Pro Bono 3

Chapter 3.

"Hi, could I speak to Michael Brown please?"

"Speaking" Deep voice on the other end.

"Oh, hi, you don't know me, my name is James Menzie, from a law firm Long &
Long in Sydney, could I have a few minutes of your time please?"

"What about, I'm not in any sort of trouble, am I?" Not a confident bloke.

"No, Oh no, as a matter of fact, I need your help in a court case involving
rape"

"I was cleared of all charges, mate"

"No, no, it's not about you, we are the defense team for a rape case
brought on by Sharlene Brook against our client Tomas Ancic"

"That fucking cunt strikes again?"

"Yes, may I pay you a short visit and get your story? I can be in Brisbane
by tomorrow, if you're not working, maybe I could get some info from you
over a drink?"

"No worry, mate, I am presently on night shift, so I could see you around
eleven in the morning, you got my address?"

"Yes, that's great, thank you again, I'll be at your place by then,
Mr. Brown"

My next job, tried to get our account to arrange a ticket for Brisbane.
That spinster handling travelling was renown for being tightfisted. I had
my tight fist over my dick last night, but her's a different story. I put
on my most charming smile, got really close to the edge of her desk, close
enough for her to smell my after-shave, asked her in my baritone voice,
"Good morning Miss Yang, I'm working on a rape case for a client Tomas
Ancic, I need to speak to a witness who lives in Brisbane, mind if I ask
you to arrange a ticket for me to fly out tomorrow morning 8 o'clock
sharp?"

"That's a pro bono work, James, you know the managements have strict rules
regarding expenditures relating to all pro bono jobs, I'll need to check
with your boss first"

"Yes I know, Miss Yang, but my boss is away for two days study leave, my
case is coming up next week, this witness only has tomorrow free, just for
this once, please?" My pleading eyes, my crotch dancing at her eye level.
Sex always sell. Even got four taxi vouchers from tight-fisted Yang.

I knocked on the door, a tall bloke the size of ruby player fronted me.
This Sharlene bitch specialized in big butch young nos.

"Mr. Michael Brown? James Menzie from Long & Long" I gave him my card.
"Yes, come on in, want a coffe?" "Love one, white no sugar please" We
shaked hands.

Small house, but clean, dog sniffing me, I sat on one of the sofa. "Nice
dog, what's its name" "Sharlene" No shit, and I laughed. He joined in,
nodding his head, "I'm serious". A very good start. He passed me the
coffee, instant shit, well, better than nothing.

It turned out that 5 years ago, he met Sharlene in similar circumstances as
Ancic, went back to Michael's home for a romping night, next morning
Sharlene refused to leave, and Michael virtually had to throw her out, she
went to police reported rape. Lucky for Michael, apparently during the sex
play, they took some Polaroid photos as souvenir, which came in handy
during the provisional hearing before the Magistrate, the case didn't even
go to trial, it was dismissed outright.

"I'll show you the photos, I kept them as a reminder of my ordeal, if it
wasn't for these photos, I could be having my coffee in jail right now"
Ancic, your lucky star shoned.

The first photo showing Sharlene naked, legs apart, hairy pussy, large
breasts dropped opposite sides, her hands stretched out facing the camera,
10 of her fingers, each with 2 inches of red false finger nail, imitating a
wild cat with her mouth twisted, fangs bared, eyes wide-open, long hairs
spread out onto the pillow. She looked wild, ready to swallow up anyone
came too close, ready to scratch.

The second one was a treasure. It was not Sharlene, but Michael's back,
and it could've been Ancic's back. Scratch marks resembling tiger stripes
spread evenly from Michael's shoulders down to his buttock. Well, well,
well. "She loved a bit of S & M play, took almost a month before these
marks faded".

"You said Polaroid, but these are just normal prints"

"Oh yes, the Brisbane Police keep the Polaroid on file, I asked my
solicitor to obtain copies of them after the hearing, and I spent over five
grands on legal fees, bloody expensive fuck, and bloody expensive souvenir"
He pointed at the photos. I could've kissed him.

When I was flying back to Sydney, with those wonderful souvenir safely in
my briefcase, I planned my next move.

Next morning I went to the building where Sharlene was, ugly blocks of
Council flats, match box units, aluminium windows, clothes hanging in
almost every balconies. Except one thing I liked about that building, yes,
paper thin walls. The fucking lift was out of order, had to walk seven
flight to reach there, hoped these people still at home. I knocked on unit
14, right next to unit 13 where Sharlene lived, unlucky 13.

"Hi, sorry to trouble you, my name is James Menzie, from the solicitor firm
Long & Long, is Mr. Nick Harris in?" I gave him my business card.

"I'm Nick, we paid all our fees on time, what is your business?" This Nick
guy must be in his 50s, seemed reasonable.

"I'm defending a case against my client brought on by your neighbor
Sharlene Brook, I hope you can tell me a bit about your neighbor, if it is
OK with you"

"Will it get us into any sort of trouble? I love to get rid of that bitch
so we can have some decent sleep, my wife suffers high blood pressure
because of her" Good start, Ancic, my boy, freedom in sight. My star
witnesses, Mr. and Mrs. Harris.

Next stop, Long Bay Jail. I arrived there usual time, one o'clock, checked
through usual barriers, had my mini tape recorder x-rayed, for what?
Tumors? Face to face with Ancic once again.

"Tomas, I'll need you speak into the tape recorder, the exact words
Sharlene shouted during that night you had sex with her"

"What, fuck me fuck me fuck me?"

"Yes, shoot away"

"Fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me hard" This could be nominated for
the American Music Award, Rap/Hip-Hop category, titled: Fuck Me Hard,
composed by Sharlene Brook, sung by Tomas Ancic. When he stopped, we were
laughing hard, the guard checked through the little glass panel to find out
what went here.

"Great, Tomas, now, you have any suit and tie? The hearing is next week,
you need to be presentable"

"Me have no jacket, no tie, only white shirt, black trousers, uniform my
restaurant" Problem.

"Can you call your landlord, I'll go there to check if any decent clothings
in your wardrobe"

I banged on the door, ask for permission to let Ancic make a urgent phone
call, Tomas came back and told me I could go to this address and collect
all his belongs, apparently his landlord no longer wanted him to stay
there. More problem, bloody serious one. Anyway, first thing first,
needed him out of this joint, the rest we could deal with later.

Arrived at this terrace house at the back of Surrey Hill, his landlady
handed me his backpack, that's it, the history of the 23 years old all
contained in this backpack, poor sod, looking for a better life in the
lucky country? but life wasn't meant to be easy.

I looked through his belongings, a couple of pairs of jeans, some white
T-shirts, his passport, a grainy photos, looked like his family, a bankbook
with $500 in his account. I had an idea.


Next, the jury selection. In rape cases, I learned from my professor, the
percentage of acquittal higher when majority of jurors were male, and
higher conviction rate when majority of jurors were female. I asked him
where was the reference, he just pointed at his nose. Better be safe than
sorry, I made sure more male jurors selected for Ancic's trial.

I'd been dreaming Ancic performing sex acts with our female staffs a lot
lately, even with Miss Yang, shit, I hoped it would stop as soon as the
trial was over. I made sure I wanked off everynight before going to bed,
but the dreams still kept coming back, bloody hell, what's wrong with me?

The big day arrived, waiting was the worst bit in this game. Ancic dressed
in a very tight white T-shirt, showing off big hairy arms, strong chest,
blue jeans showing off his butts and long legs, and the bulge, shit, if I
hadn't seen it when it was hard, I would've sworn he had an erection right
now. He could be the pop singer, rapping "fuck me fuck me fuck me hard",
or in my case, the porn star having sex wtih the girls from Loin & Loin,
and with Miss Yang.

I reckoned the female jurors might be more inclined to acquit this sexy
beast with this outfit, I thought our odds were good. He got it, might as
well flaunt it. I noticed some of the female jurors starring at Ancic's
crotch when he stood up for the entry of the judge, it might just work.
Sex always sell.

Sharlene was sitting right next to the prosecutor, her face covered in
thick make-up, bridal make-over? ready for the TV crew after the trial?
the victim? She was wearing a low cut short short red dress, probably with
the help of stuffed silicon bras, making her breast appeared obscenely
large, knees too bony, too trashy. No wonder Ancic refused encore the
morning after.

Usual stuffs for the start of the proceeding, names, alleged crime, blab
blab blab. Sharlene the aging star witness took the stand. Teary recounts
of how she was raped brutally by that beast, that handsome beast with a
baby arm, I might add, sitting right next to me, on that fatal night. How
she fought galantly by scratching the hell out of my client, blab blab
blab. She thought she was auditioning for Jodie Foster's part in "The
Accused". The rape didn't stop until the next morning. I could see some
jurors' eyes went glassy, both female and male jurors, not with tears,just
glassy. She reported to the police as soon as that beast left. My turn,
prosecutor signaled.

"Miss Brook, let me show you this photo, do you recognise the person in
this photo, I know it's only his back, but please try"

"Yes, that guy over there" "Tomas Ancic? are you sure?" "Definitely"

"Miss Brook, you said you tried frantically fighting Mr. Ancic off, and
yet, these scratches appeared on Mr. Ancic's back seemed, how shall I put
it, well arranged, even to the point of being artistic. Let me project it
onto the screen so the Members of the Jury could see for themselves, and
there's no other scratch mark appears on any other part of Mr. Ancic's
body, nothing on his face, nothing on his arms, how did you manage to
achieve that?"

"I don't know, it just happened" She voice hardened, eyes radiating with
hate. Where was that teary little girl? Where was Miss Jodie Foster?
Sorry, Sharlene, more to come.

"Oh, so you mean accidentally? It just happened, not deliberately, not
intentionally? Would it by any chance the same might happen to another of
your encounter?" "I object" "Sorry, your honor, this question is relevant
to the defense of my client" "Continue, Counsel, Miss Brook, please answer
the question"

"No, I'm not into any filthy S & M sex play, I'm a decent person" Getting
better.

"Oh, I apologise Miss Brook, I don't mean to offend you. Please have a
look at this photo, do you recognise the person? Can you see those
scratches on his back?" The image projected onto the screen.

"I've never seen that guy before, I don't know what you are getting at" She
dearly wanted to jump up and scratch my eyes out by now.

"Oh, I believe you do, Miss Brook. Members of the Jury, let me make it
easier for you, I'll project them side by side for comparison. The
resemblance of the scratch marks on those two male bodies are remarkable,
aren't they, Miss Brook? may I also show a photo of Miss Brook to you? It
was taken at the same time with the second photo five years ago", Sharlene
the Cat Woman appeared on the screen, finally, she achieved her stardom.

I could see more than half of the jurors nodding their heads when the
photos of stripes appeared, albeit very slightly, then dropped their jaws
when Sharlen the cat woman showed up. Even the judge was impressed, I
could tell. The Cat Woman was trapped.

"So, Miss Brook, let me ask you once more, you have no idea whom the person
in the second photo was?"

"Am I on trial, you little shit? I told you I don't know him" "Mind you
language, Miss Brook, you are in court, please answer the question"

"Well, Miss Brook, I shall refresh you memory, this stranger, as you
alleged, is Mr. Michael Brown, the person you accused of raping you five
years ago in Brisbane, and was acquitted and the case was dismissed
outright, those familiar scratch marks were inflicted on Mr. Brown on the
night you alleged he raped you, unfortunately for you Miss Brown, the
photo, in polaroid format, was taken by you, not by the police, during,
what you called, a filthy S & M sex play, and of course, your very
revealing photo was taken on the same night" I had a feeling the prosecutor
started to pack up.

"So, Miss Brook, it seemed to me you have a fair bit of practice in
scratching men, sorry your honor, I withdraw that remark" The damage was
done.

You could hear the humming in the court. No, Miss Brook, no, I hadn't
finished yet, just a little bit longer. "I've finished with the cross
examination of Miss Brook for now, your honor" "You may step down, Miss
Brook"

"May I call my next witness, Mr. Nick Harris" He sworn in.

"Mr. Harris, do you recognize the lady sitting over there?" I pointed at
Sharlene.

"Yes, she is my next door neighbor, unit 13, I'm in unit 14"

"Could you please tell me what you heard, through those walls at your flat,
the Friday night on the 15th of December last year?"

"Yes, a female voice shouting words I do not wish to repeat, the bed stands
were banging the wall from her side, went on all night from midnight till
almost 4 am next morning. My wife and I work as cleaners, every Saturday
early morning shift, but we couldn't sleep that Friday night, we had to
call in sick next day, my wife has high blood pressure, due to stress from
lack of sleep, every Fiday night, the noises from her flat were so loud, so
vulgar, so unbearable. We have now applied to the Council to change flat"

"I'm sorry to have to ask you, could you please repeat those words coming
from Miss Brook's flat on that Friday night Saturday morning?"

"Your honor, I must ask your permission for the witness to repeat what he
heard that night to the Court. They are materials relevant to the defense'
case, as it will reveal what exactly happened at Miss Brook's flat that
night when she alleged being raped by my client, and the members of the
jury, beware, those words are filthy" I wished Marrion would shout like
that sometimes.

"She shouted many times, she repeatedly shouted" Mr. Harris took a deep
breath, "fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me hard, all night, I'm
sorry, I don't like to repeat those words"

I turned on my mini recorder, played the short tape recorded by Ancic, that
deep voice of his uttering "fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me fuck me hard",
my rap star, "Mr. Harris, are you sure this was not the voice you heard?"

"No, it was the voice of a female, I can tell the difference, you can ask
my wife"

No need for that, because Miss Sharlene Brook jumped out of her chair,
shouted accross the room, "you fuck wit, you stupid cunt, I will get you
for this" baring her fangs, claws pointing at the poor Nick Harris, then at
me. She then picked up the folder infront of the Prosecutor and hitting
him repeatedly on his head, shouting "you little piece of shit, you set me
up for this, you told me this trial is a piece of cake, you have that prick
in your bag, now I have to suffer public humiliation" Pandemonium broke
out. It tood almost 20 minutes to restore order. The Prosecutor dutifully
read his final address to the Members of the Jury, won't want to be in his
shoes, and me, I rested my case a while back. The trial Judge's
deliberations to the Jury was short, looked at the evidence, creditability
of the witnesses, he knew the verdict already.

It was reported in the paper next morning that the speed of the jury's
decision was in world record time, it took 30 minutes all up, enough for a
toilet break, a cup of tea, back and read the verdict. Ancic a free man.
I had to turn down a few TV appearances after the trial.

European man, I got so many kisses from Ancic, I almost liked it, but that
bear hug, he almost suffocated me, he could be charged for manslaughter,
killing his defense lawyer by bear hugging him to death. The best part was,
Mr. Johann Long, yep, he was there watching me performed. Apparently he
finished his case at Court No.2 early, and heard that in Court No.1 Long &
Long was defending a rowdy rape case. He came up and congratulated me,
"well done James, I couldn't have done better myself". "I know", I thought
to myself. "I have a spare ticket for the Olympic Opening Ceremony, I
would like you to join me, that's and order" "Yes Sir" At the corner of my
eyes, I saw Miss Veronica Young, his latest personal assistant sitting at
the back. Mmmm, Loin & Loin.

Now, the bad news. Ancic got nowhere to go. We looked around town for
cheap accommodation, "Sorry Sir, come back after the Olympic, we are all
booked out" Many unemployed became homeless during those weeks when the
Olympic was on, before, during, and after. Thousands of tourists,
overseas, local, willing to pay top dollars for any rooms.

I only had a one bedroom flat in the city, it was a 21st birthday gift from
my grand parents, otherwise with my lousy wages, I could only afford to
live with my parents. Problem with sleeping arrangement, but, as Tomas
said, sleeping on the floor was better than on the street. Besides,
Marrion was out of town, nice to have someone share the pizza. I took him
home with me.



(To be continued.......)