Chapter Ten

Benji

I got home late, but I knew I had to prepare for Carson and Peters tomorrow. I had a hunch it was Carson, especially after the last time she went after Trinity. I knew she’d come at me hard, so I had to be ready.

I spent the last few hours going over the brief I got at the station, watching Maddie sleep next to me. I decided to step outside for a smoke and took some of the files with me.

As I sat outside, smoking and reading, it hit me. Damn! It had been right there the whole time. I bet this is what Stephen noticed too, and why he wanted me to file for a motion to dismiss.

I sat on my patio with my blunt, paperwork, and MacBook, drafting the motion to dismiss. Once I was satisfied, I went inside and saw it was already 2am. I had to be up early, so I climbed into bed, pulled Maddie close, and hoped to get at least four hours of sleep before heading back to the courthouse.

It felt like I had just closed my eyes when the alarm went off.

Maddie mumbled, “Morning, did you even sleep last night?”

“Just a bit, gorgeous. I gotta get up, one of my important clients needs me today.”

“Ok, I'm going to snooze for another hour before I have to get up.”

“No problem, I'll talk to you later.”

I gave her a quick kiss, showered, dressed, and gathered everything I needed. I was out the door by 6:30am and in my office by 7am. I spent an hour printing all the motions and getting everything ready, then called Clint and Trinity to let them know I was heading to the courthouse.

As a strategic move, I had told Trinity to bring the twins today, along with Clint, Mia, and Willie. I was going to push hard for not only the dismissal today but also a case for Police Harassment, implicating Detective Peters.

We arrived at the courthouse and I got them settled into the client briefing room while we waited for Stephen to be transported from the watch house. He arrived shortly after 9am, shackled and handcuffed. Seeing Trinity's horrified face made my blood boil.

“You're serious right now? Protocol is shackles are removed PRIOR to entry of the court unless violent outbursts have already been exhibited. Have they?”

“No, Mr. Ramirez, but we were instructed by Detective Peters to leave them on.”

“I want your names and badge numbers, and get those damn shackles off now.”

The officers quickly removed the handcuffs and shackles and signed Stephen over to my custody. I wrote down their badge numbers and names and noted the time and everyone present when they said Peters had instructed them to keep the shackles on.

I watched Trinity walk over to her husband, the twins practically jumping from her arms to their father.

Stephen greeted his kids, “Hello my little pea pods, I missed you too, but I missed your mommy just a little bit more. Hi, baby.”

He quickly kissed her as he cradled his kids.

“So, I suppose I better fill you in on what I found?”

“No need, I'm already all over it, mate. Picked it up last night when going through the file.”

“Does someone want to explain?”

“You'll see at 9:30am,” I winked at her as we all got ready to head into the courtroom.

“I saw that, stop winking at my wife,” Stephen joked.

We all laughed.

The twins got a bit anxious when their dad handed them back and couldn't understand why they couldn't sit with him, but this is exactly the reaction I wanted. I needed to build the profile to assist. Clint took Livy off Trinity to help her since Mia was nursing William and the three eventually calmed down a bit.

Finally, the DA came in and, as expected, it was Carson.

“If your client wants to plead guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and murder today, I might be open to negotiating a lesser sentence so he could get out one day and see his children again,” Carson proposed.

“I'll tell you what, Carson, if you can actually make any charge stick today, I will humbly step aside and let you have a chance of actually beating me in trial for once.”

I watched her huff and walk off. Shortly after, the bailiff escorted the judge in and everyone rose.

“Court is in session, Please sit. Mr. Stephen Luciano Gotti, you are charged with assault with a deadly weapon and the murder of your former employee Daniel Rodriguez, how would you like to plead?”

“Benji Ramirez for the accused, your honor, and my client wishes to enter a plea of not guilty as well as a motion to dismiss.”

“Again, Mr. Ramirez and Ms. Carson? This is becoming a habit with you two.”

“I am sure he has no grounds for dismissal this time,” Carson interjected.

“Then I see you really aren't too sure at all, are you, Elizabeth? Permission to approach, your honor?”

“Permission Granted.”

I approached, giving her the paperwork and a copy to Elizabeth on the way back. I waited while they both went over the paperwork.

“Oh, come off it, seriously? You are now going to claim Mr. Rodriguez was never in the employment of Mr. Gotti.”

“As you can see from all the documents, dating back the last five years, your honor, a Daniel Rodriguez has never been in the employ of Mr. Gotti. Furthermore, I would put to the court at the time of Mr. Gotti's arrest this was a clear case of Spoliation of Evidence, negligent by withholding, altering, and fabricating evidence. Finally, I would also question Police perjury in the case of one Detective Peters to obtain a warrant by falsification of evidence.”

“You've got to be kidding me,” Carson exclaimed.

“That is quite enough, Ms. Carson. And Mr. Ramirez, that is a pretty big claim, I trust you have sufficient evidence to back up such a claim.”

“Your honor, as you can see from papers tendered, no Daniel Rodriguez has ever worked for Mr. Gotti.”

“Your honor, we all know he worked there as Mike Suarez,” Carson countered.

“Do we? And where exactly is 'there,' Ms. Carson?”

“Illegal activity.”

Benji - So, you’re now suggesting my client is guilty of additional crimes, even though there’s no evidence of that in this report? No charges have been filed either.

Benji - Regarding my client's business, the paperwork submitted doesn’t list a Mike Suarez as an employee of Mr. Gotti. My client is more than willing to provide surveillance footage from his club to confirm this.

Sure, Mr. Rodriguez might have lived at Mr. Gotti's place, but there’s no record of payment or any paperwork suggesting he worked for him. This makes the warrant obtained under false pretenses, as Detective Peters was already aware that Mr. Rodriguez never worked for my client at either of his businesses - Capulet or Montague. The detective himself has visited these places multiple times.

I took a moment to think. This was the point where they had to reveal if they were accusing him of more crimes. If they did, I could bury them. If not, they’d bury their own case. I couldn’t help but smile as I saw Elizabeth scrambling to come up with a response.

DA Carson - But didn’t you argue last time that Mr. Suarez didn’t exist? Now you’re saying he lived with your client? Which is it, Mr. Ramirez?

Benji - And didn’t you argue that Mr. Suarez was an alias for Daniel Rodriguez? My client only knew him by that alias, not his real identity. This brings me to my point about the destruction of evidence. Your detectives knew all this and knew it when they arrested my client last night. They knew he was an undercover agent, but my client didn’t. As far as my client is concerned, Mr. Rodriguez never existed. All this aside, your honor, I believe Mr. Gotti has grounds for a false detention claim against Detective Peters.

Judge Sherer - Ms. Carson? Do you or Detective Peters have any evidence to suggest Mr. Gotti knew Mr. Suarez’s real identity at the time of his murder?

DA Carson - No, your honor.

Benji - Lastly, your honor, where is the body of the alleged murder victim and the forensic report? I’ve yet to see either. Two of my clients, both devoted family members trying to raise their children, have been accused of this terrible crime. Yet, the CPD and DA's office have failed to answer this question.

Judge Sherer - Well, Ms. Carson?

DA Carson - You’d have to ask Detective Peters, your honor.

Judge Sherer - Detective Peters, where is the forensic report and autopsy?

Detective - It hasn’t been conducted yet, your honor.

Judge Sherer - And why not?

I turned to smirk at him as he lowered his voice and hung his head in shame.

Detective - We’re still trying to locate the body of Mr. Rodriguez, your honor.

Judge Sherer - Detective Peters, you know the law clearly states that for a murder charge to be filed, there must be a victim or a body. Since there’s no such evidence, I’m dismissing all charges. If you wish to waste this court’s time again, Detective Peters, you’ll be the one facing perjury charges.

And I warn you, you’re treading dangerously close to falsifying evidence, as Mr. Ramirez has pointed out. Case dismissed, with the court’s apologies, Mr. Gotti.