Title: JACKed Up! (Part 4 of 6)
Author: Walt
Rating: T
Disclaimers: See Part 1
"My client has been through all kinds of hell. You know both her parents died within five months of each other", said Janine Grossman to Alexandra Borgia as Janine arrived at the 2-7 with a pair of flats for Savannah to wear (similar to the athletic-ish slip-ons both Janine and Alexandra were wearing with in both cases a clean t-shirt and knee-length denim skirt since it was a Sunday) since the boots Savannah was wearing were seized for evidence, with her hair now up as she waited for the attorneys to come into the room.
"I didn't know that, but why should I?", asked Alexandra.
"Her father is Ken Jones, the midday guy on (place call letters here)-FM, or at least he was until the station flipped to what they are calling the 'Craig' format last Tuesday", then said Janine.
"I know all about the format flip, as I have a lot of friends who were angered by it, but what does that mean to this case?", asked Alexandra, with Janine replying, "He died Wednesday morning, about 18 hours after the flip happened. It was right after B.J. Cameron went off near the end of his show that morning about how great it was that 'such a fogey station like (place call letters here)-FM was shown the door and given the 'Jack-a' format.', boasting about how he 'forced out all the old bags from that station who should have been fired years ago' as he blocked the flip on his station because he could. Savannah and her father was walking by a place that morning that had the show on and they heard it. She then saw the rage her father was having over hearing what B.J. said, which caused him to have a coronary that killed him within a couple of minutes. She called me right after that, very distraught as you can imagine."
"I can believe that", then said Alexandra who then called Jack McCoy, asking him to come down as she felt it was necessary in this case, while Anita walks over to inform the attorneys that there also was now evidence that DNA found on Shannon King's fingernails was in fact that of Savannah and that blood on the boots matched that of Quinn Robbins. Janine then walks in to see her client while Alexandra waits for Jack to arrive while Savannah and Janine are now informed she is also being charged with the murder of Shannon King and the attempted murder of B.J. Cameron.
"That also means we can charge you with criminally negligent homicide in the death of Carolyn Spencer, since you made yourself look like her with the intent to frame her for both the murder of Shannon King and the attempted murder of B.J. Cameron. The knife used in both crimes had their blood on it", then said Joe, with Savannah and Janine remaining silent.
"So you want to keep quiet. You're going to have to awnser eventually", then said Olivia.
"My client will say nothing right now. She had been through so much in the past week, she needs to sort through it all in her head", then said Janine to the Detectives and Anita, who was also in the room.
Things would not change much when Jack arrives, with Alexandra bringing him up to speed before he goes into the room.
"You'll hear our side after arraignment. In the meantime, you can see all the outrage over what happened on a special page of a message board devoted to radio in New York", then said Janine to Jack while handing both a piece of paper with the address of the message board in question. While Savannah was taken to the holding cell, additional charges criminaly negligent homicide in the death of Carolyn Spencer were added to the indictment.
In the time between Savannah being held for arraignment and that happening, Alexandra goes to the hospital to talk with B.J. Cameron, who was now well enough to do so.
"So it wasn't Carolyn Spencer who tried to kill me. That woman who did sure did fool me and from what I hear everybody else", said B.J. to Alexandra, with her replying, "News does travel fast. It certainlly looks that way", and B.J. replying back, "It does."
"My understanding is that you blocked the flip on your station. Why was that?", asked Alexandra.
"Again, business. My contract specifically says I can do that. Since I was screwed by the parent company of my station, I figured I'd give them and many who were so outraged by what Shannon King did that in effect set in motion my having to move to sattellite a taste of their own medicine", then said B.J.
"And blocking your station being flipped was in your mind a way of 'getting back?'", asked Alexandra.
"Exactly. I knew the parent company's management was in a position where they had to flip either my station or (place call letters here)-FM by the close of business last Tuesday or two big shareholders were going to dump their stock. The other FM station they have is aimed at young women and there was no way that was going to be flipped, so I knew they would have to flip the oldies station in order to satisfy the hedge fund operators that had big enough shares that if they dumped them, it would create a massively vicious cycle of selling", then said B.J.
"You know that Ken Jones apparently was listening to you Wednesday morning right before he died", then said Alexandra to B.J.
"I heard about his death later in the day. I did say the next morning I was sorry that he died, and it was right after listening to me. He should have realized that a lot of it was business, however, as I called (place call letters here)-FM the "fogey station" for years. I was not really a fan of that style of radio to begin with, and many of my listeners are 'anti-establishment', which in their eyes is what (place call letters here)-FM was. Aside from my hatred for the parent company, if my station had flipped, it would tee off many listeners I have outside New York as most of the stations that carry my show are hard rock like mine is. Plus, a lot of bands that come on my show would stop doing so.", then said B.J.
"But the other reasons were secondary to your wanting to get back at the parent company?", asked Alexandra.
"To a big degree. Of course in retrospect, I'd probably have been a little less vocal about what happened, but I had no way of knowing Ken Jones would die not even a day after the format flip", then said B.J., with Alexandra finished with him and going home for the day.
At arraignment first thing Monday morning, a not-so-big surprise came to Alexandra as Jack was watching carefully.
"My client pleads not guilty by reason of extreme emotional distress", said Janine to Arraignment Judge Morris Tedelsky.
"The defendant brutally murdered two people, attempted to kill another and in two cases making herself look like Carolyn Spencer, which caused Ms. Spencer to be arrested two days ago and subsequently was brutally murdered while in custody", said Alexandra to the Judge.
"My client has had to deal with the death of her father that was mainly caused at the hands of the so-called 'victims' of these crimes", then said Janine to the Judge, who denies bail but does order a psychiatric exam.
"So a radio station's format change caused three deaths and the attempted murder of a fourth", said Arthur to Jack, Alexandra and Casey in his office, with Casey being there since she got the call on Carolyn Spencer late Friday night that triggered eveything.
"It seems that way. It also appears Savannah Jones fooled everone in looking like Carolyn Spencer to the point everyone thought it was Ms. Spencer who tried to kill B.J. for the second time, only to find out otherwise after she was killed", then said Casey to Arthur.
"I see. Given what the witnesses said, you did exactly what you were supposed to Casey. There's no way you nor Detectives Benson or Fontana could have known it was an impostor with all the evidence pointing to Carolyn Spencer at the time", then replied Arthur.
"Thank you", then replied Casey before she left to return to work on other cases, still a bit shaken over what happened on Saturday, though realizing Arthur was right in that she could not have known what happened at the time Carolyn was arrested.
Once Casey was gone, Jack would say to Arthur, "I know Savannah Jones just lost her father and also five months ago her mother and was angry at the victims because she blamed them for what happened, but that doesn't give her the right to kill them and cause the death of Carolyn Spencer", said Jack.
"I know, and it's ironic that the name of the format outside New York (place call letters here)-FM switched to carries your name", then said Arthur.
"I know that, and I also know a ton of people who are angry. Lexi showed me how much of an outrage there really is on that message board for New York Radio, currently around 75 pages", then said Jack.
"Try closer to 80 pages now, and there are a lot of people who think Ms. Jones should go free because of what B.J. said apparently killing her father. Others think B.J. should stand trial for murdering Ken Jones", then said Alexandra.
"And I wish there were a way I could charge B.J. Cameron with criminally negligent homicide for causing Ken Jones' death with both blocking the flip of his station and what he said, but he could not have known what would happen when he commited those actions. The law says Savannah Jones has to be prosecuted because she tried to kill B.J. Cameron, caused the death of Carolyn Spencer and did kill Shannon King and Quinn Robbins", then said Jack.
At the same time that conversation was going on, Savannah would be talking at Rikers with Elizabeth Olivet.
"It's been a mind-numbing week. My father was just getting over losing my mother only five months ago, and was finally starting to again be the man on radio that made him very popular for years. My parents were married for 40 years, which at least they got to celebrate last fall before she died", said Savannah to Elizabeth.
"I can understand that. It had to be tough on your father losing your mother like that", then said Elizabeth.
"It was, but he had many friends who were able to help him cope with that, as my friends helped me. The radio really helped as well, as he got an unbelivable amount of cards, letters and E-mail wishes pouring out support when he really needed it. Then came last Tuesday.", then said Savannah.
"When the flip happened", replied Elizabeth.
"Exactly. Everyone was stunned at what happened, and almost immediately afterwards there was massive outrage. You know there is supposed to be a protest over what happened in about a week", then said Savannah.
"I didn't hear about the protest, but I'm not surprised. The way this was done seemed very cold", replied Elizabeth.
"It was. My father was taking it very hard to have lost his job the way he did on top of losing my mother only five months ago. Sure, they tried to apologize, but they explained they had to do this under the threat of two major shareholders dumping their shares of the parent company at the close of business on Tuesday if they didn't", then said Savannah before continuing in a tone that got much more angry, "Those greedy bastards are not New Yorkers, and were more concerned with their money more than they were with people. They along with B.J. Cameron should be standing trial for murdering my father, and Shannon King and Quinn Robbins deserved their fates as they basically put a knife in my father's back! What B.J. said on the radio is what actually killed him!", crying at the end.
The rest of the conversation went along those lines.
While that was going on, Alexandra talked with a close friend of Savannah's, Joanne Miller, at her office in lower Manhattan whose company is a competitor of the parent company of (place call letters here)-FM.
"Savannah had a very hard time with her mother's death. She was very close to both of her parents, and actually saw a therapist for a brief period after her mother died. Although there was nothing publically that would indicate the change in formats at (place call letters here)-FM was coming, she had a bad feeling things were going to happen after the crackdown started following Shannon King's dress coming off", said Joanne to Alexandra.
"And how was that?", asked Alexandra.
"The way radio is now", replied Joanne.
"And that is?", asked Alexandra, with Joanne replying, "The way companies can now own several radio and even TV stations in each market. In this case (the parent company) owned three stations on FM, (place call letters here)-FM, the station B.J. is on and another aimed at young females. That was not the case 15-20 years ago, when you could only own one AM, FM and TV station in a market. The parent company of (place call letters here)-FM still carries a heavy debt load from its merger a few years ago, and while they have been able to reduce that some, they knew they were up against it with B.J. leaving next August."
"I would expect they'd have to do something with B.J. leaving, but what does that have to do with why now, even though they had over a year to figure out what to do?", then asked Alexandra.
Joanne then replied, "Everyone knew how the JACK format had been working in smaller markets, and it was felt it was only a matter if time before some station in New York would flip to it. There was a rumor floating around Tuesday morning that the parent company of another competitor of ours was fully prepared to flip one of its stations to the JACK format as early as 6:00 AM Wednesday morning, which was supposedly the absolute earliest they could have everything in place to do so. That's when I suspect the hedge fund operators who control enough of an interest in the parent company of (place call letters here)-FM to create a mass panic if they did dump their stock went and told the higher-ups they would sell all of it immediately unless they flipped one of their stations by the close of business last Tuesday. Obviously as you know by now, there was no way B.J. was going to allow 'his' station to be flipped, so they had no choice."
"And?", then asked Alexandra, with Joanne responding, "Ken and everyone else were absolutely devastated by what happened, and especally in the fact they were not at least given time to do a farewell show to their listeners. I was with Ken and Savannah that night, and Savannah was very worried this was going to kill her father, especially given Ken only lost his wife and Savannah's mother five months ago, with that turning out to be true not even 12 hours later. I can only imagine how Ken felt upon hearing B.J. specifically say he was responsible for Ken and everyone else being fired right before he died."
"And did you see Savannah after that?", asked Alexandra.
Joanne replied, "Not very long after. She was completely devastated about losing her father, and could not believe what happened. She called Janine very shortly after that, asking her to look for any way possible that the parent company and the people who forced the switch could be held criminally liable for her father's death. When it was found there were no legal grounds, she was even more distraught. I suspect she simply snapped after the viewing Friday night and felt the only way she could get justice for what happened was to go after the people she felt were responsible for Ken's death, and those in particular were Shannon King, B.J. Cameron, Carolyn Spencer and Quinn Robbins: Shannon because her losing her dress at the championship game a year and a half ago caused the crackdown that with Carolyn Spencer's help later on 'forced" B.J. to go to sattellite when his contract expires and caused the parent company of (place call letters here)-FM to flip that to JACK to appease investors that Quinn Robbins implemented on orders from above, and then B.J. Cameron for his blocking the flip on his station. How she ever held it together for the funeral of her father on Saturday is amazing given everything that happened."
With that, Alexandra was finished with Joanne, and along with Elizabeth is in Jack's office along with Arthur, with Jack and Arthur brought up to speed:
"It's clearly obvious her father's death and the way it happened caused Savannah Jones to snap. She felt the people who were killed along with B.J. and the hedge fund investors killed her father, and those not dead should be standing trial for his being murdered", said Elizabeth.
"That's what I got as well talking to one of her best friends. Our defendant took her father's death incredibly hard and likely was suffering from extreme emotional distress", said Alexandra.
"Not what I wanted to hear. I've got people all over the place wanting Ms. Jones executed for this, and B.J. Cameron specifically wants her tried for trying to kill him.", said Arthur.
Jack replied by saying, "And I'm sure there are as many who feel she shouldn't be prosecuted, Arthur. I've been on that special message board put up for the format switch, and there it's running something like 30-1 that Ms. Jones should have all charges against her dropped. As for B.J. Cameron, he's right in wanting Ms. Jones tried since she did try to kill him, not to mention the fact she tried to frame Carolyn Spencer which in turn caused her death, but if I'm B.J. I don't know if I want to say that in public given his blocking the flip on his station may have been the direct cause of everything Ms. Jones did."
"Sounds like there's going to be blood on some hands no matter what direction this goes in. We have to follow the law, however, and since the evidence says Savannah Jones murdered Shannon King and Quinn Robbins, attempted to murder B.J. Cameron and attempted to frame Carolyn Spencer for two of those, which caused Ms. Spencer's death while she was in custody, Ms. Jones has to be tried, unless you can make a deal", then said Arthur.
At the same time, Janine walks in with Mary Conway Clark, having overheard Arthur talking about a deal.
"I seriously doubt my client is going to want to make a deal. She still believes those people along with the hedge fund operators who basically forced the flip killed her father, and those not already dead should stand trial for at least negligent homicide in such. Oh, Mr. McCoy, I think you and Mary know each other", said Janine as Arthur and Elizabeth walked out of Jack's office.
"We do. What are you doing here, Mary?", asked Jack while shaking her hand.
"Savannah's mother and I were friends since we were teenagers, and I knew her father going back to before they married and Savannah was born. I would have been here with Janine to represent Savannah at arraignment, except I was in Boston dealing with matters on another case, which got postponed indefinitely", said Mary.
"You're taking over the case?", asked Jack.
"Not quite, however, Janine knows I was friends of Savannah's parents for many years, and they would want me to represent Savannah at trial, though since Janine and Savannah have been friends for a long time, we decided along with Savannah it was best if we both represented her", replied Mary.
"That's agreeable with me, especially since all we care about is justice. Here's our notice of Mary's appearence", then said Janine.
"Obviously no egos here", said Jack.
"Definitely none", then said Janine as she and Mary left.
"This is going to make it next-to-impossible to get a conviction", said Alexandra shortly after Janine and Mary had left.
"You mean because Mary is now working with Janine on the case?", replied Jack.
"No, because a jury is likely to sympathize with Ms. Jones, especially since as you said it's quite possible B.J. Cameron's blocking his station from being flipped may have been responsible for what happened", then said Alexandra.
"But B.J. Cameron could not have known that was going to happen at the time he did that. Neither could the hedge fund operators nor anyone else", then said Jack.
Alexandra replied, "I know that. I also know that we are going to have to somehow convince a jury that there was no way B.J. Cameron nor the hedge fund operators nor anyone else who were involved with what happened to (place call letters here)-FM could have known Ken Jones would have died not even 24 hours after the station suddenly changed formats."
"I know, and if it's OK with you and Arthur, I would like to have Casey sit in as a third chair and question B.J. on the stand since she has greater familiarity with him", said Jack.
"I don't know if she would. Remember, Casey clerked under Ms. Clark when she was a Judge", said Alexandra as Casey happened to be walking by, overhearing that before walking in to Jack's office.
"I'm game if it's needed. Mary would expect me to do it if she was the DA, and she wouldn't expect me to do anything different just because she is the defense council on this case", said Casey.
"Actually, co-defense coucil with Janine Grossman", said Jack.
"Makes sense. I do know Mary was friends with Ken Jones and his wife for years, and Janine and Savannah are longtime friends. This is going to be an extremely difficult case with those two on the other side", then said Casey.
A short while later, Arthur approved Jack's request that Casey be brought in as a rare "third chair" for this trial given her familiarity from the earlier case involving B.J. Cameron and Carolyn Spencer and knowing how that somewhat was related to this case. In addition, the Judge on this case (Joseph P. Terhune) had Casey as lead prosecutor several times in his courtroom, and Jack felt her being there would help a bit. It later was also decided due to the nature of this trial, that the jury would be sequestered throughout.
(continued in Part Five)