J.J.E. Jessie Jane Edwards: Judge, Juror and Executioner

© 2021 Matthew Imes. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue

in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/30/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4409-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4408-5 (e)

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

W riting J.J.E. was in some ways more satisfying, and other ways more challenging than What If?. I certainly enjoyed the process tremendously, and that process involves many more people than I can thank here. I do want to thank my wife for her thoughts and wonderful ideas as to how to give Jessie the best story possible. I also want to thank my agent, Lisa Darden, for her hard work and dedication to this project. I know I would not be where I am without such wonderful people in my life.

I also want to thank all the people who supported What If? and hope you enjoy this book as much as my first. Peace and love to you all.

CHAPTER 1

"T hank you for joining Action News 7 this evening. My name is Tracy Thomas and our top story today is the acquittal of Senator Lawrence Guidry on murder charges related to the death of his wife, Margaret. Reporter Bobby Prestridge is live at the courthouse in downtown New Orleans. Bobby, can you fill us in on the details?"

Good evening, Tracy. There’s quite a raucous crowd here, clearly surprised by the verdict. The police have placed barricades along the bottom of the steps for security purposes. We’re waiting for comments from both the District Attorney’s office, as well as from Senator Guidry’s legal team.

Holding a hand to his ear, the reporter looked over his shoulder, Wait a minute, it looks like the District Attorney is approaching the podium. The camera shifted to a close-up of the podium where a distinguished-looking gentleman in a navy suit stepped up to the bank of microphones.

Good evening. I’m District Attorney Frank Simmons and I’ll make a short statement before taking a few questions.

Removing notes from his jacket, he continued, We are very disappointed with the outcome today. We strongly believed we had a good case against Senator Guidry and put forth our evidence in the best possible manner. Clearly things didn’t go our way, but that said, the legal process has now been exhausted. Senator Guidry was found not guilty and there is no appealing the verdict. We would like to thank the jury for completing their civic duty over these past weeks.

DA Simmons put aside the notes and continued, I would especially like to thank our team for all of the work that went into this case. It’s never easy to prosecute a public official, but I’ve never been more proud of our staff than I am today. We worked tirelessly over the past year to make sure we did everything professionally, thoroughly and by the book. I would love to be in front of you right now speaking about a conviction, but we were unable to convince the jury of our position.

The DA leaned forward, staring intently into the crowd. Let me be very clear. Senator Guidry has been found not guilty, he is a free man and is no longer subject to any criminal proceedings. Like or dislike the verdict, the Senator is not guilty under the rules of our justice system. Questions?

Numerous hands went up with some people shouting questions before DA Simmons cut them off, I won’t answer any questions asked without permission. Marcy, go ahead with your question.

"Thank you, sir. What do you feel caused the jury to come back with the not guilty verdict?

I don’t know. We haven’t had time to interview the jurors and I don’t want to speculate. Tony?

Why did your office choose to seek a charge of first-degree murder, instead of a lesser charge?

Good question, Tony. In our opinion, the evidence clearly showed intent, and since intent is the trigger for a first-degree murder charge, we were determined to follow the law.

The camera shifted back to the Action News 7 reporter, Tracy, we’ll keep following the press conference and provide an update later in the newscast.

Thank you, Bobby. In studio, we have Mark Martin, a retired court of appeals judge. Judge Martin, what do you make of the verdict?

Thanks for having me. I must admit, it’s a bit of a head scratcher. I was in the courtroom for the entire trial. It’s obvious to me the prosecutors met their burden of proof. That said, strange things can happen when the jury deliberates. We may never know what took place during the deliberation process, but I suspect some of the jurors will write books about it given the high profile of the case.

Judge, do you feel a first-degree murder charge was appropriate?

I do. The prosecutors were able to clearly show intent.

Tracy steepled her fingers, But wouldn’t they have been more likely to get a conviction if they had settled on a lesser charge?

The judge took a deep breath before responding. The problem with that line of thought is where does it end? It’s one thing if you choose a lesser charge when you have a questionable case, but as a prosecutor, you can’t reduce charges on solid cases just to get a guilty verdict. If everyone did that, then a lot of criminals would not be punished appropriately for their crimes.

I see, Tracy said before asking, If you were on the jury, would you have voted guilty?

With an affirmative nod, the judge replied, Absolutely.

Tracy looked to her left and then back at the camera. I’ve just been told Senator Guidry and his team are approaching the podium. We will now return to the courthouse.

Viewers once again saw the podium. Behind it were three people: two men and one woman. The woman approached and began to speak. My name is Sarah Benoit. I’m the lead attorney for Senator Guidry. Obviously, we are pleased with the verdict. We would like to thank the jury for looking past the ugly rhetoric and for closely examining the facts of the case. It was clear to us from day one the prosecutors were mainly interested in smearing Senator Guidry’s good name for political purposes. The killer is still at large and we call on the police to continue pursuing the investigation. Senator Guidry’s family won’t be able to rest until justice is done.

Sarah looked at Senator Guidry with a slight nod of her head before continuing, Senator Guidry would like to say a few words.

Hisses and boos could be heard by the television viewers as the Senator approached the microphones. Holding his hands up for silence, he waited for a moment before speaking. I’d like to thank my legal team for their outstanding work in my defense. I’d also like to thank the jury for being brave and confirming my innocence, despite the pressure being applied by outside interest groups.

Senator Guidry leaned forward and lowered his voice slightly. My family will not stop looking until we find the real killer. He leaned back, slammed his fist into the podium and practically yelled, Justice will be served!

And with that, Senator Guidry grabbed his chest and collapsed. Pandemonium ensued with police and medical personnel rushing to assist, the crowd pressing forward to see what happened and the reporters all smelling a great story.

Had anyone turned to look away from the steps, they would have seen a woman walking slowly away. Nobody could have provided a detailed description about the lady because of the large sunglasses covering her face. What they would have been able to say is she had blond hair, was trim, well-dressed, walked with a purpose and never looked back.

CHAPTER 2

W aking in a cold sweat with tears running down my face had become too common an occurrence. Once again, sleep was disrupted by one of my recurring nightmares. In it, it’s my birthday, and the present for turning 11 was the death of my mother.

The dream begins with me running downstairs on the morning of my special day, excited to see what my parents were going to do. Before reaching the bottom of the stairs, I knew something was wrong. I heard a strange man’s voice coming from the living room, speaking in a hushed tone. Rounding the corner, I saw a policeman standing in the middle of the room, and my father sitting head in hands on the couch, crying.

When Dad heard me enter the room, he jumped up to hug me saying, It’ll be okay, over and over. I burst into tears, not knowing why. This is the point where I wake up each time I have the dream. And it’s been happening more and more frequently over the years. The accident was 23 years ago, but it still feels like it happened yesterday.

In real life, Mom was killed when a drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned her. He was