Wrongful Conviction

by Rachel Sinclair

  Regina leaned back in her chair, and watched Dallas closely. He was fidgeting, his fingers were shaking, and he looked like he wanted a drink very badly. He swallowed hard. "You say that this Christian person can pay me $5000 upfront, and I'll just work it off, like a retainer?”

  "That's what I'm saying. You in?”

  “ I’ll be honest with you, I’m terrified. We are going up against the second-most powerful man in the country, and one of the most powerful studio heads. I hope you know what you are doing.”

  “Oh, I know what I'm doing. Now, what I would like for you to do is withdraw from Jamel's case. Don't worry, we'll still be working on this case, since you're going to be joining Christian. But you need to withdraw as his lead attorney. And then, once you withdraw, the judge will have no choice but to continue the plea agreement court appearance. And that will give me time to put my plan into action."

  Dallas finally made a decision. "Okay. You're right. I have to do the right thing. I do need that money, though. I need for it to be put into my PayPal account, just like you said. I…have an emergency. My mother, she needs emergency surgery. Cancer. The doctors need a down payment, so I need that money today.”

  Regina almost called him out on that bull-shit lie, but thought better of it. "Whatever. You put in your withdraw motion, and you actually do withdraw, and you'll get your money. But not before then."

  Regina left. She had work to do, and she was going to have to do it fast.

  Chapter 21

  The first thing Regina did was talk to some pimps that she knew on the street. She had a feeling that this guy had made the rounds, probably buying hookers, and working them over. She needed to show the picture of Noel around to all the working girls she could possibly talk to, to see how many of them knew him, and how many of them would be willing to speak out against him. She had a feeling that any one woman was not going to be willing to do anything, but there was always safety in numbers, and that meant that she had to gather them together as a group. So, she had to get in touch with some pimps, and see what she could do about showing Noel’s picture around to the working girls under them.

  By the end of two weeks of constantly interviewing one working girl after another, Regina had a group of 20 women who were willing to speak out against Noel, on the condition that all of them spoke with one voice.

  Then, it was a matter of getting together the press, because she was going to call a press conference, and she was going to put this guy on blast, once and for all.

  Regina had some contacts with the Los Angeles press, but that was not enough. She needed national attention. This was too big to keep local. So, she called a local reporter by the name of Harry Higgins, who was hooked in with some national reporters and some of the big-name television shows on cable TV, and asked him if he could pull some strings to get her press conference covered nationally.

  "You're going to be accusing, on TV, the son of the vice president, who also happens to be a powerful studio head himself, of being a serial rapist of hookers. Trust me, if you can provide these women, I'll provide the national exposure,” Harry said.

  "They're going to speak."

  Regina was nervous, because all these women were working girls, hookers, and she knew that they were all going to be ripped apart by the media. She knew that these women did not have credibility, but it would be undeniable what they were saying. They were going to speak with one voice, and Regina hoped that that voice would be powerful.

  Then, one night when she was working in her Los Angeles office, the office that Christian had opened up for her in Santa Monica, she got a phone call.

  "Hello, I heard that you were going to be holding a press conference about Noel Harrison?”a very timid voice said to Regina on the phone.

  “Yes, you heard right. I’m going to hold a press conference three days from now, and these women are going to be my stars. There's 20 of them. How did you find out about it?"

  Regina was trying to keep the whole press conference scenario under wraps, because she did not want to tip off Noel or anybody around him. She was afraid that if he found out about what she was going to do, he would get to every single one of those women, and he would put all of them into danger. Regina had to have the press conference, and then she knew that the women would be safe, because if any one of them turned up dead after they told their story to the media, the first person that everybody would be looking at would be Noel. The second person would be Timothy. But, if either man, or anybody associated with Noel, got wind of what was about to happen, that the press conference was going to go on, nobody would be safe.

  So, it's somewhat disturbed Regina that this woman, whoever she was, had heard about the press conference.

  "I found out about it because I'm a friend of Harry’s. He told me. And he told me not to tell anybody. But, I had to call you, when I found out.”

  "Okay. And you are?”

  "My name is Jacqueline Foster. I was a UCLA student when Noel Harrison raped me.”

  Chapter 22

  Regina could barely contain her excitement. It was one thing to hold a press conference with 20 working girls. It was another to get a, for lack of a better word, more respectable woman to join the chorus. Regina hated to think of the working girls as being less-than a college student, a college graduate by now, but she knew the reality – even if Regina did not look down on the working girls, society did. Society looked down on them, and society was less likely to believe what they said.

  But if she could get somebody who was a UCLA student when she was raped? That would be powerful.

  "Can we meet? I need to talk to you."

  "Yes. I would love to meet. I've been carrying around this burden for all these years, wondering about how much violence I unleashed onto the world, because I did not press charges against him when he did what he did to me. I took a very large settlement to keep quiet. But, my doing that has haunted me all these years. I’ve talked to some attorneys, and I know that the contract that I signed, where I volunteered to not press charges against that man in exchange for $200,000, is void, because it’s against public policy. The consideration I gave in exchange for the money, which was a promise not to press criminal charges, is not valid consideration. So, I think I'm okay on the contract front, but even if I'm not, and I'm forced to pay back that money, so be it. I just can't live with the guilt anymore.”

  “Okay, let's meet. Where would you like to meet?”

  “How about a place called Pomodoro Trattoria? It’s close to where I work, which is UCLA. I’m an associate professor of literature there."

  Even better. Professors get believed, and they get results.

  "What time, I'll be there.”

  "How about 8 PM?"

  “You got it.”

  Chapter 23

  At 8 o'clock, Regina showed up at the restaurant, but she didn't know who she was looking for. Fortunately, Prof. Foster apparently did. She stood up, and waved, when Regina walk in the door. Regina made a beeline for the table where Prof. Foster was sitting.

  "How did you know what I looked like?” Regina asked.

  "Harry told me what you looked like. He said that you are a knockout, but I have to say, that description does not do you justice.”

  "Thanks," Regina said. "You're not so bad yourself." And that was not a lie. Jacqueline was a tall, willowy blonde, with big blue eyes, and a Barbie doll face. She was athletic, with broad shoulders and strong legs that were highlighted by the casual khaki shorts she was wearing. She closely resembled Felicity, and Regina knew that Noel definitely had a physical type. For, even as Felicity and Jacqueline looked very similar, they also looked strikingly like many of the working girls that Regina had managed to round up. The working girls were all ethnicities and ages, but the blonde ones did look like this woman.

  "So, tell me what I need to do. I'll do anything at this point.”

  "I need for you to speak at this press conference. That's what I need. Sunlight is going to be the
only disinfectant in this case. So far, I've only managed to gather together prostitutes. Which is fine, because there's 20 of them, and they're all going to speak. The media is going to dismiss him, just because of what they do. But you, you’re a professor. They're going to listen to you. Even if this guy is the son of the vice-president. They're going to hear what you have to say. And, if you speak, there is a chance that Felicity is going to go ahead and be part of the press conference as well. I’ve talked to her, and she won't do it. She's afraid of Noel, afraid of what he could do to her career, but, if you want to know the truth, I think that mainly she does not want to be speaking in front of the press with a bunch of working girls. But, if you decide to go ahead and get in front of the microphone, Felicity might as well. So, are you game for that? It's in three days. I'm going to have people from every national media source there, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian in Great Britain. They're all going to be there. It's going to be a circus sideshow, but it's important that this happens. This guy has been intimidating people for long enough. He’s been getting away with it for long enough. It’s time that all of that stops.”

  "What if he sues?”

  "For what? Defamation of character? Slander? He won't sue. If he sues, there's going to be a discovery process, and the discovery process will not work in his favor. Trust me on this. He’ll threaten everybody with a lawsuit, but I know for a fact that he's not going to want to go through with it, because once the other attorney does discovery, and depositions are taken, he's not only going to not have a leg to stand on, but he's going to have all of his dirty laundry aired. He's going to want to have this thing buried as soon as possible, but I'm not going to let him. I'm going to use this press conference to put pressure on the prosecutor's office to press charges against him for all of these rapes. He may or may not be convicted, hopefully he will be, but it's going to be great for all of the women that he has wronged to have their day in court. So, don't worry about him suing. You're going to be fine.”

  "But what if he kills us, or has us killed?”

  "That's the beauty of the press conference. He won’t be able to lay a glove on any of you girls, because if he does, or if he has somebody he hires lay a glove on any of you, he's going to be the first person that they look at. And if the prosecutor's office refuses to look at him for anybody's harm in the future, there will be an outcry in the public such as you have never heard. That's the whole purpose of this press conference - this guy has gotten away with it because of who he is, but, once the public knows what he did, there's going to be enormous pressure to actually put this guy behind bars. That's why I say that sunlight on this case is going to be the best disinfectant. The only disinfectant. And you can be a part of this. I would like for you to be a part of this.”

  Jacqueline took a deep breath. "I have a lot to lose. I mean, I've seen what happens when women go against powerful men in public. They start getting death threats. They have to move from their house. Their life is never their own again."

  "I understand that, but the alternative is, this guy continues to get away with it. And it's only a matter time before he starts killing. I know you don't want that on your head. I know you feel bad about the fact that if you would have spoken up when Noel did that to you, Felicity would've never been a victim. Not to mention all the other nameless, faceless women that he made victims since he raped you. He's going to keep on doing it. As long as people enable him, he will keep doing it. So, I know you're afraid. I know you're scared. I know you realize that doing this will turn your life upside down. But, as the song says, I want to see you be brave.”

  Jacqueline nodded her head. “Yes. Yes I will be a part of your press conference."

  Chapter 24

  Christian

  I got off the phone with Regina, who informed me that, in addition to 20 prostitutes who had suffered at the hands of Noel Harrison, she also had a professor by the name of Jacqueline Foster who was willing to speak out as well.

  When I heard that, I jumped for joy. Jamel’s case was still active, and Jamel himself was still in jail, awaiting trial. I managed to put my appearance in, after Dallas withdrew, and the first thing I did was take it off the plea docket. I had a talk with Jamel, and told him that, while it was tempting for him to take an offer, I advised strongly against it. I just could not, in good conscience, advise an innocent kid to take any plea deal, no matter how strong the evidence was against him.

  When I found out that a professor was going to speak out, the first thing I did was call Felicity. I knew, after she had spoken with me, that she was persuadable. Even though she was willing to lie, and testify against Jamel, I still knew that, in her heart, she was on my side. I knew that it was just a matter of maybe giving her a push. I mean, she gave me her private cell phone number. To me, that meant that she was willing to work with me, even if she was afraid.

  She answered the phone. "Hello, Christian, what can I do for you?”

  Christian took a deep breath. What if he told Felicity about the press conference, and she, instead of being open to doing it with the others, actually sabotaged it by telling everybody that it was going to happen? If the principles in this case, including the vice president, and Noel himself, ever got wind that this was going to happen, they could probably stop it. They could probably squash it, and then they would probably be able to silence everybody. It was imperative that they not know about the press conference ahead of time. So, Christian was going to have to take a gamble that Felicity was not going to speak to the vice president and the others about what was about to happen.

  Here goes nothing.

  "I wanted to call you because I wanted to invite you to be a part of a press conference taking place on Thursday. Three days from now. It's a press conference that’s going to be held by all the women that Noel Harrison beat and raped. It's going to be mainly prostitutes, but there is going to be one professor who's going to speak out as well. I wanted to give you the chance to do the right thing, once and for all, and tell the world your story. Tell the world your story, and, while you're at it, you'll be making sure that my client, an innocent man by the name of Jamel, goes free, once and for all. Obviously, taking part in this press conference is going to be your choice. But I wanted to give you the opportunity to make that choice."

  I could hear Felicity breathing on the other end. "Is this press conference going to go forward, with or without my participation?”

  "Yes. It is.”

  "In other words, after Thursday, the media's going to go ape shit on the story. And everybody's going to know what kind of a monster Noel Harrison is? And the public is going to pressure prosecutors to bring charges against him? And there's probably going to be congressional hearings about this, because, after all, this guy is the son of the vice president? Is that what you're telling me?”

  "Yes. That's exactly what I'm telling you. No matter what, the press conference is going to go. So you can either be a part of it, or not. I would like for you to be a part of it, and I would like for you to, after you take part in this, go to the prosecutor and ask them to dismiss the case against Jamel Jackson, with prejudice. That means that they cannot ever bring it up against him again. That's what I would like for you to do.”

  Felicity got quiet, so quiet that I could hear her breathing. “I want to do that, believe me, I do. I just don’t know what it’s going to do to my career. I mean, you don’t know how powerful that guy is in this town. He’s going to blackball me. I won’t be able to get another job in Hollywood, ever. He has the power to bury me, and he will. He will.”

  Hmm. She used to be afraid for her life. Obviously, if she took part in the press conference, she wouldn’t have to fear for her life anymore. If anything happened to her, if she was murdered, vice president Harrison and Noel Harrison would be the first people implicated. The public would make sure that these two men paid for doing anything to Felicity after she spoke out.

&nbs
p; So, her life wouldn’t be in danger if she took part in the press conference, but her career would be. How shallow could she be to let something like that deter her from doing the right thing?

  I had to take some deep breaths to keep me from jumping through the phone and strangling her. “Felicity,” I began, “there are lives at stake here. We don’t know when this guy is going to escalate into murder. Maybe he already has. At any rate, he’s a serial rapist. He’s been a serial rapist, apparently for years. We have the chance to make sure that he’s behind bars, but that chance relies on the public getting enough up in arms that the prosecutor’s office in LA has to charge that bastard. The only way for the public to get riled up is if they know about what happened. You can not only add your voice to this chorus, but you can be the most powerful speaker there. You have the most to lose in speaking out, which means that you will have the most credibility out of anyone there. If you’re not there, the press conference will go on, but it certainly will be much less effective. If you are there, it’s a guarantee that this matter will get the attention that it deserves, both from the media and from the public. Please, think about it.”

  “I will. I will. Listen, I have to get off the phone. I’m in the middle of shooting a scene, and they’re calling me to go onto the set to shoot it. The press conference is at what time on Thursday?”

  “3 PM. It will be on the steps of the Los Angeles Courthouse. I hope to see you there.”

  “I hope so, too. I really do. I just don’t know if I have the courage to go through with it.”

  “Well, at least you are no longer testifying against Jamel. At least you are no longer going to lie to the court about him. I guess that that’s the least I can ask of you.”