Stories Of London

PAGE TWENTY ONE:
INNOCENT OR GUILTY???
PART 11

The Statue of Liberty atop The Old Bailey

The law of the wise is a fountain of life
Poise the cause in justice’s equal scales

-oOo-

Waiting for The Verdict

While Casanova/Puppy slept The Sleep of the Innocent, the Victim asked Counsel and Mr. Mason if they might hazard a guess as to how long the Jury might take to render their decision? Did they feel confident about the possible outcome? Mr. Mason said that in his experience, and at this, he turned to Counsel, and said that he felt sure his learned colleague would agree, that this was not possible. He said that he had known Cases that looked clear-cut, and that he expected an Acquittal only to have them rendered Guilty and vice versa. Counsel concurred with Mr. Mason’s comment and added that Juries can be fickle: one moment that seem to favour the Defendant and then the next, favour the Prosecution! She said that it was best not to torture oneself with speculation, but just to wait, with as much patience as one could muster, and await the Verdict.

-oOo-

The Baliff

They did not have to wait too long, as the Bailiff soon returned to say that the Judge requested their presence back in the Court. Mr. Mason said that this probably meant that a Verdict had been reached. Before anyone could ask, he said that the length of time that a Jury took to reach a Verdict was also no indication as to the outcome!

-oOo-

Casanova/Puppy was a trifle miffed at being woken from his sleep! However after a loud shake, he regained his normal gentle manner and allowed himself to be led out of the room.

-oOo-

The news that a Verdict had been reached, and that it would be made known at about 1 P.M.,  was leaked somehow to The North Carolinian Newspaper. This information gave the Editor sufficient time to pull together with the staff and quickly publish a Special Edition On-Line and Scoop the competition!

-oOo-

Back in the Court, everyone watched as the Jury returned to take their place. Once settled, the Judge called upon the Foreperson if members had reached a decision. The Juror, an elderly well-dressed woman rose, and said that they had.

The Foreperson

The Judge then asked one of his Aides to read the charges to the Jury and then for the Foreperson to render its Verdict. A pin dropping to the ground would have shattered the silence that now filled the Court at this time! The Foreperson cleared her throat and readied herself to give the Jury’s verdict, as to whether Casanova/Puppy was GUILTY or INNOCENT of the charge brought against him.

The Foreperson said that the Verdict was INNOCENT! Suddenly, a loud roar of cheers of satisfaction exploded in the Court Room along with the stamping of feet! The Judge hammered his gavel again and again in a feeble attempt to bring about order to the pandemonium, but it continued without abating!

With the giving of the Verdict, the journalists present in the Court leapt to their feet en masse and took off running towards the exist since they wanted to let their Newspapers and Magazines and other forms of communication of the Jury’s result and to give their Copy.

Eventually, some sort of order was restored in the Court which proved sufficient for the Judge to ask the Foreperson if this is the decision of you all? She said that it was, which caused cheers and the stamping of feet to begin again.

The Judge resumed banging his gavel while calling for order once more. When the noise fell to an acceptable level, the Judge spoke to the Defendant and said that he was now FREE!!! The Judge next thanked the Jury for their help and then dismissed them.

Finally, with another bang of his gavel, he declared the Court adjourned! Cheers erupted once more. Everyone in the Court now seemed to want to congratulate the Defence team along with Casanova/Puppy. Meanwhile, the Judge disappeared through the door leading to his Office.

-oOo-

A large group of Police Officers now entered the melee which was now in full swing in the Court Room. The group began to ease its way, slowly and steadily, to the Defence and Prosecution Tables. The Police now broke into two groups: one eventually surrounded Mr. Mason, Miss Street, Mr. Drake, the Victim and Casanova/Puppy and the other surrounded Mr. Hamilton and his associates. Now surrounded, the two groups moved slowly to a side door. This took some time, but when they reached the door, they went through it and found themselves in a large waiting room.

Once settled in the room, the Victim, along with Casanova/Puppy thanked Counsel and Mr. Mason for having done such a wonderful job in seeing that Justice was served. Following this, Casanova/Puppy moved towards Miss Street and resumed his flirtatious behaviour!

Paul Drake, Perry Mason & Della Street after The Verdict

-oOo-

Mr. Mason said that they needed to make a statement to the various members of the news media waiting outside the Court or else they would continue to be hounded until they did. He said that it would be better to hold a Press Conference now and get it over and done with!

Reporters waiting for the Press Conference to take place

The police were then called and told of the plan and within a few minutes, the Defence Team were ushered before a quickly-set-up-podium overloaded with microphones.

Mr. Mason said that he knew that Counsel would agree with him when he said that he was extremely happy that Justice had been serviced today and that their client, Mr. Casanova/Puppy, had been found of innocent of all charges. This caused loud cheers from the well-wishers present.

The journalists and television reporters next plied each member of the Defence Team with questions pertaining to the various roles they played and thoughts on the trial outcome.

Each member, being professional, knew how best to answer questions and also how to fend off those questions that encroached on their personal life.

-oOo-

Casanova/Puppy’s responses to questions asked of him were very much in the mode of Greta Garbo (1905-1990) et al in that he did not answer. The Victim who was on the side-line said that he never answered questions and preferred to remain silent (see Page 7, Part 2: No Photographs Please! …. I Want to be Left Alone). Eventually Casanova/Puppy became bored with the Press Conference and no longer bothered to hide it! This resulted in his going to sleep in front of the podium!

Casanova/Puppy at the Press Conference

-oOo-

Celebration: Kool & The Gang

News of Casanova/Puppy being found Not Guilty soon spread around the world and was greeted by scenes of jubilation in every country in the world! It appeared that everyone, everywhere, had taken to Casanova/Puppy who was seen as a hero and who had been wrongfully treated by authorities.

It seemed as if the majority of the population of London
came out into the streets to celebrate the Verdict

All major television companies of every country covered the Press Conference and presented it  live and also sent reports of the Celebration Festivities from not only their own country, but also from elsewhere.

Celebration in ItalyCelebrations in (Top Left) Moscow, (Top Right) New York City,
(Bottom Left) Sydney & (Bottom Right) Paris 

-oOo-

The world had certainly taken Casanova/Puppy to their hearts as his story appeared in  every newspaper in every country in the world for a number of days. Television news coverage was also given over to the  story throughout the day and a good while after.

Several days after the trial ended, Casanova/Puppy and the Counselor were feted with a Ticker Tape Parade to celebrate his freedom.

Ticker Tape Parade to Celebrate the Verdict

-oOo-

When Mr. Mason, Ms Street and Mr. Drake returned to their homes, letters were waiting for them containing cheques for huge amounts for services rendered. Similarly Counsel received a similar letter. Ms Street and Counsel also received very large bouquets of flowers. All cheques were destroyed since everyone considered it an honour to represent Casanova/Puppy and had offered their services pro bono publico. However the flowers were keep and greatly enjoyed.

-oOo-

Over the days and weeks, and even months, that followed, Casanova/Puppy was hounded for interviews, but he always politely declined. Television Companies also hoped to feature him in their reports, but again, he refused their offers of huge sums of money for the right. Instead he preferred to return to his regular routine and quickly returned to his daily walking and time spent in the garden.

-oOo-

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT