D.A.'s side of the fence

After Joe's short and jokingly expressed protest, he added, "But very well, if that is the case, this will indeed make things more efficient and as you well know, I have no problem with efficiency." He then turned his attention towards Laila as he said, "Hello Laila, how have you been holding up while your husband is getting himself involved with all these crazy people? What about the pregnancy? Is it going well?"

Laila chuckled and said, "Hi Joe, I am doing fine. Thank you for asking. The pregnancy is also progressing nicely and the way it should be. Most of the pregnancy symptoms have passed, only the fatigue remains when I push myself too much. But that is the big stick that keeps me in check I suppose. As for my crazy husband, what can I say? I am used to it by now." With a chuckle she added, "At least he keeps my days interesting. I never know what to expect." Then she too turned the topic away from Noah and said, "But enough about him. How have you been?"

It was a strange tranquil moment they shared. In that moment you would think that this was any other day. One where Joe was nothing more than a friend and they were exchanging the normal pleasantries. Nothing in their conversation showed that there was anything going on that would require serious talks with a lawyer. But that moment was over once Joe had answered Laila's question. Because Noah was quite over being ignored and there was indeed enough to be discussed. So, Noah did what he felt was necessary, in a way which wasn't, in order to change the conversation back to him and Joe talking business again.

The switch came after Noah said, "Now that we have established that everyone is doing fine and you have come to an agreement that I am crazy, should we get back to discussing Harold and his imps or are there anymore complaints about me which need to be discussed." After that Joe and Laila each let out a short chuckle on their own side of the phone call. Laila doing so while glancing at Noah and giving him a playful push, and Joe having to settle for the visual created by his own imagination of Noah's face in that moment. Once Joe had expressed his amusement, he cleared his throat and he started speaking again, but this time about the case he was aiming to win.

He explained to Noah what evidence he had been handed by Anthony and Max so far and how he would be using said evidence. While Joe spoke, Laila pointed at the things that he needed to pack for Maria. Now that the important stuff had come up, Noah was fully focussed on what Joe had to say and the packing was moving at a slower pace than before. He had even forgotten to make a remark about being laughed at by him and Laila and wasn't likely to remember or bring it up after Joe was done speaking. Instead of that, he was trying to follow all the steps that Joe would be taking in order to maximize the effect of the evidence during the trials and how things would be proceeding from here on out in general.

Joe told Noah about the different charges he would lay on each of them and what level of punishment he was aiming for during these trials. He told him about the pre-trial hearings and how he would get a judge to try them all a the same time. Joe also told Noah and Laila that he would not only be going for punishing them with imprisonment, he would also be making sure they would feel the pain financially. He would sue for punitive damages, make them pay collectively for the damage done to the I.E. garage, to Steve's car and whatever else he could sue for. "Oh and of course let us not forget about the damage they did to your house when they went after our sweet Laila and her friend as well as the costs you incurred when you had to hire personal bodyguards to protect yourself against their threats. By the time I am done with them, they will have nothing left but the prison clothes the country provides them with."

Of course Joe wouldn't be able to do this all on his own as he was a lawyer and not the district's attorney. Only the defendant has a lawyer in a criminal hearing. So, with Noah and Steve being on the plaintiff side, or the victims of this case, their case would be tried by the government officials and not a private lawyer. Therefore Joe had no real say in what charges would be brought against Harold and his accomplices during the criminal trial, only if they were to also file a case against them in civil court. But that only dealt with monetary damages and punishments, not jailtime. However Joe wouldn't be Joe if he didn't have a connection on the district's attorney side of the fence as well.