MILKSOP Chapter 44

The Problem
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The ever changing business model caused Archie to spend more time in keeping up with the competition than working at law.

He was in the foyer one day reading some mail that had arrived when a slightly disheveled man approached and said, “Are you Archie?”

Archie answered and said, “Yes, how can I help you?”

The man said, “My name is Judge Mason, and I live deep in the hill country. I'm not a papered Judge, but people come to me when they have a dispute and I try to settle it with out someone getting cut up.  

 

We folks up there seldom get to town, for we live mostly live off'en the land.

The drug and alcohol people are giving us this problem and, it is partly a misunderstanding on their part.  I want you to help us straighten it out.”

Archie said, “I will be glad to help you if I can, but first you must give me all the details that led up to the problem.”

The Judge said, “This started back almost two hundred years ago.  We hill folks were the first to settle here in this part of Texas and it was and still is today our habit to make what you might call a festive drink.

As it turned out, people started calling it boot leg whiskey.  Then the government declared it illegal making everybody in the hill country a criminal because about everybody out there brews it.

There is a market for boot leg and there are some who make it to sell instead of just for personal consumption, and this brings me to the problem I have.

Several of the bootleggers got together and hired a truck to bring their squeezing to town, and as it turned out the man who owned the truck helped his-self to some of the product.

The problem is one or more of the bootleggers had unknowingly run some poisoned boot and the truck driver was unlucky enough to drink some of the poison whiskey.

Before he went to the hospital he sent word for his nephew, Junior to come and get the truck where he had left it.  

 

Junior was to first come to the hospital and get his keys and take the truck back home and make the bootleggers unload their whiskey and dump it or whatever they wanted.

Since the only phone was at the general store it was a day later before Junior got the message and another day for him to get there.  His uncle was still in a coma when Junior got to the hospital and so he just took the keys and left.”

Archie had been listening attentively but stopped him and asked if Junior knew what was in the truck.

Judge Mason said, “I think he did have an idea because his uncle told him to take it back to the bootleggers.  

 

Meanwhile the Feds had staked the truck out and was waiting for someone to come and pick it up.  When Junior arrived to take the truck he was arrested and taken to jail.”

By this time Archie had a pretty good idea what was going on and what he had to do.

He told the Judge that something like this would cost quite a bit to defend.

Judge Mason said, “I was hoping you would take this for nothing, Pro bono like.”

Several thoughts went through Archie's head all at once.  He concluded he would need help from one of his criminal defense lawyers, and he didn't know how the other partners would respond to no fee case.

He told Judge Mason to come back in the afternoon and he would give him his answer.

Archie talked this all over as he knew it with his partners.  

 

One of the defense lawyers spoke up and said, “I will talk to the Judge when he comes back, and if it is just like he said it was - - I will help you. 

 

As far as the fee we can waive that in this particular case as long as they know we won't do this for everybody.”  

 

Archie said, “Good, he will be here before long.”

To be Continued