Title: JACKed Up! (Part 6 of 6)
Author: Walt

Rating: T

Disclaimers: See Part 1

There were concerns early the next morning when on his radio show B.J. went off on what had happened the day before after court ended, however, those were short-lived as he was simply stating he was not responsible for what happened to Shannon King nor anyone else other than his being stabbed. With that concern lifted, the trial resumed on time with Alexandra walking around without any serious sign of the injury from the day before, sitting with Jack and Casey.

The first witness called by the defense was Tom Robinson, who basically re-interates what Rick Johnston said the day before as would the rest of the air personalities who were on (place call letters here)-FM. They were followed by Joanne Miller, who then noted what she had previously said to Alexandra and also confirmed what the air personalities did, also noting how she stayed with Savannah the two nights after Ken had died and saw first-hand how hard Savannah had been taking her father's death. Elizabeth Olivet then followed, and she also basically repeated what she had told Jack about Savannah's state of mind when she interviewed her.

Finally, Savannah took the stand herself with Mary handling the questioning, first basically repeating what she had previously told Elizabeth about how mind numbing a week it had been before going into greater detail, saying, "Everyone who were friends of mine and my parents tried to help me get through a horrific time, but I just hurt so much. I did somehow manage to keep it together for a time, but in my mind at that point, there were people that needed to know they were responsible for what happened to my father."

"And they were?", asked Mary.

"First, Shannon King. As soon as she pulled her little act last year, I warned my parents that it could eventually cause problems for (place call letters here)-FM due to the fact the company that owns the station also owns the station B.J. does his show from.", said Savannah.

"And that was because?", asked Mary.

"The 'moralists' who came out of the woodwork after Ms. King's act. They went hard after B.J. as I told my parents they would, and the company was hit with massive fines for incidents that in some cases occured 10 years ago. One of those 'moralists' was Carolyn Spencer, who was more concerned of her own fame than real family values as was proven last fall. She and others caused B.J. to agree to move to sattellite once his current contract expires, which in turn caused the rest of the events that led to (place call letters here)-FM being flipped in the way it was, something B.J. was also responsible for since he made it clear he blocked the flip on his station", then said Savannah, who sniffed a few tears towards the end.

"And B.J.'s statement he blocked it on his station is what killed your father?", asked Mary.

"That is exactly what happened. We were walking along just outside where my father lives, and some radio near a construction site was blaring B.J.'s show. We heard the entire rant that was played as an exhibit earlier, and when my father heard B.J., he got very angry, which you could see in his face. I told him he needed to calm down, but he couldn't help himself, and then he had the coronary that killed him instantly!", then said Savannah was more tears running down her face as she said it, and the questioning briefly halted so Savannah could wipe the tears off her face.

Once Savannah was ready, Mary asked, "So your father died within minutes of hearing B.J. Cameron's remarks?".

"Yes. My father died right after hearing those remarks!", then said Savannah, again having tears come down her face and questioning briefly halted again, with in the meantime Mary introducing into evidence the official cause of Ken Jones' death being a heart attack.

Mary then asked once Savannah was ready "Was there anything before this that suspected your father could have died as quickly as he did after the firing?"

"The fact my father had a heart attack on the air 12 years ago. It fortunately was a very mild one and he recovered quickly from it, but his doctor warned him, and especially after my mother died that any stress like what happened after he was fired would likely kill him. As soon as I heard what happened, I was immediately very worried it would kill him, and the morning he died, I didn't want him going outside out of concern that he might hear something wrong, which of course turned out to be the case", then said Savannah, again wiping tears at that point but able to continue.

"And when did you think you had to go after everyone else?", asked Mary.

"Starting around when at the funeral home they put my father's body in the casket and everything was being arranged that Wednesday night, after I found out there was no legal way B.J. Cameron nor anyone else could be charged criminally or held liable otherwise. I knew Ms. King would often run through Riverside Park because it wasn't far from where she lived, and B.J. lived not too far from me and others I know. They in my opinion were the main culprits in what happened, and especially B.J. since he basically forced my father and everyone else out of (place call letters here)-FM by his blocking the flip to the 'Craig' format on his station. I felt at that point I had no choice but to make them realize they were at least partially responsible for the flip on (place call letters here)-FM and in turn, the death of my father", then said Savannah.

"And why did you look like Carolyn Spencer?", then asked Mary.

"Her 'morality' act that in reality is just a way for her to be in the spotlight heavily contributed to B.J. leaving for satellite after next year in the first place! That led to everything else, and perhaps she would put the dots together while she was behind bars. I could not have known two fans of B.J. would kill her not even 18 hours after she was arrested. This was all about the fact that my father was effectively murdered by these people and Quinn Robbins, who didn't have the balls to leave the company when the flip happened immediately!", then said Savannah, with tears again flowing from her eyes.

"Why should've he have to! He was just following orders!", yelled Quinn's widow Willow from the gallery as she stood up before sitting back down, very emotional herself.

"Order!" then yelled Judge Terhune, waring Willow that she would be ordered to be removed if there was another outburst from her, with the same warning going to everyone else.

Once order was restored, Savannah then continued with her response by saying with tears coming out of her eyes throughout and her voice becoming increasingly raised while doing so, "These people have no understanding of what made stations like (place call letters here)-FM what they were. They were so concerned about their own greed that they forgot that many people were hurt by what happened here, and the people killed were responsible for hurting them as well as killing my father!"

With that, Mary was finished, with Jack countering on cross. He would start that by saying, "I'm sorry you lost your father like you did Ms. Jones, however, that doesn't give you or anyone else the right to then kill two people, attempt to kill a third and cause the death of a fourth."

"You have no idea what my state of mind was then and still is now! I lost both my parents within five months of each other, and my father because of one of the coldest firings I have ever seen in my life! To have B.J. Cameron then gleefully boast he caused your father to be fired after 37 years on the same job, have my father hear it like he did and then die essentially immeduately after that along with the fact that B.J. and others basically stabbed my father in the back, what would you do!", then said Savannah in a voice that became increasingly raised as she said it, sobbing uncontrollably when she finished.

Jack then eased up on Savannah and let her step down.

In closing arguments that followed, Mary would again remind the jury everything that happened that led to the death of Ken Jones and in turn caused Savannah to snap, adding, "If I had lost my father the way our client lost her's, I don't know if I would have been able to hold it together either."

Jack then countered by reminding the jurors that while Savannah had gone through hell with everything that happened, she still was responsible for the deaths of Carolyn Spencer, Shannon King and Quinn Robbins and the attempted murder of B.J. Cameron, adding, "As much as I would love to put Mr. Cameron on trial for causing the death Ms. Jones' father, he was in no way responsible for the fact Ken Jones died when he did even though had he not blocked the flip at his station, we almost certainly would never have been here in the first place."

At that point, before going into deliberations the jurors were reminded by Judge Terhune that Savannah Jones was on trial for the murders of Shannon King and Quinn Robbins, criminally negligent homicide in the death of Carolyn Spencer and the attempted murder of B.J. Cameron, and that B.J. Cameron was NOT on trial. It didn't seem to matter, however, as Savannah was found not guilty on all counts in less than five hours, though the verdict would not be announced until the morning after it was reached given it was extremely late in the day when it was.

Savannah's head fell to the desk in tears of joy at hearing the verdict. Once composed and finishing hugging Mary and Janine, they walked out, with on the way while Savannah was getting hugs from all of the former air personalities of (place call letters here)-FM and their families as well as her own relatives, Mary stopping at the prosecutor's table, saying to Jack, "Did you really think, especially after Savannah cried as much as she did on the stand that the jury was going to find her guilty? They clearly felt that Savannah was suffering from the traumatic effect of her father's death and the way it happened."

"All I know is my job was to try the case at hand", Jack replied.

"Of course", then said Mary.

A short while later back in the DA's Office, Jack and Casey are with Arthur in his office.

"You all did your jobs. I knew this was going to be an extremely difficult case, but we had to go through with it", said Arthur.

"I know we did. We just couldn't overcome Ms. Jones becoming as emotional as she did on the stand", said Jack.

"That was obvious", said Arthur.

"I know I never saw anything like it. It didn't help matters that B.J. was still acting like it was his right to block the format flip of his station", said Casey.

"But you know he did", said Jack.

"You know how I meant that", then said Casey.

"Of course. B.J. should have realized what was going to happen. I said it myself, I wish I could prosecute him for killing Ken Jones, which he effectively did. At least Savannah also admitted to the press outside the courthouse she needs help and right after the verdict headed straight for a facility to help her deal with everything that happened in her life", then said Jack.

"Probably the safest place for her right now, given everything that happened", then said Casey as Alexandra knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Well, the first part of the fallout of this has come in. Willow Robbins has filed a lawsuit against one of the brokerage firms that are home to the hedge funds whose managers effectively forced the flip of (place call letters here)-FM. Apparently, her attorneys can prove that the actions by the hedge fund managers were not entirely because of investor concerns."

"And how could that be?", asked Arthur.

"Who knows?", then said Alexandra, who then says she needs to take the rest of the day to clear her head after the trial, with Jack and Arthur both saying that was a good idea.

The final scene takes place on a seasonable, mid-September Friday night that was the day the verdict was announced, with Alexandra sitting in nearly the same spot Savannah was when she was arrested (in Carl Schultz Park on a bench in an area under a bridge) when Janine comes walking by.

"What are you doing here Lexi?", asked Janine.

"Lets see. After the verdict and going over everything back at the office, I took the rest of the day as I was wiped out and went home, actually falling asleep for a couple of hours. Then I'm all restless, and for the last few hours, I was simply going around where the incidents happened, trying for myself to figure out what would drive someone to that level", then said Alexandra.

"You mean after Savannah lost her father?", asked Janine.

"Yes. I'm not nearly as close to my parents as Savannah was, and in fact, I haven't spoken to my parents since I graduated law school", said Alexandra.

"How is that?", asked Janine.

"My parents are not the kind of people I want to be around. They are very nutty in some ways, and I wound up working through college and law school to support myself and just to get away from them, very fortunate to have a room mate in college who helped me a lot as well", then said Alexandra.

"Oh, of course, you and Susie Chambliss have been best friends since she started law school", said Janine as Alexandra got up and both began walking up the steep set of steps.

"Yes, and you forgot she hates being called Susie. She's now second-in-command in the Homicide bureau behind Tracy Kibre, and I suspect she'll be bureau chief somewhere in the DA's Office in the not-too-distant-future. She helped me so much", then said Alexandra.

"I can imagine. Anyway, what brought you here?", asked Janine.

"I realized I was born in the same hospital as Savannah, though six years after she was", said Alexandra.

"The one that was torn down earlier this year?", asked Janine.

"Yes. I guess I just needed to do this to clear my head after everything that happened", said Alexandra as she gets up and both walk out of the park at the entrance at Gracie Mansion on 88th street and East End Avenue.

THE END