The next few weeks seemed like months. Brenda and I were at the trial of Sally Ann Stone every day. In the end, the jury acquitted her. Yes, she admitted to shooting Ben Roberts, but the testimony of the reporters did nothing to substantiate her story as none of them could remember clearly seeing her there. No one could clearly place her in the center of the crowd. That coupled with the mine and others testimony of the things that he had been doing. And his official statement that he had killed Lisa Mayor, and Mona. While they couldn’t be officially be entered as evidence, it was common knowledge for the entire LA county, His case had been very closely followed by the press and every detail had been published in the earlier months of the year. It was clear the jury saw her has a victim of Ben Roberts and her desire to kill him had been in self-defense of her life. And so it was that the court of public opinion swayed the judicial court.
It was not the first time it’d happened, but the first time I agreed with it.
During the course of the trial, The defense called many witnesses from the world of Hollywood. Many of the workers at his now-defunct studio were called they all gave testimony to the lifestyle Ben had been leading since the second movie had gone bust. They told of Lisa Mayor, and the rows they’d had on and off the sets, and how she eventually refused to come to the studio. They confirmed what Sally Ann had said about the parties and the stars.
Everyone from the people who worked in his now-defunct movie studio, and many other people in the industry, ranging from actors, and prop men, to directors and extra, and day players. They all said the Ben Roberts had become known for is a fondness for a younger woman, the younger the better. It was essentially an open secret in Hollywood among some circles, and if you had Young daughters, you didn’t let them near him, especially in situations where he could get them alone. The question then was why wasn’t he reported and put out of business? Appleaerlenty they all thought that someone else's would do it. But no one ever did. It wasn’t until the Lisa Mayor incident that they begun to question themselves. But then he disappeared from the regular Hollywood circles, and no one saw him, except to hear that he was involved with the skin movies and they didn’t have any part of that, or at least they claimed not to.
The final day of the trial was one of the biggest LA had seen in some time. By now the reports had been following the story in Details headlines had been running the papers for weeks; “Former porn star, get her revenge on the producer who coerced her into the business.”. and many other such headlines graced the LA papers for the last several months. But by end of the trial, the court of public opinion had declared her not guilty, and it was impossible to get a fair and unbiased jury in the state of California, Much less in LA.
The bailiff called the court to order and Sally Ann and her lawyer and sat the defense table not far away from the prosecutor's table. The court hushed as the judge came in and resumed his seat behind the bench.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard the testimony of Sally Ann Stone, and many others during the last several weeks.” As he spoke he turned to the jury. “Your job is to decide based solely on the evidence presented in this courtroom if Sally Ann Stone did, in fact, willy and knowing murder Ben Roberts” With that he dismissed the jury.
We all knew what the jury would decide. In spite of her admitting to doing the deed, there was no collaborating evidence and the fact that no gun was ever found, and she refused to say what happened to it. Actually, she didn’t know. The reporters at the scene did little to help the prosecutors case as they couldn’t definitely put her there. The more that came out about Ben Roberts and what he’d been doing the more Sally Ann became a victim, and less of a criminal.
So it didn’t take long for the jury to come back, less than an hour.
Again that day the Bailiff called the court to order.
The judge again came in, sat down, once the room was quiet again.
“The bailiff tells me you’ve reached a verdict in the case of Sally Ann Stone.”
The foreman stood up
“Yes, Your Honor we have.”
With that, he passed a small paper to the bailiff, who handed it to the Judge. He glanced at it and handed it back.
“Sally Ann Stone please stand up.” She stood up facing both the judge and the Jury.
“How say you the jury?”
“The jury finds the defendant, Sally Ann Stone NOT Guilty of the murder of Ben Roberts.”
The crowd in the room burst into cheers and the Judge banged his gavel to restore order.
“Sally Ann Stone, The court finds you not guilty of the charges of murder in the first degree. This case is Closed. You may go.”
The judge banged his gavel, got up and walked back out the way he’d come in.
The crowd in the courtroom gathered around Sally Ann and tried to shout questions to her. Brenda and I managed to get over to her, and guide her out of the room, and down a side hall. Her father was waiting for her by the back door.
They hugged and I let them alone for a few minutes. Eddie and Clair worked their way out of the crowd and joined us. Their testimony about Ben had been a big help in convincing the jury what Ben had become. We all said our goodbyes and then they headed for the parking lot and hopefully a nice quiet life. I made up my mind to go and check on them in a few weeks.
To my surprise, Manny showed up. He said he’d been watching the trial in the back and was glad she’d gotten off. His hands were no longer bandaged, but misshapen forms on the ends of his arms. He had managed to regain some use of them, but the pain was mostly gone. I started to say something but he held up his hand and stopped me.
“Not here, not now, You take care of Brenda.” and he turned and headed for the parking lot.
Eventually, we managed to get ourselves to the parking lot, crowding all four of us into the ford coupe. I headed home.
Over the next few days, Brenda and I helped Stone and Sally Ann get resettled. The trail had taken a lot out of Stone. The stress of the trails and his daughter being charged with a capital offense was too much for him. It wasn’t long before to retired from the force. While I never did completely trust him as a cop, I did understand what he had been doing as for as taking chances and trying to get enough on Roberts. His wife had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized for some time during the trail.
It was during this time that he cashed in his pension and retired. He’d been on the force for over 20 yrs and built up a nice retirement pension. which he took. I didn’t blame him. I probably would have to. Retirement was good for Stone he seemed to relax and enjoy time with his family such as it was anymore.
The Rest of October was spent catching up on paperwork, and writing our official report of the case. The Hollywood establishment tried to push Ben Roberts under the rug and say he was an unusual incident, and not the norm of Hollywood. But I knew better. The Variety paper did publish a full-blown expose on Ben Roberts and his fall from grace and eventual death. I included a copy of the article in my final report.
Brenda and I returned to the normal operation of the bar. I handled a variety of cases ranging from missing persons to criminal activities.
LA continued to recover from the war, and thrive, the Hollywood establishment both legitimate and otherwise, went on to make many more movies. They continued to pump billions of dollars into the economy, and in some cases provide work for me.
It was not the first time it’d happened, but the first time I agreed with it.
During the course of the trial, The defense called many witnesses from the world of Hollywood. Many of the workers at his now-defunct studio were called they all gave testimony to the lifestyle Ben had been leading since the second movie had gone bust. They told of Lisa Mayor, and the rows they’d had on and off the sets, and how she eventually refused to come to the studio. They confirmed what Sally Ann had said about the parties and the stars.
Everyone from the people who worked in his now-defunct movie studio, and many other people in the industry, ranging from actors, and prop men, to directors and extra, and day players. They all said the Ben Roberts had become known for is a fondness for a younger woman, the younger the better. It was essentially an open secret in Hollywood among some circles, and if you had Young daughters, you didn’t let them near him, especially in situations where he could get them alone. The question then was why wasn’t he reported and put out of business? Appleaerlenty they all thought that someone else's would do it. But no one ever did. It wasn’t until the Lisa Mayor incident that they begun to question themselves. But then he disappeared from the regular Hollywood circles, and no one saw him, except to hear that he was involved with the skin movies and they didn’t have any part of that, or at least they claimed not to.
The final day of the trial was one of the biggest LA had seen in some time. By now the reports had been following the story in Details headlines had been running the papers for weeks; “Former porn star, get her revenge on the producer who coerced her into the business.”. and many other such headlines graced the LA papers for the last several months. But by end of the trial, the court of public opinion had declared her not guilty, and it was impossible to get a fair and unbiased jury in the state of California, Much less in LA.
The bailiff called the court to order and Sally Ann and her lawyer and sat the defense table not far away from the prosecutor's table. The court hushed as the judge came in and resumed his seat behind the bench.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard the testimony of Sally Ann Stone, and many others during the last several weeks.” As he spoke he turned to the jury. “Your job is to decide based solely on the evidence presented in this courtroom if Sally Ann Stone did, in fact, willy and knowing murder Ben Roberts” With that he dismissed the jury.
We all knew what the jury would decide. In spite of her admitting to doing the deed, there was no collaborating evidence and the fact that no gun was ever found, and she refused to say what happened to it. Actually, she didn’t know. The reporters at the scene did little to help the prosecutors case as they couldn’t definitely put her there. The more that came out about Ben Roberts and what he’d been doing the more Sally Ann became a victim, and less of a criminal.
So it didn’t take long for the jury to come back, less than an hour.
Again that day the Bailiff called the court to order.
The judge again came in, sat down, once the room was quiet again.
“The bailiff tells me you’ve reached a verdict in the case of Sally Ann Stone.”
The foreman stood up
“Yes, Your Honor we have.”
With that, he passed a small paper to the bailiff, who handed it to the Judge. He glanced at it and handed it back.
“Sally Ann Stone please stand up.” She stood up facing both the judge and the Jury.
“How say you the jury?”
“The jury finds the defendant, Sally Ann Stone NOT Guilty of the murder of Ben Roberts.”
The crowd in the room burst into cheers and the Judge banged his gavel to restore order.
“Sally Ann Stone, The court finds you not guilty of the charges of murder in the first degree. This case is Closed. You may go.”
The judge banged his gavel, got up and walked back out the way he’d come in.
The crowd in the courtroom gathered around Sally Ann and tried to shout questions to her. Brenda and I managed to get over to her, and guide her out of the room, and down a side hall. Her father was waiting for her by the back door.
They hugged and I let them alone for a few minutes. Eddie and Clair worked their way out of the crowd and joined us. Their testimony about Ben had been a big help in convincing the jury what Ben had become. We all said our goodbyes and then they headed for the parking lot and hopefully a nice quiet life. I made up my mind to go and check on them in a few weeks.
To my surprise, Manny showed up. He said he’d been watching the trial in the back and was glad she’d gotten off. His hands were no longer bandaged, but misshapen forms on the ends of his arms. He had managed to regain some use of them, but the pain was mostly gone. I started to say something but he held up his hand and stopped me.
“Not here, not now, You take care of Brenda.” and he turned and headed for the parking lot.
Eventually, we managed to get ourselves to the parking lot, crowding all four of us into the ford coupe. I headed home.
Over the next few days, Brenda and I helped Stone and Sally Ann get resettled. The trail had taken a lot out of Stone. The stress of the trails and his daughter being charged with a capital offense was too much for him. It wasn’t long before to retired from the force. While I never did completely trust him as a cop, I did understand what he had been doing as for as taking chances and trying to get enough on Roberts. His wife had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized for some time during the trail.
It was during this time that he cashed in his pension and retired. He’d been on the force for over 20 yrs and built up a nice retirement pension. which he took. I didn’t blame him. I probably would have to. Retirement was good for Stone he seemed to relax and enjoy time with his family such as it was anymore.
The Rest of October was spent catching up on paperwork, and writing our official report of the case. The Hollywood establishment tried to push Ben Roberts under the rug and say he was an unusual incident, and not the norm of Hollywood. But I knew better. The Variety paper did publish a full-blown expose on Ben Roberts and his fall from grace and eventual death. I included a copy of the article in my final report.
Brenda and I returned to the normal operation of the bar. I handled a variety of cases ranging from missing persons to criminal activities.
LA continued to recover from the war, and thrive, the Hollywood establishment both legitimate and otherwise, went on to make many more movies. They continued to pump billions of dollars into the economy, and in some cases provide work for me.