Don't Cry Over Spilt Wine (eBook)

Chapter 2

One Month Before Joe’s Injury 1995

“What? How could this be? I don’t understand. NO! NO! NO!” Lil exclaimed to her friend, Federal Judge Owen Stone. She put her palms on her forehead and pushed her long brown hair down the sides of her head with her hands. Judge Stone had just told Lil that some federal inmates would be filing appeals, and some of those inmates would be prisoners that Lil had written presentences on for the court.

Lil was sitting in a chair across from the judge’s wooden desk in his chambers. “Why?! How?!” Those were the only words she could think of saying. Presentence reports are completed by the probation officers to assist the Federal Judges with sentencing federal defendants. Officers spend months investigating an offender’s background, prior record, and anything pertinent to that specific offender and then provide the report to the assigned judge prior to sentencing.

Judge Stone had an infectious smile and a laugh as big as he was, at six foot three, but he was not smiling or laughing now. He rarely smiled when he was on the bench in federal court. The job of a Federal Judge was never a happy one. He used to tell Lil that the most depressing part of a judge’s job was the sentencing phase. Sending someone away to prison, away from their family. That was sad for Lil to hear because that was HER job. But Judge Stone was a friend, and she knew he would give her that smile again sometime.

He leaned back in his big black leather chair, as he usually did when he was deep in thought. She once heard through the legal grapevine that legal professionals from all around the country thought of Judge Stone as a “legal giant.” She could understand that. Then he rocked forward and rested his elbows on the desk and leaned toward her. His body language indicated he was serious, and he wanted her to pay attention to what he was saying. “I understand how you feel about what happened with AUSA Harris,” Judge Stone stated, referring to Assistant United States Attorney Harris. He was speaking of someone Lil thought was a professional, a colleague, an assistant district attorney in this district but Lil learned Harris was actually the daughter of a murderer.

“Harris did irreparable harm to you and Joe. That attempt to kill you at your vacation home at Cherry Grove Beach, SC and again trying to break into your home just to steal those documents you inherited from your dad’s estate was despicable and inexcusable. I know it took a toll on you and Joe, but you both are survivors and luckily, we discovered her identity as Doctor Lewis’s daughter before she could do more damage to you or the entire federal court system. That is saying a lot, Lil. Now, you must put that behind you.” He paused for a moment to let that sink in. “We have our work cut out for us and I promise to keep you informed of what we are up against.”

This brought back so many bad memories of previous years. She had thought this was all behind her. Harris did a superb job of hiding her identity as Doc Lewis’s daughter from Lil all those months. She changed her name from Lewis to Harris after she married, transferred to Lil’s district, and worked in the same federal building as Lil. Premeditated witch!

All this to keep her father’s secret from being uncovered. She stalked and plotted to steal the files that Lil’s dad left her from his office after he died. If she had ever gotten them or destroyed them, she could continue her father’s legacy to cover up the acts of her murderous father.

All along Harris knew exactly who killed those two girls at the park in Warsaw in the 1944. It was HER father, and she suspected that the documents that Lil got from her dad’s estate would reveal that truth. In the end, Harris acknowledged that she vowed to her father, after hearing his deathbed confession, to continue to hide his secret. So totally sick.

Lil was keenly aware that her own family had their secrets, but nothing as bad as murder. Harris was clearly intent on holding on to her father’s secret of murdering those two poor girls in the park, even to the point of attempting to commit a murder herself. Lil thought that whole mess was sick and revolting. How could someone who provided such a vital role in that small town as a surgeon do such a horrendous thing? He helped to pin a murder on an innocent man and walk away. But Lil’s grandfather did little to help the poor guy at trial. Secrets. Small town secrets. They usually come out at some point. Lil only hoped that the guilt of the Lewis family secret ate away at Harris the whole time she was locked up. But who was she kidding? Harris was just as vile as her family, especially after tormenting Lil and Joe. Now, it appears the consequence of all of that has reared its ugly head again right in front of her face.

Despite the news she was receiving from Judge Stone, Lil knew that he was extremely helpful to her and Joe when she was petrified believing that her family was somehow connected to that double murder and homicide (until she got close to discovering it and revealing). She recalled that the double murder was the talk of the town in her hometown of Warsaw in the 1940’s. Lil was convinced (and scared), after going through all the historical papers, that her family was either responsible or assisted in covering up the murders. It turned out that her grandparents and parents were cleared of any criminal involvement, but that still left the actual murderer who went unaccountable for his crimes, in this world anyway. She just wondered how someone could hold onto a secret for years without it eating at them. Lil would not be capable of that.

Lil was pulled back from her thoughts when Judge Stone spoke, “I am so sorry to deliver this news to you. I thought you should hear it from me first.” Judge Stone said. He looked across the big wooden desk at Lil and continued, “after Harris was arrested all her cases and convictions in this district of Federal Court are going to be reexamined, which may include Thomas Jenkins. The Clerk’s Office has received notices from defense attorneys that several federal inmates intend to seek appeals from any convictions that Harris was connected. The prison grapevine is buzzing with the news of her arrest and that she was arrested. There is a quote I have used from time to time from an old American humorist who, in my humble opinion, was a philosopher. He said, ‘rumors are like bees; the more you fight them, the more you don’t get rid of them.’ Consequently, I suspect other inmates will soon be requesting appeals of their sentence just based on this technicality.” Lil could not believe what she was hearing. To Lil it was not a technicality at all. It was a disaster!

“On what grounds, Your Honor?” Lil asked respectfully, but firmly. Lil knew the law and federal statutes from her work in the probation office. Not much got by her. She sat through too many trials and researched too many cases. “Ineffective assistance of counsel? Prosecutorial misconduct? AUSA malfeasance? Those grounds would not be enough to grant an appeal. What would qualify?” Lil’s head was spinning, and she could not think. She did know for certain that it was more likely for an inmate to appeal after a jury trial with a verdict handed down by the jury. This was just a straight up guilty plea and Jenkins had to sign documents stating he agreed with the charges and the plea. Those were impenetrable. Were they not? If an inmate went to trial, the appeal could be based on some of the proceedings and the law that was applied by the court. Judge Stone was as solid as they come when it came to following the appropriate case law and federal court procedure. He rarely had cases returned to him by the circuit court. She could count on one hand the number of appeals rescinded back by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to her judges in this district (she liked to refer to them as her judges). She took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. It was going to be alright. She kept that mantra going in her head.

Judge Stone put his arms on his desk, clasped his fingers and leaned further in her direction, “I am so sorry, but many of Harris’ convictions in this district are now in question since her arrest. Luckily, she was not in this district long enough to do too much damage as a prosecutor, but the damage is, in fact, quite real. Most of the cases she prosecuted were your cases, Lil. You wrote the presentences on these defendants, and they were sentenced by me and a few of the other judges in this district.”

Names and faces were suddenly going through Lil’s head. Aside from Jenkins, what presentences had she written that belonged to Harris? How many? Think, Lil, think! Since Lil was a Senior Probation Officer, she was assigned the most challenging cases; like the ones with terrible criminal histories, complicated drug conspiracies, or tricky calculations like that pesky odometer fraud case. Holy cow! What a mess this was going to be. Lil had to resist the urge to jump out of the chair, run out of the judge’s chambers and get back to her office. She kept meticulous records and files and she felt certain she could narrow it down in short order and get them on one piece of paper. But she was not given that instruction, nor was she even asked to assist. Calm down, Lil, she said over and over in her head. Take a deep breath. Lil’s face went white, and she felt as if her heart stopped beating.

Lil’s mind went back into time like a sudden flashback. Could Judge Stone be suggesting that ALL of Harris’ cases would appeal and could be released? What IF Thomas...