Title: Heeled (Part Three)
Author: Walt
Feedback: Of Course.
Please be aware there are references here to prior story suggestions of mine, many of which are on other sites. If you want to see the earlier story suggestions, E-mail me privately and I'll be happy to provide the links for such stories.
Disclaimers and set-up: See Part One
Jack was torn on this case because he understood what Christine Carlesimo had gone through, but at the same time knew that relatives of Ray Quinones wanted justice for his death, which to them meant Christine convicted and doing time in prison.
While that was going on, Lennie Briscoe, now an Investigator for the DA's Office, came into Jack's office to fill him in on what he found out.
Lennie would tell Jack, "I talked to a lot of players and others on both the Houston and Tampa teams. The Houston players said that while Ray was an effective pitcher for them, a lot of fans blamed Ray for ruining their season with that incident and basically forced the trade to Tampa. The Tampa players said he had been a stabilizing force for their team and helped them to their best record ever at this point of the season and were devastated. Many sympathize with the defendant and feel that some sort of compromise needs to be done since while she did kill Ray, in light of what had happened to her husband she should not be punished too severely."
"Ray's parents want her found guilty and put away for a long time", was Jack's reply, with Lennie then saying to Jack, "I can understand that, having lost a daughter myself six and a half years ago. I wanted justice for the man who killed my daughter, which I got in a way when Cathy's ex-boyfriend and drug dealer was killed and the attorney that in my opinion caused Cathy to be killed then wound up getting in hot water on another case two years later."
"Has it been that long already?", then asked Jack, with Lennie replying, "Sure has. Anyway, if I were still at the 2-7 and caught this case, I'd probably be very torn given my daughter's situation."
With that, Lennie then left, and Jack called Gary asking if he could work something out.
"Absolutely no way am I agreeing to any deal! That man killed my husband and caused me to lose my baby. Those two jerks who incited the whole incident last year are the ones who should be here standing trial, as we are now suing them for wrongful death as well!", Christine emphatically said to Jack.
"It's my job to go along with her wishes", then said Gary, throwing his hands in the air.
"I see", then said Jack to Gary.
After Christine stepped out of Jack's office, Gary would say to Jack, "You know, if my father were still alive and were Judge on this trial, he'd probably be as tough on you as ever."
"Knowing him, you'd probably be right", replied Jack as Gary then left, but before doing so gave him his witness list, which included several people who were at the game in question a year earlier.
Jack knew he'd have a difficult time as Gary pretty much had his way throughout the trial, especially not having a second chair. While Ray's parents and siblings would say how wonderful a man Ray was, it would be all for naught as soon as Gary began calling witnesses who were at the game in Miami where the original incident happened. One by one, those witnesses noted how throughout that game, two men were chiding the "very highly regarded Houston pitching staff" that included a remark about one of the relievers saying how his grandmother probably could hit some of the pitchers the way that game was going. The witnesses noted how several of the pitchers in the bullpen had enough, and then the two men who incited this along with a very others were about to go onto the field. They noted that was when Quinones took a ball and threw it into the stands to keep them at bay, only it missed the men he was aiming for and killed John Carlesimo, who was several rows up in the stands. Many of the witnesses also felt the wrong person was on trial here, as they felt the two men who incited the riot are the ones who should be standing trial for this, and said in court that they hoped Christine and her family "clean those two jerks out", as several put it.
Christine then takes the stand and goes into details on what her life had been like since John was killed, including losing her baby and having thoughts of killing herself, also noting she needed help to get her through what is still an ongoing nightmare for her. That was not even necessary to sway the Jury, who found her not guilty in just five minutes of deliberations.
The final scene is back in the DA's Office (taking place in early November, three months after the original incident), where Serena walks in on Jack:
"Don't say I told you so. I didn't have a choice but to prosecute her as Ray Quinones' family would have been all over this office if I didn't", said Jack to Serena on her walking in.
Serena replied by saying "I wasn't going to do that, because I know that was why. Am I forgiven for backing out?"
"Of course", then awnsered Jack, with Serena replying "Thanks. Anyway, some of the jurors were interviewed, and said they all had decided on a not guilty verdict even before Christine took the stand."
"Figures", then said Jack, with Serena leaving the office.
Serena then literally runs into Christine, who specifically wanted to see her.
"I wanted to talk to you as I heard you were supposed to work with Mr. McCoy, but refused because you didn't want to prosecute me", Christine would say to Serena.
Serena replied by saying, "Correct. I suffered a miscarriage myself 12 years ago when I was a junior in college, though in my case, I didn't know I was pregnant until after I lost the baby. The only good thing about that was I didn't have to wrestle with whether to have the baby or have an abortion at the time since I was only 21 and not married, though I since went through a marriage and divorce. What you went through was much worse than me, and my ex-husband and his second wife were brutally murdered 18 months ago."
"Wow!", was Christine's reply, with Serena then saying, "Yes, and what makes that even more scary is that could have been me who was killed that night if I had been still married. It was the case that involved the University down south being taken out of the basketball tournament by my ex-husband, who was the Athletic Director after academic fraud where he and his new wife were killed along with the former head coach and his wife, son and daughter."
"I remember that case, the one that finally brought down the Grushkov crime family", then said Christine, amazed that it was Serena's ex-husband who was killed.
Serena then asked Christine what she was going to do now, with Christine replying, "I have to get help for everything that has happened to me over the past year, plus do what I can with the lawsuits I'm dealing with. Thankfully, the Houston team and stadium now knowing what happened are willing to do a settlement that looks like it will be satisfactory for me and both my family and John's while we are now focusing on suing the two men who started the whole thing, with them hopefully getting what they deserve at least monetarily if not criminally."
"Sounds like you have a lot on your plate", then said Serena.
"Yes. After I finish with the new lawsuits, I'm thinking of moving back here. I love living in Miami, but it's too hot in the summer and even though it's cold here in the winter, it's my real home and I have a lot of family here, both John's and mine. I'm going to need that support for a long time after the hell I've been through.", then said Christine, who then left, but not before Serena gave her a card with her info and told her to stay in touch.
THE END
Hope you enjoyed this story.
Author: Walt
Feedback: Of Course.
Please be aware there are references here to prior story suggestions of mine, many of which are on other sites. If you want to see the earlier story suggestions, E-mail me privately and I'll be happy to provide the links for such stories.
Disclaimers and set-up: See Part One
Jack was torn on this case because he understood what Christine Carlesimo had gone through, but at the same time knew that relatives of Ray Quinones wanted justice for his death, which to them meant Christine convicted and doing time in prison.
While that was going on, Lennie Briscoe, now an Investigator for the DA's Office, came into Jack's office to fill him in on what he found out.
Lennie would tell Jack, "I talked to a lot of players and others on both the Houston and Tampa teams. The Houston players said that while Ray was an effective pitcher for them, a lot of fans blamed Ray for ruining their season with that incident and basically forced the trade to Tampa. The Tampa players said he had been a stabilizing force for their team and helped them to their best record ever at this point of the season and were devastated. Many sympathize with the defendant and feel that some sort of compromise needs to be done since while she did kill Ray, in light of what had happened to her husband she should not be punished too severely."
"Ray's parents want her found guilty and put away for a long time", was Jack's reply, with Lennie then saying to Jack, "I can understand that, having lost a daughter myself six and a half years ago. I wanted justice for the man who killed my daughter, which I got in a way when Cathy's ex-boyfriend and drug dealer was killed and the attorney that in my opinion caused Cathy to be killed then wound up getting in hot water on another case two years later."
"Has it been that long already?", then asked Jack, with Lennie replying, "Sure has. Anyway, if I were still at the 2-7 and caught this case, I'd probably be very torn given my daughter's situation."
With that, Lennie then left, and Jack called Gary asking if he could work something out.
"Absolutely no way am I agreeing to any deal! That man killed my husband and caused me to lose my baby. Those two jerks who incited the whole incident last year are the ones who should be here standing trial, as we are now suing them for wrongful death as well!", Christine emphatically said to Jack.
"It's my job to go along with her wishes", then said Gary, throwing his hands in the air.
"I see", then said Jack to Gary.
After Christine stepped out of Jack's office, Gary would say to Jack, "You know, if my father were still alive and were Judge on this trial, he'd probably be as tough on you as ever."
"Knowing him, you'd probably be right", replied Jack as Gary then left, but before doing so gave him his witness list, which included several people who were at the game in question a year earlier.
Jack knew he'd have a difficult time as Gary pretty much had his way throughout the trial, especially not having a second chair. While Ray's parents and siblings would say how wonderful a man Ray was, it would be all for naught as soon as Gary began calling witnesses who were at the game in Miami where the original incident happened. One by one, those witnesses noted how throughout that game, two men were chiding the "very highly regarded Houston pitching staff" that included a remark about one of the relievers saying how his grandmother probably could hit some of the pitchers the way that game was going. The witnesses noted how several of the pitchers in the bullpen had enough, and then the two men who incited this along with a very others were about to go onto the field. They noted that was when Quinones took a ball and threw it into the stands to keep them at bay, only it missed the men he was aiming for and killed John Carlesimo, who was several rows up in the stands. Many of the witnesses also felt the wrong person was on trial here, as they felt the two men who incited the riot are the ones who should be standing trial for this, and said in court that they hoped Christine and her family "clean those two jerks out", as several put it.
Christine then takes the stand and goes into details on what her life had been like since John was killed, including losing her baby and having thoughts of killing herself, also noting she needed help to get her through what is still an ongoing nightmare for her. That was not even necessary to sway the Jury, who found her not guilty in just five minutes of deliberations.
The final scene is back in the DA's Office (taking place in early November, three months after the original incident), where Serena walks in on Jack:
"Don't say I told you so. I didn't have a choice but to prosecute her as Ray Quinones' family would have been all over this office if I didn't", said Jack to Serena on her walking in.
Serena replied by saying "I wasn't going to do that, because I know that was why. Am I forgiven for backing out?"
"Of course", then awnsered Jack, with Serena replying "Thanks. Anyway, some of the jurors were interviewed, and said they all had decided on a not guilty verdict even before Christine took the stand."
"Figures", then said Jack, with Serena leaving the office.
Serena then literally runs into Christine, who specifically wanted to see her.
"I wanted to talk to you as I heard you were supposed to work with Mr. McCoy, but refused because you didn't want to prosecute me", Christine would say to Serena.
Serena replied by saying, "Correct. I suffered a miscarriage myself 12 years ago when I was a junior in college, though in my case, I didn't know I was pregnant until after I lost the baby. The only good thing about that was I didn't have to wrestle with whether to have the baby or have an abortion at the time since I was only 21 and not married, though I since went through a marriage and divorce. What you went through was much worse than me, and my ex-husband and his second wife were brutally murdered 18 months ago."
"Wow!", was Christine's reply, with Serena then saying, "Yes, and what makes that even more scary is that could have been me who was killed that night if I had been still married. It was the case that involved the University down south being taken out of the basketball tournament by my ex-husband, who was the Athletic Director after academic fraud where he and his new wife were killed along with the former head coach and his wife, son and daughter."
"I remember that case, the one that finally brought down the Grushkov crime family", then said Christine, amazed that it was Serena's ex-husband who was killed.
Serena then asked Christine what she was going to do now, with Christine replying, "I have to get help for everything that has happened to me over the past year, plus do what I can with the lawsuits I'm dealing with. Thankfully, the Houston team and stadium now knowing what happened are willing to do a settlement that looks like it will be satisfactory for me and both my family and John's while we are now focusing on suing the two men who started the whole thing, with them hopefully getting what they deserve at least monetarily if not criminally."
"Sounds like you have a lot on your plate", then said Serena.
"Yes. After I finish with the new lawsuits, I'm thinking of moving back here. I love living in Miami, but it's too hot in the summer and even though it's cold here in the winter, it's my real home and I have a lot of family here, both John's and mine. I'm going to need that support for a long time after the hell I've been through.", then said Christine, who then left, but not before Serena gave her a card with her info and told her to stay in touch.
THE END
Hope you enjoyed this story.