period before deciding what his next move was regarding her.
He'd also been able to convince Novak to come back on a limited basis after a rather animated phone call that morning. She'd only be taking on an exceptionally small caseload, but it was something, at least. She had other commitments. The benefit, however, was that she had years of experience and could take some of the more interesting cases off his new hires' hands.
Happy that within a few more weeks the dust would be settled, he now found himself responding to work emails and going through several reports.
His phone rang and Liv's picture showed up on the screen.
"Hi, Liv."
"Somebody sounds cheerful."
"And I have no doubt you're about to make my day all that much better," he quipped, knowing full well it was probably a nasty case.
"Naturally," she replied, not missing a beat. "Can you come down to the station?"
"I'll be there soon."
"Ok. See you soon."
As suspected, he walked into a mess.
"No offence," Fin said, "but we'd prefer you take this case than your new hires."
He snorted. "I wouldn't let you give it to them."
Olivia laughed. "He's still our main go-to, Fin. You know he'll tell us when he has to tap out on a case because of a too heavy caseload."
"Just keep giving away the boring ones and we'll be fine," he said, smirking. His current caseload was only lighter by a case or two, at the most, just to give him a little more wiggle room for other meetings and such. It was his comfort level, though. Most prosecutors worked easily anywhere from ten to thirty hours of overtime, on a regular basis. He'd pulled closer to thirty hours more than he'd like, even having done forty at some points. He'd definitely taken on heavier caseloads in the past. He was trying to keep the caseload closer to the ten-hours range when possible. With his extra responsibilities to bump that up, his usual hours didn't change a whole lot now, given his average was definitely closer to twenty on a good week.
He gestured for the detectives to finish filling him in and he took a moment, considered what to do.
A longtime USA Gymnastics(USAG) national team doctor Michael Dion had just been named in not one but six separate complaints filed by athletes - primarily minors— who said that Dion engaged in sexual abuse under the pretense of providing medical treatment. One had just come forward, another had two years previously, but dropped the charges in Brooklyn. As for the others, well, once that damn broke, they'd apparently felt comfortable enough to come forward. That concerned him slightly. He'd seen group accusations like this before.
The People v. Wilkins immediately came to mind. Rafael had been horrified to know he'd been played and had taken so long to see it. Shakir's career and reputation had effectively been shattered for no other reason than his race. As someone who himself had had to fight to prove himself due to his race, he'd been furious he'd been used like that. He'd been particularly revolted when the one woman implied he was complicit and needed to pay up.
Unfortunately, their current original victim had been more than a bit elusive. They didn't have a current address or anything for her. She'd just turned eighteen at the time.
He glanced at Rollins and Olivia. "Are they all credible?"
"I don't see this being a cash-grab," Olivia said.
"Neither do I," Rollins said. "They all seem like good girls and given the first vic's testimony -"
He nodded, looking at Liv. "We need to talk to the original prosecutor and find out why charges were dropped by Miss Johnstone and if they can get us in contact with her. I would also like a copy of the original video testimony." If the original victim's story reinforced the others it would help establish guilt.
The lieutenant nodded. "I'll get a name for you. The file's in my office."
"Good," he said, watching as the lieutenant walked away. "As for the rest of you, exercise due diligence. I need this vetted thoroughly. I have a bad feeling we're about to open up a Manor Hill Academy sized can of worms."
Rollins looked at him. "You've got a bad feeling too?"
He met the detective's eyes. "From the moment Liv opened her mouth." He tapped a finger on Rollins' desk. "Carisi, get me all video or written transcripts from today. I need to go over them."
"On it, Counsellor," Carisi chirped.
With that settled, he made his way to Liv's office. It was going to be a long day.
