attorney, someone like O. J. Simpson had. It will require a lot of money, more than you have. It looks like she is going to prison.”
I went home that night defeated. Another bad day.
For three days I had been off work, just taking care of my kids and going to see Julie every time that I could.
I was shocked when Larry Lawrence called me.
“Brandon, I have talked to your attorney. I have two attorneys that I would like to recommend. I know that you have a problem with me, but I would like to set up a ten-million-dollar defense fund for your wife.”
I was stunned to near silence. “Uh—yes, sir, that would be nice—thank you, sir.”
He added, “You’re welcome. The attorneys are Ben Griffith and Barry Black. In my opinion they are the two finest defense attorneys in the world.”
The very next morning, Ben and Barry arrived. They met with Sam and set up their plan. Their defense would be that yes, Julie shot him, but out of self-defense; she was in fear for her husband’s life. Bail was set at five hundred thousand dollars, which Sam took out of the defense fund and paid.
I picked Julie up outside the jail, and the three men went with us to our house. They set up in one of the bedrooms and made a central headquarters where they would all work from. Julie cooked for the men and did everything to make their lives easier. We put them up in a hotel and they worked tirelessly.
I did my very best to stay out of the three men’s ways, but right off the bat I could see that they were going through the money quickly. Julie and I added five million to the fund.
The money seemed to get results. Another witness emerged. She agreed with our approach that it was self-defense.
At the initial pre-trial hearing, our guys argued that Julie had not spoken to an attorney before she signed any documents and three other cases were cited. It was a surprise to everyone, but the Judge threw out her confession. But it still seemed like the prosecutor had a slam-dunk case.
Mitch had been on several television shows. He would show where he had been shot and told that Julie had come on to him and it wasn’t really his fault. I watched one of the shows, and Mitch was very believable. I began to believe that Julie was in real trouble.
The actual trial was scheduled for ninety days later. During those ninety days, Mitch came back home from being at his mother’s. The good news was, he stayed away from us. The bad news was, he spread a lot of rumors about himself and Julie throughout the neighborhood. I talked to Sam about this and he said, “Just ignore him.”
Thirty days into this time period, we went to New Mexico and spent a week at the compound, that is Lawrenceville. We stayed in an empty cabin and fished with the kids in a stream. The stream had just been stocked, and all my kids caught fish, even Franky. We went on several four-wheeler rides, and even a moonlit hayride. Mr. Lawrence was as nice and good to us as he could be. I still had a problem with him, but I worked on it. Just to be a good guy, Lawrence put another ten million in Julie’s defense fund.
When the week in New Mexico was over we drove back to Grapevine. Julie went back to home life and I went back to work.
Another three weeks went by and Julie confessed to me, “Brandon, I am bored to death. I am not cut out for this life. I need a job!”
I agreed that she could go back to modeling, and she put her name back out there.
Her first job was to become the spokesperson for a large bread and bakery company. She touted their pastries and bread products. It wound up being a one-week job once a month. It got her face on national television almost every night. When we would watch television with the kids, everyone got very excited when she would come on. It was really quite the thrill.
Her trial started March fifth. That was a Monday, and the first three days were spent just picking the jurors. The next two days were spent in motions and posturing. Everyone—that is the prosecutor, his staff and all our attorneys—had something to say to the Judge.
The next Monday, the first witness was called: Mitch Montgomery. Mitch detailed how Julie had played up to him until they had finally had sex. He was very explicit, and it upset me badly. He ended with telling how she shot him in cold blood. He said that he was not a threat to anyone and we had showed up and instigated the argument. He was very believable, and I worried about how the jury would take his statements. All three of our attorneys grilled Mitch but couldn’t break him, nor get him to admit that he had done anything wrong.
Next was a police detective who had photos of the crime scene and went over ballistics as well as statements that were taken from us and our neighbors. This was pretty much just facts, and our attorneys didn’t have much to say. This took all of the first week.
Several of our neighbors were put on the stand. Their testimony was not much more than hearsay at best.
The Judge called for the defense testimony, and Sam called Julie to the stand. He went over how we had met, fallen in love, married, and assumed my two children when Marilyn had been killed. He also noted that Julie had adopted my two children. He went over our married life and asked her how much she loved me. Her answer was priceless: “I love Brandon with all my heart and would never do anything to hurt him.”
Ben took over and questioned her about Mitch and how he had tried to “move” in. He made Mitch look like a fool, and Julie look like the sweetest mother that had ever lived.
Barry began questioning Julie about “the kiss” that Mitch had forced on her. She admitted that she had not slapped him, but had moved to protect her three children. Barry acted surprised. “Oh, your children were present during this time?”
Julie said, “Yes,” and Barry asked for a recess.
At the end of the recess, Barry asked the Judge to please allow Rachael to answer questions about what had happened. The judge said that he would consider it, and went into his chamber. Court was dismissed for the day.
The next morning, everyone stood as the Judge came in. The courtroom was packed. Half the people there were from the news services. Something important was going to happen.
The Judge banged his gavel and spoke. “The court is aware that this child was not on the list of witnesses, but I have decided to let her speak. I must make both parties aware that this is a young child, and I will be harsh if anyone violates the protocol that I will set.” He went on and gave the rules and conditions.
Rachael was called to the stand. She had her own attorney who went with her and held her hand. Barry went up and was like a different person. Instead of being harsh and bullying, he was soft and tender. He asked Rachael to tell what she remembered about the day that Mitch came in and kissed her mother.
Rachael began, “Mitch was always hanging around our house. My mother told him to leave several times, but he wouldn’t leave. Then all of a sudden, he grabbed her, put his arms around her, and he kissed my mother on her mouth.”
Barry asked her, “What did your mother do?”
Rachael looked like she was about to cry. “Mother broke loose and ran to us and held us and yelled at Mitch to leave.”
As this was all that Barry was allowed to ask, the prosecutor took over and asked several questions. One was, “Did you ever see your mother and Mitch go into the bedroom?”
The Judge cautioned the prosecutor. Rachael answered, “No, they never went into the bedroom, but they did walk down the street once.”
The prosecutor stepped back, looked at the Judge. “No more questions, your honor.”
Both sides rested, and the Judge gave instructions to the jury. The jury got up and went into their room. They debated for two days—not a good sign; that probably meant the jury was split.
As it turned out, eleven were for acquittal and one wasn’t sure. The jury sent a note to the Judge and he told them to keep at it.
After four more hours the jury had reached a verdict.
The jury came out and sat down. The jury foreman handed the piece of paper t
o the bailiff and he took it to the Judge.
The Judge studied it and looked at the jury. He handed it back to the bailiff, and he carried it back to the foreman. The Judge asked the foreman to read the verdict. The verdict was that Julie was acquitted of attempted murder, however on the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon, she was found guilty. The Judge sentenced her to two years in county jail.
I stood up ready to scream, “NO!” But hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back into my seat.
I turned to look at who could have been so rude. It was Larry Lawrence. He shook his head from side to side. He had a frown on his face.
“Brandon, be quiet. Let your attorneys do their jobs.”
Barry and Ben were both up. “Your honor, may we approach the bench?”
The Judge nodded, and banged his gavel a number of times. “Order, order in the court room.”
It got quiet as the prosecutor and all three of our attorneys went to the Judge’s bench.
Barry spoke. “Your honor, everyone agrees that the sentence should be commuted to one hundred hours of community service and two years of probation.”
The prosecutor looked at Julie and nodded. The Judge banged his gavel and said, “So be it. One hundred hours of community service and two years’ probation. The jury is dismissed; court is adjourned. He banged his gavel again.
Larry stood back up and spoke loudly. “Everyone is invited to the Apollo for lunch. There