Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 11:11:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Orrin Rush <orrinrush@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Lifeguard 45
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are
offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go
somewhere else.
Copyright c 2001 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.
Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed
electronically or in any other manner without the express,
written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters
to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not
intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.
--------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIFEGUARD
Chapter 45
Even though we wanted to be there for the trial, Dr. Naimann
advised us to stay away. There was still a bench warrant
outstanding for us that the crusty old judge had issued. No
point in taking any chances, he'd advised. If we were
recognized and arrested, there would be a media frenzy.
Instead, we sent Jack, our own legal eagle, with instructions
to call us with a play-by-play at every opportunity.
The trial was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM eastern time,
6:00 our time, so we went in to the office early.
Jack's first call came an hour after the trial was scheduled
to begin. "It's a fucking circus," he said, laughing.
"First off, the judge had to deal with the media. They
wanted to put cameras in the courtroom, the judge didn't want
them, and the defense wanted them to stay. Naimann stayed
out of it.
"They've got all the big guns here, even the state's attorney
general himself. The defense table is a mob scene.
"Anyway, the attorney general argued with the judge over the
media, acting like a pompous ass and pissing off the Judge.
"The judge got his way, not surprisingly. The cameras got
tossed, but the reporters got to stay.
"That settled, the AG made a motion for dismissal of the case
on 'frivolous' grounds. The judge denied that, and I thought
that things might actually get underway. Wrong. The
county's attorney who screwed up their case in the first
place, commented loud enough for everybody in the courtroom
to hear that 'this is a goddam joke'.
"The judge wasn't happy, to put it mildly, and gave him an
ass chewing that makes me wince even to think about it.
We're on recess while everybody calms down. Naimann, by the
way, hasn't said anything yet. He's letting them bury
themselves."
"Damn, I wish we could be there," I said. "What's next?"
"Opening arguments," Jack said. "That'll no doubt be
interesting too. Since we all agreed to the case being heard
by just the judge, we don't have to go through jury
selection."
"Keep us informed," I requested.
Jack's next report came a couple of hours later. "We're on
the noon recess," he told us. "Things are moving along, but
at a snail's pace.
"Naimann's opening took less than ten minutes. He said that
he'd prove that the statute that the county enacted was
arbitrary and capricious, for the sole purpose of taking
advantage of whoever Micron's successors would be, and from
the start they looked at it as an opportunity to collect
outrageous penalties from you.
"Then he promised to prove that the county had enforced the
law only one time, maliciously and in a discriminatory
manner.
"His final comment was that he'd prove that the judge had
abused his authority in ordering Annie arrested and jailed
with total disregard of the fact that no law existed to give
him or anyone else the power to do so. What he did was a
wanton act of malice with the intent to cause harm and
deprive Annie of her freedom."
"Think he can do it?" Eric asked.
"I've helped with the preparation of this case," Jack
answered. "I KNOW we can prove everything."
"In their opening statement, the state took an entirely
different approach. Their 'show' was put on by a lawyer from
the AG's office. They claim that the county had every right
to pass the law, and that they are immune from our claims for
damages. The judge really smiled at that one!
"The state went on to say that you 'out-of-state big shots'
were attempting to take advantage of a poor little county who
had merely asserted its rights. They tried to make you the
villain, that you're attempting to gouge a bunch of innocent,
naive people.
"I'm giving you a summary of what they said, it took them
over an hour and a half to say it. They haven't got a
defense, they blew that opportunity, and now they're grasping
at straws.
"Naimann's going to start presenting his case as soon as we
go back. I'm really anxious to see him in action."
Jack promised to call again when they adjourned for the day.
"I'd almost be willing to take a chance..." Eric said. "This
is too good to miss."
"It's not worth the risk," I told him. "Unless..."
It turned into one of those days where nothing whatsoever got
accomplished. All our attention was focused on what was
going on in New Hampshire. Other matters would just have to
wait. While we were sitting around, I got up and went out to
talk to Nancy.
When Jack called again, he sounded exasperated. "This isn't
going to be over as fast as I thought," he said. "Naimann's
trying to present his case, but the assholes on the other
side are making a mockery of the whole thing.
"Everytime Naimann opens his mouth, they object, and when a
witness attempts to answer a question, they object. It's
confusing everybody to the point where nothing's getting
accomplished, and really, no evidence has been presented
yet. I can see the judge's point. He wants a fair trial,
knowing full well that whatever the outcome, it's going to be
appealed and he doesn't want his decision to be overturned on
technicalities.
"But, the way things are going, the judge is losing control
over the situation, and I can tell he's not happy about that,
at all! He's in chambers right now with Naimann and the
attorney general. I'm sure he's giving somebody hell, and I
don't think it's Naimann."
"What do you think he'll do?" I asked.
"There's such a mob of attorneys representing the state and
county, and it looks like they aren't organized at all. Half
of them jump up to object to everything, and nobody seems to
be in charge. My guess is that the judge will order them to
appoint a couple of them as 'Lead Counsel' to try the case,
the rest to remain silent, if he even allows them to stay at
the counsel's table. He could also set up a 'blanket'
objection procedure where they could object to the witness
and the witness's testimony, then the judge would decide,
after the witness was heard, whether the evidence would stay
or be thrown out in its entirety. Something like that is
going to have to happen or this thing will take six months."
"How's Naimann doing?" Eric asked.
"He's keeping his cool," Jack answered. "He's got a case and
knows it. The state doesn't and they know that too, but their
disruptive tactics are only going to work for a short time.
The judge is a tough old bird, and he's not going to let this
circus continue. Tomorrow will be different, I almost
guarantee it. Naimann's going to call me later, and I'll let
you know what the judge decided."
"Is the courtroom full?" I asked Jack.
"Overflowing," he said. "The judge's office will be passing
out spectator passes in a little while. Why do you ask?"
"Can you get a few extra passes?" I asked.
"Oh shit, you guys aren't going to try to come here are you?"
"We might," I said, glancing at Eric who was grinning from
ear to ear. "We're not getting anything done here, and this
is just too good to miss."
"You're crazy," he said, chuckling, "but I always knew that!
If they catch you, we can't help you out. Are you ready to
spend ten days in the pokey?"
"Personally, I don't think they'd dare, even if they did
catch us. They're already in enough hot water. Let us know
if you can get passes, and we'll give you all the details
later. Oh yes, how are the spectators dressed?"
"Mostly casual, pretty drab, but a few suits," Jack said.
"Tomorrow might be different, though. The AG will try to
'pack the house', so I'd say there'll be more suits."
Eric was grinning when we hung up. He came over and put his
arms around me. "I'm willing to take the chance if you are,"
he said. "What devious plan have you come up with?"
"It's being arranged," I told him. "Nancy and Ron have been
working on it for several hours. Let's go see what they've
come up with."
Nancy loved working on things like this, and was one of the
most resourceful people I knew. "Are you going to go?" she
asked, her eyes twinkling.
"Why not?" I answered. "The worst that could happen is that
we'd spend a few days in jail, but I don't think anybody'll
be looking for us."
"Here's what I have," she said. "I have a makeup artist
ready to go, and Ron has the new plane all ready to go.
You'll fly to Lawrence, Massachusetts, which is about 30
miles from where the trial is going on. Ron has two cars
waiting there, and we have hotel reservations in Lawrence,
nothing flashy, the Holiday Inn, I think. Ron and Jason want
to drive you, separately, and be there if you need to leave
in a hurry. That's about it."
"Ask the makeup artist to meet us at the airport in an hour,
and to bring everything necessary, including hair stuff.
We'll run home and get clothes, then meet them all there."
"I'll take care of everything," she said. "Have fun, and
stay out of trouble if you can."
We put the private phone line in my office on call forwarding
to Eric's cell phone so we'd be able to stay in touch with
Jack then headed home to pack.
"I was hoping you'd cave in," Eric laughed on the way.
"This is too good to miss. It's risky, sure, but we'll try
to blend into the crowd."
We packed far more than we'd probably need, taking casual
clothes as well as several of our oldest suits. Nothing
flashy, the idea was to be as unobtrusive as possible.
The makeup artist, Laura, was a lady that I'd guess to be in
her forties, toting several suitcases. She was pleasant and
seemed to have a good sense of humor.
We waited until we were at cruising altitude before telling
her what we wanted her to do for us, make us look as
"average" and unrecognizable as possible, but not to look
"made up".
"You're not going to require much," she said to me. "I've
seen your old picture in the paper. You look a lot different
now, and with a few touches, I can make you look even more
different."
"I want to look natural," I told her.
"We can do that," she said. "Now Eric's another matter.
I've seen his pictures too. The blond hair stands out, but
we can fix that with a temporary color job. That alone will
change his appearance considerably. Maybe trim his hair a
little and style it differently. I'm pretty sure I can make
you both look good, but different."
"At least we're not going to try drag," Eric laughed.
"You'd never make it, honey," she laughed. "You're just too
much 'man' to pull it off."
Ron came back from the cockpit to fill us in on logistical
details. We'd be getting in around midnight. He and Jason
would pick up rentals at the terminal just like anybody else,
then come get us at the plane. Our hotel reservations were
in their names, three rooms. In the morning, after our
makeup sessions, they would drive us, separately, to the
Federal Courthouse. We'd work out the timing after Jack
called.
If Jack had been able to get four passes, they would be in
the courtroom with us, but none of us would sit together.
The bar was stocked, and dinner for everybody was in the
galley.
Eric played bartender and we settled down with Laura to talk.
"Is this about the trial?" she asked. "I've been following
it on TV."
"Yes," Eric laughed. "There's a warrant out for our arrest
in New Hampshire, that's why we want to go incognito."
"You mean I'm aiding and abetting..." she laughed.
"We're publicity shy, too," I added, "but we don't want to
miss the circus that's going on. We feel it's worth the
risk."
"I'll make sure you're not recognizable," she said. "I'd
love to be in that courtroom, myself. I could create a
diversion if anybody did spot you guys."
She was really getting into this whole adventure. "We'll see
how many passes we can get. One of our lawyers is working on
it."
"Where are you? You sound different," Jack asked when he
called.
"We're over Colorado, I think," I told him.
"You're going to do it?" he asked incredulously.
"We're on our way," I told him, then filled him in on the
details. He had four passes, so we were set.
"I've already told Naimann that you might be coming," Jack
said. "He thinks you're both nuts, but isn't surprised. He
won't show any recognition when he sees you, and neither will
Jim, who's going to be a witness. We'll get together
tomorrow night, but in Massachusetts." He'd also try to get
an extra pass for the following day.
He suggested that we arrive at the courthouse about twenty
minutes before court convened. He'd give the passes to Ron
or Jason and they could slip them to us.
We arrived in Lawrence a little earlier than expected, and as
soon as we reached the motel, Laura wanted to go to work on
Eric's hair.
She had us come into her room to do it. I sat and watched as
she bent him over the sink to first shampoo him then put on
the coloring. It looked awfully dark to me at first, but
Laura assured me that it would dry much lighter.
"Damn," I said in mock horror, "and here I thought I married
a blonde!"
Laura laughed louder than Eric, who seemed unsure of the
whole thing. "I thought you two were a 'couple', but I
wasn't sure."
After she blow-dried him, she worked on the styling. "I'll
use some gel in the morning," she said. "I'm going for the
conservative rather than the tousled look."
He looked great, but he didn't look like Eric.
"It's like sleeping with a stranger," I kidded him as we
crawled into bed.
"This feel familiar?" he chuckled as he humped my leg with
his hard dick.
"Ooooooh yes!" I told him, and went to work on it.
- - - - -
We dressed carefully. All bland colors, nothing that would
draw attention. Laura styled Eric's hair, then worked on
mine. My temples were "grayed" and she put gray streaks
through the rest. It looked natural, but it made me look at
least 10 years older.
We all had breakfast together in the coffee shop. Ron gave
Laura some expense money, and we were off. I rode with him,
and Eric went with Jason.
We got our passes and tried to lose ourselves in the crowd
waiting to go in. When they opened the doors, we scattered.
It was a good sized courtroom with room for over a hundred
spectators, and I didn't think any of us stood out.
Dr. Naimann was at one of the counsel tables with two
assistants. There were eight men sitting at the opposing
side's table, still a mob scene. I recognized the judge
who'd sent Annie to the pokey among them.
When the judge came in, he announced that the state and
county had appointed the attorney general and the county's
attorney as lead counsel.
Naimann recalled his witness, an Anna Font.
One of the guys from the other side objected. The judge said
that the objection was noted and would be ruled upon after
the witness completed her testimony, just like Jack had
predicted.
Dr. Naimann established that Ms. Font had been present in the
county council chambers when the statute in question had
first been proposed.
"Who proposed this?" he asked her.
"Kathy McGuire," she answered, "but it wasn't like a
proposal, it was more informal. She just brought up the
subject, saying that Micron had sold out and that the new
owners planned to move the plant to California, and that if
they played their cards right, the county could make a
killing."
"What were her exact words, if you remember?"
"I know she said that they could 'stick it to' the new owners
legally," she said.
"Did she say that they could 'make a killing" in those exact
words?"
"Yes. Then she outlined how they could do it."
"How was that?"
"She said that they could pass a law that called for some
kind of 'moving' fee, and since the new owners probably
wouldn't find out about it, they could tack on a big penalty
too."
"Did any of the other council members object to this idea?"
"No, they all wanted to know more."
"What happened next?" Naimann asked.
"It was a kind of informal discussion, and they came up with
a five percent fee and a ten percent penalty, then they took
a vote."
"Did the vote pass?"
"Every one of them voted for it."
"Was there ever any mention of enforcing this law against
anybody else who moved equipment around?"
"That never came up."
"That's all I have," Naimann told the Judge.
"Mr. Attorney General?" the judge asked.
"Yes, I have a few questions," the attorney general answered.
Where Naimann had been friendly and conversational with the
witness, the AG was condescending. He attacked her
credibility, her memory, and anything else he could think
of but good old Anna wouldn't budge, throwing in a few
comments that didn't help their case at all.
When he finally gave up, the judge dismissed her and
announced that the AG's earlier objection was overruled and
the testimony would stand. The look on the AG's face was
total disbelief.
Naimann put on another witness, a farmer looking type, who
corroborated Anna's testimony almost word for word.
The attorney general had objected when the witness was
called, but didn't ask any questions on cross examination.
The judge again overruled his earlier objection.
Naimann called witnesses to subsequent meetings of the County
Council when the statute had been officially adopted, heard,
advertised, and finally passed into law. The theme that was
dominant in this testimony was the greed of the council.
They saw an opportunity to fill their coffers and were
hellbent to take advantage of the situation. At no time was
there any mention of enforcing the law against anybody else,
in fact it had been stated repeatedly that the new owners
were the only target.
Jim, our attorney, was the last to testify that day. He told
the court that on occasion, he was called on by the council
for help in legal matters. He hadn't been called on
officially in this matter, but had volunteered an opinion to
them anyway.
He detailed how he had warned them that what they were doing
was illegal under existing federal and state laws, and that
they were asking for trouble. Their response to his warning
was that they were immune from prosecution, and that they
just might get away with it.
On cross examination, the attorney general was merciless,
calling Jim a "traitor to his own community" and attempted to
shame him into changing his story. Jim held steadfast
against this assault, and calmly put the AG in his place.
The AG eventually gave up, his face bright red with anger.
The judge recessed for the day after ruling that Jim's
testimony would stand.
We got out of the courtroom and back to Lawrence without
incident.
- - - - -
Jack brought Jim along when they joined us for dinner.
We talked about what had happened in court that day, with
everyone agreeing that Naimann was doing a masterful job of
presenting our case.
Jim wasn't in the best of spirits, and when I asked why, he
explained that his name was "mud" in that part of the country.
"We've got a place for you if you ever decide to move," Jack
told him. "Dave pays pretty good, too."
"I'll keep that in mind," Jim said, brightening.
Jack proceeded to give Eric and me hell for taking the risks
that we were, but Jim thought we were relatively safe.
"They're so busy trying to save their asses that they won't
be looking for you. That's a local thing, and they'd look
even worse if they tried anything."
"You really don't look like yourselves," Jack commented.
"I'd have trouble recognizing Eric with that hairdo, and you
look so much older, Dave."
- - - - -
The next morning, the AG wanted to argue about the objection
procedures the Judge had established. He made a few snide
remarks about bias on the Judge's part which didn't go over
well. The Judge took him and Dr. Naiman to his chambers, and
from the look on the AG's face when they came out, he'd
gotten a thorough ass chewing.
Having established that the County Council had targeted us,
Dr. Naimann went to work on proving that the law had not been
enforced against anyone else.
His next witness was a technician from the Gibson Milking
Machine Company.
Naimann established that the guy worked for Gibson in the
capacity of a service person, adjusting and re-installing
milking machine equipment when it was moved.
He had been called to perform that type of job after a large
installation owned by Mr. Sprague, one of the members of the
County Council, had been moved to a new milking barn.
"Did you perform the original installation?" Naimann asked.
"Yes, that was about four years ago," he answered.
"How far is the new barn from the original site?"
"I'd guess it's about four miles. It's on another farm that
Mr. Sprague owns."
"When did this move take place?"
"About a month ago," he answered.
"Are you aware that there's a county ordinance that requires
a fee to be paid if equipment is moved more than 18 inches?"
"Sure, everybody around here knows about it."
"Did you ever discuss this 'moving fee' with Mr. Sprague?"
"Sure did. We joked about it. Mr. Sprague told me that the
law only applied to outsiders, not him."
"No further questions," Naimann said.
The AG tried to show that the conversation in question had
been misinterpreted, but the technician held fast, adding
even more damning details of what had been said.
Next, Naimann called Kathy McGuire, the one who had started
the whole thing. She was definitely a hostile witness.
"What is your occupation?" he asked.
"I'm a seamstress, and I'm a member of the County Council,"
she replied.
"As a seamstress, you work from your home, am I correct?"
"Yes."
At about this time, the AG lost it. He objected to the line
of questioning as irrelevant to the matter at hand. There
was a moment's silence while the judge glared at him, then
calmly said, "Shut up, you idiot, you know the rules."
The AG, certainly not accustomed to being talked to in that
way, puffed up like he was going to explode, then, evidently
thinking better of it, sat down and simmered.
Naimann continued. "Did you recently build an addition to
your home?"
"Yes," Kathy answered.
"Isn't that new room you added where you conduct your sewing
business?"
"Yes," she answered, looking baffled.
"Are your sewing machines located there?"
"Yes."
"Then, you moved them there from another part of your house?"
"Yes, I used to work in my spare bedroom."
"Was the county statute on moving equipment in effect when
you made this move?"
"I'm not sure," she answered.
"I can bring in the contractor who built your addition if you
like..." Naimann told her.
"Yes, the statute was in effect," she said, getting mad now
that she could see where this was leading.
"Did you pay the county the required fee when you moved your
equipment?"
"No," she said.
"Your witness," Naimann told the AG.
The AG didn't bother with cross examination.
Naimann put on a parade of witnesses who had all laughed at
the law. The AG didn't cross examine any of them.
"Pretty dull today, huh," Eric said that evening.
"Dr. Naimann's covering all the bases," Jack commented. "He
wants to prove malice beyond a doubt."
"He did that today," I added.
"About all that's left is the false imprisonment issue.
He'll start that in the morning. I believe he's going to
call the judge. That should be interesting!"
"What do you think the state'll do when it's their turn?"
Eric asked.
"I'm not sure that they can do anything," Jack answered.
"After what they've done, their hands are tied when it comes
to putting on a defense."
"Out of curiosity, what kind of defense could they use if
they hadn't refused to play fair?" I asked.
"They could've admitted their mistake and given you your
money back and that would have been the end of it," Jim
answered with Jack nodding. "Now, they've put themselves in
a corner and if they admit anything, it would be suicidal."
"Maybe offer Annie a little settlement too, but that would be
optional. Jim's right. If they'd just backed off and been
reasonable, they'd still have their immunity," Jack said.
"At the state level, I think the only ones who recognize the
possibility of your winning - and collecting - is the
attorney general's office. Everyone else thinks it's a big
joke that'll go away," Jim added. "The governor should've
stepped in a long time ago."
- - - - -
Jack was able to get an extra pass so we took Laura along.
She rode up with Ron and me and was really excited about it.
For his first witness, Naimann called Jack. He established
that Jack had been in the courtroom when the judge had
arbitrarly handed out jail sentences to the officers of
Lundborg Rush, ending in Annie's arrest and incarceration.
One of Joel's big screen monitors was wheeled in, hooked up
to a VCR, and a tape was played of the judge's entire
performance. The tape covered the judge's collection of the
fee and fine, and continued through the judge's "Personal
Responsibility" pronouncement, Jack's arrest for using a cell
phone in court, and the issuing of warrants for arrest of
LR's officers.
"Is that a true representation of what happened?" he asked
Jack.
"Yes, that's what happened."
Naimann handed Jack over to the Attorney General.
The AG rose with a wicked look on his face, thought better of
it and sat down. "No questions, Your Honor," he said.
Naimann then called the old judge to the stand.
"Was that an accurate account of the proceedings in your
court," he asked.
"Yes," the Judge said with a smug grin on his face.
Naimann continued asking questions, and the old judge smugly
answered yes or no to every one. After a while, though, the
questions started getting to him, he was getting mad.
"May I ask what law you based your decision on to call for
the arrest of the principals of Lundborg Rush?"
"They had it comin' to them," the Judge answered angrily.
"But you had no basis in law?" Naimann asked him.
"Don't need any," the judge shot back. "They deserved to
spend some time, but the big fish were too slick. They got
away."
"Then this was a 'spur of the moment' call on your part?"
Naimann goaded him.
"No, I thought about it, and it had to be done. Those pig
fuckers needed to be taught a lesson," the Judge roared.
There was silence in the courtroom as the judge's statement
sank in.
"No more questions," Naimann said softly to the Court.
"I don't have any either," the attorney general announced,
anxious to get on to something that might not be so
devastating to his case.
Naimann called the chairman of the County Council.
"Your attorney has stated, on the record, that you don't have
the funds you collected from Lundborg Rush. May I ask what
happened to them?" Naimann said.
"We've spent most of them," he answered.
"What did you spend them on?" Naimann asked.
"We bought all the school bands new uniforms and paid for
their trip to the state marching band competition," he said,
smiling.
"That hardly accounts for eighteen million dollars," Naimann
commented. "What did you do with the rest?"
"We undertook a 'beautification' program for the whole
county." The guy really warmed up to this subject. "Every
road in the county now has trees planted along them, and we
landscaped all the unincorporated areas. The town of
Bedfield isn't incorporated and has lots of history, so we
refurbished every structure in the town."
"Are those privately owned buildings?" Naimann asked.
"Except for the Courthouse, they all are. Even got my own
house spruced up. It's worth twice what it used to be."
"Then you personally profited from this project?" Naimann
asked.
"Not really. Not unless I sell the house."
"How much did this restoration project cost?"
"We spent just over $12 million on it," he answered.
"How many houses are there in Bedfield?"
"About 800, I'd guess."
Naimann thought a minute. "That works out to about $15,000
per home, doesn't it?"
"That's about right. Some more, some less."
Naimann was finished with him, and the AG passed on any
questions.
Naimann called Annie next. This was a total surprise to me.
Nobody had mentioned that she was going to be a witness.
When she was seated in the witness box, she surveyed the
crowd. She spotted me, and did her best not to start
laughing, then looked around to find Eric.
Naimann carefully led her through the events of her arrest
and incarceration. Then he asked about her relationship to
Lundborg Rush.
"I'm a stockholder," she said. "California law requires that
there be three officers, and I was arbitrarily made one of
them. I have no involvement in the business, and, quite
frankly, know very little about it."
"Why were you in New Hampshire?" Naimann asked.
"I'd heard about the problems Dad was having, so, when there
was a plane scheduled to come here, my sister and I came
along to give him moral support."
"Do you conisder yourself a criminal?" he asked.
"Definitely not! I was just a bystander."
"What happened after you served the ten day sentence?"
"I thought I was OK," she said, "but I wasn't. I spent three
months in intensive therapy, and even now I'm afraid of
enclosed spaces. I still see my therapist occasionally for
that."
Naimann was finished and turned her over to the AG.
He thought he'd have a field day with her. He didn't know
Annie. He tried to twist everything she'd said, but she
wasn't having any. When he asked if the sheriffs had been
'nice' to her, she kicked him in the groin.
"If you call being dragged in front of TV cameras in
handcuffs 'nice', I guess so," she said soberly.
Naimann excused her and rested his case. Court was adjourned
for the day.
- - - - -
Jack brought Annie with him to Lawrence that evening. She
kidded us unmercifully about our disguises. She told me that
I looked "extinguished" with the gray hair and that Eric
looked "cute" as a brunette.
"I really wasn't surprised to see you two," she said. "I
know that you just disappear all the time, and this time it
was logical that you'd be here. Having fun?"
"It's not as exciting as I expected," Eric told her. "No
real fireworks yet, but tomorrow could be a little more
exciting."
"How'd I do on the stand?" she asked.
"You may get a little money out of this," I told her, "maybe
even a lot."
"I don't want the money, I just want to see those bastards
squirm," she said. "If I DO end up with anything, I'm going
to give it away anyway. Is it OK if I stick around for the
rest of this circus? I promise not to 'out' you guys at the
courthouse."
"Sure," I told her. "It might be interesting."
We all went out to dinner together. Ron and Jason were used
to Annie's bombastic personality, but Laura was wide eyed.
"I wish this thing would hurry up and get over," Eric said to
me in bed that night. "It just isn't fair that you sit way
over there and we can't talk or anything all day."
"Do you want to forget the rest of it and go home?" I asked.
"No, let's stick it out. Should only be another day or two.
I don't know what the state's going to do, and I'm curious to
see what they try."
We snuggled, which led to more, a whole lot more!
- - - - -
The first witness called by the defense was the chairman of
the County Council. After he was sworn in, Naimann objected.
"This witness refused to cooperate with us during pretrial
discovery, your Honor, so, under your earlier ruling, he
should not be allowed to testify," Naimann said.
"Sustained," the judge intoned. "The witness is excused."
"But I only wanted to show that proper procedure had been
followed in enacting the local statute," the attorney general
whined.
"You made your bed," the judge said seriously, "Now, I'm
afraid you're going to have to sleep in it."
The AG attempted to call a whole list of other locals who had
been involved with the incident. All were excused before
testifying because they had refused to talk to Naimann's
people or had refused to give depositions.
Giving up on that, the AG started calling "experts".
The first was an auditor who testified that the county just
didn't have the money to put into the court's registry until
the case was settled. On cross examination, Naimann pointed
out that the state was also named in the suit, and that they,
no doubt, could come up with the funds. The witness claimed
that he didn't know anything about the state's financial
condition. This, however, showed that both the state AND the
county were thumbing their noses at the court.
Another testified that the law had been properly enacted
according to normal legal procedures.
Still another pointed out that there were no other violators
of similar size and impact on whom to enforce the law, and
used the analogy "Cops see and fail to pursue speeders every
single day. That doesn't make speeding legal."
One "expert" testified that the county had an interest in
protecting its tax revenues and employment base, and that the
County had acted to protect its legal interests. To this
Naimann asked how many of the former Micron workers were
unemployed. He couldn't answer, so Naimann told him that
none of them were collecting unemployment insurance. They
had either found other jobs or had decided not to look for
work.
I noticed that the judge seemed bored with this line of
defense. The AG was attempting to address the issues but
wasn't offering anything substantial.
The AG's final two witnesses testified that the law may be
flawed but was legal, and its passing was not malicious or
improper. They said that selective enforcement was
acceptable and that the judge's small criminal sanction on
Annie was within the court's judicial discretion.
The defense rested, and it was time for final arguments.
As usual, Naimann was brief and to-the-point. He outlined
the points he had made and refuted the defense's notion that
they'd done nothing wrong.
The attorney general finally decided to treat the judge with
the respect he deserved, and wasn't condescending for a
change. He turned on the charm and worked the emotional
angle...for hours.
He admitted that the law may be flawed, but that the county's
intentions had been honorable. Then he launched into a
diatribe on how we, the heartless "corporate slime", were
taking advantage of a poor little community for their attempt
to protect themselves. We were the dirty guys, and he even
made a personal attack on Naimann, the "constitutional scholar
who deigned to come down from his ivory tower to try this
case because of the fat fee he might receive."
Finally, he rested.
"Enactment of the law may have been legal and proper,"
Naimann argued in his summation, "but when the content and
intent of that law was to single out and penalize my clients
it becomes illegal in that it restrains interstate trade and
commerce protected under federal statutes.
"Greed is not illegal, but when a governmental body satisfies
their greed by enacting a law to collect great sums of money
from a targeted victim under the guise of 'protecting its tax
revenues', that is neither fair nor legal."
That was it. The case was now in the judge's hands. I had
no idea when we could expect a verdict, and was totally
surprised when the judge spoke up.
"In my career as a judge, I have never seen a case that was so
totally botched by the defense.
"The only way I can describe their action and mostly inaction
is criminal stupid.
"Municipal and state Governments have immunity available to
inception, the government bodies involved have arrogantly
ignored the rules and have thrown away these legitimate
arguments. Consequently, they must pay for their actions.
"A local law was enacted that was in and of itself
discriminatory and clearly targeted the plaintiffs only. No
effort whatsoever was made to enforce this law against anyone
else.
"I find this one enforcement of the law to be malicious
prosecution. The subsequent actions by municipal authorities
were a clear abuse of power.
"The arrest and jailing of Miss Rush is intolerable. Judicial
power was abused with the intent of making someone personally
'pay' for violating a civil ordinance. The punishment did
not fit the crime and never should have been imposed.
"The other arrest warrants issued from the bench for officers
of Lundborg Rush are hereby voided.
"I am awarding the plaintiffs the actual damages they sought -
$18 million plus interest.
"The plaintiffs have asked for punitive damages in the amount
of five billion dollars as well as exemplary damages in the
same amount. Those amounts are awarded."
A loud gasp could be heard in the courtroom.
"In the matter of wrongful arrest and imprisonment of Miss
Rush, damages in the amount of two hundred million dollars
are also awarded."
With a big smile, he announced "Court is adjourned."
- - - - -
To be continued.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the
story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer -
good or not so good. Send me a message at
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Any plot or story suggestions you would care to make would
also be appreciated.