Through The Eyes Of The Accused

By James Smith

This book narrates a compelling account rooted in actual events, focusing on a man who found himself unjustly implicated in a sexual offense. Subsequently, he endured imprisonment, only to later be exonerated when his innocence became evident.

Within the pages of this book lies a poignant and riveting tale drawn from the annals

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fully Booked Media Services
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798868919725

James Smith

James Smith is the world’s fastest-growing online personal trainer. Honest, unapologetic and outspoken, yet erudite, authentic and endlessly passionate about exposing the toxic myths within diet culture, and committed to helping people to reach their goals and make positive change for good. Not a Diet Book is his first book.

Book preview

Chapter One

I meet Denise at the bar………………………………………………………..………1

Chapter Two

Sharing my home with friends…………………………………………………..……..7

Chapter Three

My first visit to Denisès apartment………………………………………………….14

Chapter Four

Denisès house party………………………………………………………………….19

Chapter Five

I injure my back at work……………………………………………………………….23

Chapter Six

I get back into trucking again…………………………………………………………31

Chapter Seven

I meet Dawn at the bar………………………………………………………………..39

Chapter Eight

Dawn and I spend the night together………………………………………………..45

Chapter Nine

Denise plans her revenge…………………………………………………………….50

Chapter Ten

The phone call from the police……………………………………………………….58

Chapter Eleven

I am arrested for 1st degree sex abuse……………………………………………..61

Chapter Twelve

Bell trashes my house, and I move in with Dawn…………………………………..71

Chapter Thirteen

I change jobs and take Dawn to Florida…………………………………………….87

Chapter Fourteen

We try to get Denise lying on tape…………………………………………………..97

Chapter Fifteen

Dawn and I have a fight, I catch her with another man…………………………..104

Chapter Sixteen

Dawn legally steals my car and my personal belongings………………………..110

Chapter Seventeen

I move into the Hotel…………………………………………………………………114

Chapter Eighteen

Another trip to court…………………………………………………………………..118

Chapter Nineteen

Dawn tries to take my truck…………………………………………………………121

Chapter Twenty

Tina and I meet for the first time……………………………………………………126

Chapter Twenty-One

Tina buys me my first BA chainsaw………………………………………………..129

Chapter Twenty-Two

The trip to the emergency room…………………………………………………….134

Chapter Twenty-Three

The plea bargain………………………………………………………...…………...142

Chapter Twenty-Four

My first encounters with probation………………………………………………….147

Chapter Twenty-Five

The trip to Florida to change my Identity…………………………………………..156

Chapter Twenty-Six

Another trip to court and probation violation………………………………………165

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The D.W.I. ……………………………………………………………………………169

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The summer before jail………………………………………………………………173

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Put in jail………………………………………………………………………………181

Chapter Thirty

Life in jail………………………………………………………………………………190

Chapter Thirty-One

Trying for an appeal………………………………………………………………….196

Chapter Thirty-Two

A plan to get Denise on tape………………………………………………………..198

Chapter Thirty-Three

Registering as a sex offender……………………………………………………….200

Chapter Thirty-Four

The DNA sample……………………………………………………………………..203

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jumped from behind…………………………………………………………………210

Chapter Thirty-SIx

Teaching an inmate to read…………………………………………………………215

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Discussing the problem with Dan…………………………………………………..222

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Guards Attitude………………………………………………………………….225

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Accused of stealing a shirt…………………………………………………………..230

Chapter Forty

Tina meets Denise and puts plan into action……………………………………...238

Chapter Forty-One

Released from jail…………………………………………………………………….242

Chapter One

It all started on a friday afternoon. I was on my way home from work. It was a hot afternoon in the early autumn of 1995. I decided to stop in for a beer at a small bar in the city. It was a place where I often stopped after work for a beer, and to visit with the people that go there to drink. The bar was a sort of dumpy place in a small city in upstate New York. Most of the people who went there were heavy drinkers, people either on welfare, disability, or retired. Very few of the people were your everyday hard working class. Some of the women that hung out there were easy to pick up, if you wanted some action for the night. When I finally got through the rush hour traffic, I found a parking place just across the street. I got out of my car, locked the doors, and headed across the street for the back door. I walked through the back door and past the pool table and found an empty bar stool and sat down. The bartender came over to me and asked, need a bush? I answered her with a nod of my head, as I had looked around to see who was there. She handed me a beer and I said thanks as I was taking my first drink from the frosty bottle.

The beer tasted very good after a hard day's work of moving vending machines. I work for a large vending company that is spread out through 8 states. My job with the company is pulling vending machines from one location to another. All I need to have is a strong back and a lot of patience to do my job. I sat here drinking my first beer of the night, some guys came in. I know a lot of people in this city because of the line of work I'm in. and the fact that I always try to be friendly and helpful to everyone I meet. The one guy, probably about 25 years old, says to me, Hey Smitty, how's it going? I replied with a wise assed answer, Oh not bad, just got my first welfare check today. He just laughed and said, Lucky bastard! My reply was bartender another beer please.

As I was getting started on my second beer, a woman came over hobbling with a cane. She came over and sat down beside me. I really didn't pay much attention to her, she was about 6 feet tall, 180 pounds with long gray hair, and black rimmed glasses.

She looked as though to be in her mid to late forties. She was no beauty queen by a long shot.

She ordered herself a beer and just sat there drinking and not saying a word to anyone. After about an hour and four beers later, she finally turned to me and this is what she said, Hi my name is Denise, and she held her hand out as if she wanted to shake hands. I told her my name is Jim, as I shook her hand and looked her straight in the eye.

Do you come in here often? She asked me with her eyes gleaming at me as if I were a fresh piece of meat. I replied with, yes I do, almost every night after work. What do you do for work? she asked. I work for a large vending company here in the city. I said. Do you work a lot of hours? I answered her yes, about 80 hours a week. She said that must be hard on your family. I don't have a family life, I am divorced and live out in the country. Where do you live? She asked. I live in a small town about 10 miles south of here, I told her.

Do you have a girlfriend? She asked me, as she waited anxiously for my answer, I said no I don't but I do have some people that live with me. The bartender came over and I ordered both of us another beer. The bartender brought the beers over to us and sat them down. I stood up and paid her for both beers. Denise said thanks but you didn't have to buy me a drink. And I said yes I know but I wanted to. She asked me,

Do you want to hear some music? I said, yes, that would be nice. So she got up off the bar stool and hobbled over to the jukebox and put some money in it. She was standing there hunched over looking for some good tunes. After a while I got up and walked over to her, she turned to me and asked What kind of music do you like? I like just about everything except rap. After the selection was made, we both went back and sat down.

After about 6 or 7 beers we both started to loosen up a bit. She said to me, You are a very handsome man. I said thank you. Not much was said for about ten minutes.

She broke the silence by asking me if I wanted to dance. I said I usually don't dance , but tonight I will for you. She smiled and said alright come on!

We began to dance, slow at first because I wasn't sure how she would do with the cane and all. Much to my surprise she danced very well for a woman with a smashed up foot. The music was rock and roll, and it was quite loud. After about 4

songs of straight through dancing, we began to do the bump and grind.

Everyone in the place was watching us. I guess because we were the only two people in the bar that were dancing. But after that much beer I really didn't care who was watching me make an ass out of myself. We started bumping harder and harder.

Towards the end of the song Old Time Rock n Roll, I bumped her so hard, she fell down under her bar stool. I bent down and helped her up, and said I was sorry. She just smiled and said don't worry about it, I'm fine. So we continued to dance through two more songs.

We finally got tired of dancing and went back to the bar and sat down. By the time the place was packed, mostly with people on welfare looking for a fight, or to get drunk. I ordered us two more beers. As we waited for our beers she said you dance very well, and I said thanks, you're not bad yourself. By this time, I'm really starting to feel the booze kicking in.

Our beers finally arrived, I paid the bartender and said thanks. Denise held her beer up for a toast, she said here's to meeting you, and you meeting me. I tapped my

bottle against hers. As I gave her wink, and chugged down my beer. She was sitting there looking at me as I finished my beer.

She asked: do you want another beer? I thought about it for a moment. It was Friday night, it was getting late, I had to drive ten miles to get home, and I had already spent about forty bucks on booze. I replied, sure what the hell it's friday night. This time Denise bought me a beer, and I thanked her. As I sat drinking my beer I said to her it's getting late and I really should be getting home.

She smiled and said that's probably a good idea. She took out a piece of paper and a pen from her purse. She wrote down her name, address, and phone number and handed it to me. Then she said give me a call tomorrow after 3:30 p.m. I picked up the paper, took my wallet out and put the information in it, and said ok.

It was about 11:30 p.m. as I was leaving the bar. I walked through the back alley towards my car. It was a warm autumn night, and the stars were out in full bloom. As I approached my car, I was admiring how nice it looked. It is a 1988 ford escort colored silver, with a freshly applied coat of wax.

I unlocked my door, got in and started the engine. As I was sort of sneaking my way out of the city down the side streets I was thinking about the events of the night. I turned left onto Gotham street and followed it for 4 miles all the way to the end, then turned onto Gifford street road.

By now I was at a safe distance from the city patrols, who would like nothing better than busting guys like me for D.W.I. I couldn't afford to lose my license, because I used it to make a living driving an eighteen wheeler. I finally arrived at the road I lived on. As I was turning onto my road I was thinking only 1 more mile to go and I'll be home.

I made it home alright, safe and sound. I got out of my car and staggered up to the back door of my three bedroom house trailer that I had bought eight years ago while I was married to my second wife. All the lights were off, the only light on that would help to find my way to the door, was the mercury light on the front of my barn that was 150

feet away.

I quietly opened the door, so as not to awaken Bell or any of her young three children. Bell is a woman that I went to school with, and that I let live in my home rent free, just to help her out. The only thing I asked of her was to pay the light bill and let me have the couch to sleep on at night. Bell and I did not have a relationship together, we were just friends. I was helping her out by giving her a place to live, and in return I didn't have to come home every night to an empty house.

Chapter Two

I was working up to the sound of three young kids raising hell. It was 10 o'clock in the morning. Bell was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. When the kids noticed I was awake, they said good morning Jim, with great excitement in their voices. I got up off the sofa and made my way to the kitchen.

Bell sat there and smiled at me as I poured myself a cup of coffee. Rough night last night? She asked. I said yeah sort of but not too bad, I got home alright. She asked me if I was out chasing women all night. I gave her a smart ass answer, I said no, only half the night.

We drank our coffee, and I explained to her that I had met a woman last night.

Bell asked me what her name was. Denise is her name I explained. Bell`s youngest daughter hollered out that her name is the same as mine. Yes I know dear, I said to the little 5 year old girl.

Then the little girl came out in the kitchen where Bell and I were having our morning coffee. She stood there with her long pretty blonde hair and blue eyes, and asked me if she could meet her someday. Sure, I told her I took another drink of coffee.

Go back in the living room and watch cartoons Bell said to her little girl. So she did just that without an argument.

What's this woman like? Bell asked. I said well she is about forty-five years old and walks with a cane. Bell started laughing and said you must be real hard up. I said no i'm not, i didn't have sex with her, all we did was dance and had a few beers together. Well, that's good, Bell said, you might have caught some kind of funky disease off her. Yeah I know , that's part of the reason I didn't do anything with her, I replied.

Are you planning on seeing her again? Bell asked. Well I don't know at this point if I will or not. Why not, Bell asked? Yoùre not seeing anyone else right now. Yes I know, but she is really not what I had in mind for a girlfriend, I explained. As long as she is nice and treats you well, looks dont really matter, said Bell. I'll have to think about it, I said as I finished my coffee.

Bell didn't say anything after that, she just sat there thinking. Bell is a woman of 32 years of age. She has been married and divorced twice. Bell is pretty, she has blonde hair, blue eyes, and she is about 5’4" and weighs about 130 pounds. Bell and I get along well together as friends, and that is all we'll ever be. She has a boyfriend named Joe who sometimes stays with her.

Joe and I get along real good together, he knows where i'm coming from, and i know where he is coming from. Joe spent six years in prison, but he has never has never told me why. I guess he feels it is none of my business why he got locked up and I don't hold it against him.

After I finished my coffee, I got up from the table and went to take a shower. The hot water beating down on me felt refreshing after a hard night worth of drinking. I got out of the shower, got dressed, and headed to the barn to pump iron.

I had made myself a weight lifting room out in the old milk house in the barn. As I was getting set up to start lifting, memories of the days when my ex-wife's children used to help me in this same old barn came back to me. I sometimes miss her and the kids, but when i think of all the problems i had with her i seem to forget her quickly. I started my workout on the bench press. I had put 135 pounds on the bar for my warm-up set, of usually 10 reps. The air in the old barn seemed stylish as it rushed into my lungs rapidly as I continued lifting. I stopped for a moment, and added another 90 pounds to the bar.

Now i had 225 pounds on, just slightly more than i weigh. It seems like the older i get, the heavier the weights feel on the mornings after a good nights worth of partying.

I purchased my set of steel weights back in the winter of 1991, when i was off work for six months due to a knee injury i suffered on the job. Since than these weights have been with me through 40 different states. I used to take them with me on the road when i was running my 18 wheeler, i would put the weights in the big steel box of the tractor, and the bar and bench on the trailer. The time quickly past, and before i knew it, it was 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Then i remembered that Denise wanted me to call her after 3:30 pm. I thought , should i call her or not, would she even remember giving me her phone number? Then i said to myself, what the hell, what do i have to lose? So i picked up all the weights, and put them away, then i headed to the house to call Denise.

As I walked along the yard, I noticed Bell’s car was gone. Good, I said to myself, at least I'll be home alone while I talked with Denise.i stepped inside the back door of the trailer, pulled my wallet out and began searching for her number. After a few moments of looking, i found it.

I dialed her number, it rang about five times, I was about ready to hang it up, when suddenly I heard her answer hello, she said. hi , this is Jim. Do you know the guy you met at the bar last night? Hey! She replied, with great excitement. I didn't think you were really gonna call me, Denise said. I always try to remember to call all the women I meet in the bars from the night before. She laughed real loud, well you must be a real stud, she explained. Her voice sounded a lot like Marilyn Monroe, but she sure didn't look like Marilyn.

What are you doing later on tonight? Asked Denise. Not a hell of a lot of anything, I just got done lifting weights and now I'm going to take it easy. Wow! You lift weights? She asked anxiously. Yes i replied, i used to lift on a team for the army about 10 years ago. I thought you looked sort of muscular, she said.

Why don't you come over to my place for dinner tonight? Denise asked. I can't , I said to her. Why not? She asked. Because I don't know where you live, I explained. You poophead, she said with a real crazy laugh, i live at 140 Goodnough street right here in the city, about two blocks from the bar we were in last night. Alrighty then i said with a

smart ass tone to my voice, i will be there in about an hour