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In Defense of Ms. Queen Nwoye
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, now that you have heard all the facts and evidence presented before you, it is time, in accordance with the federal rules of evidence as well as the rules of this court, to make our closing arguments. I will be brief.
At the very beginning, prior to the presentation of evidence by the government, I told you, in my opening statement, that this case arose from a hastily concocted charge, compounded by a shoddy investigation by an overzealous and over-ambitious government agent who wanted to make a name for himself against Ms. Queen Nwoye, a hard-working, honest, and tax-paying citizen, whose good name has now been permanently destroyed by the public ridicule she continues to endure due to the bogus charge of the crime of extortion.
First, we will not insult you by denying that Ms. Nwoye was Dr. Ikemba Iweala's paramour for more than two years. But, ladies and gentlemen, that is the one and only statement of fact in all the allegations presented as facts by the government. We admit that she is wrong for aiding and abetting the commission of the crime of adultery committed by Dr. Ikemba Iweala. However, don't forget that the charge, which you are called to decide, is not adultery or even aiding and abetting of adultery. Please do not forget that adultery is not the charge before you.
Second, remember that the charge is 'extortion': a very serious felony that is not warranted by the evidence presented here.
As you heard from the evidence, Dr. Ikemba Iweala had been deprived of his wife's services for many months while his wife was away from the matrimonial home serving a different master called Nigeria. This deprivation was apparently taking a toll on him as well as affecting his work until he, luckily, discovered Ms. Nwoye. Ms. Nwoye faithfully began to provide him with therapeutic services as a surrogate, foster, stand-in, temporary, spouse. Remember that this was a very busy prominent physician who needed to have the periodic indiscretion in order to maintain his sanity and continue to provide his patients with the standard of care commensurate to his profession. Mind you also that his spouse, who was serving Nigeria thousands of miles away from Washington, needed such reliable assistant as Ms. Nwoye to help perform the matrimonial duties because Ms. Nwoye was not the typical home-breaker. Ms. Nwoye was the rare substitute wife who served without demanding a break-up of the family, without trying to take over another woman's husband.
Ask yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, how much money the service of Ms. Nwoye, over a two-year period, was worth. How much? As a registered nurse working long tedious hours (as all the nurses now do) in addition to overtime and holiday hours, she would certainly have made more than $185,000 in two years.
Would it be wrong then for Dr. Ikemba Iweala, in an abundant show of gratitude in addition to the services, to give Ms. Nwoye One Hundred and Eighty Five Thousand Dollars or even One Million Dollars? Would it be wrong? Historically, have men not routinely paid for such services? Does it matter if it was Ten Dollars or One Hundred and Eighty Five Thousand Dollars? Do you see in the legal definition of extortion, which the judge has read to you, that it is a crime to give someone $185,000?
Ladies and gentlemen, what I have just told you, using questions, is exactly what happened. I framed my arguments in the form of questions because the government, according to the law, must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt; so that if you have any doubt based on your deliberations over my questions, you must return a verdict of not guilty. That is the law. Ms. Nwoye was paid for her services voluntarily, without coercion, without undue influence, and certainly without the type of force that amounts, under the law, to extortion.
You may be wondering why the money was paid in different installments, to different people, in cash, money order, and in different bank accounts. Let me ask you this: is it farfetched that Ms. Nwoye's accuser, Dr. Iweala, personally wanted the payments funneled through various conduits to hide from his wife the size of the compensation he was making to the family surrogate? Is it out of the realm of possibilities that he was afraid that the wife would have valued the services at a smaller dollar amount than the $185,000 and so to hide the payments, he used various conduits? Can we not conclude, as reasonable men and women that the husband who was receiving the services, and thus was in a better position to appraise them, had a higher and more accurate valuation amounting to $185,000? Ladies and gentlemen, is it implausible that when the wife discovered the amount actually paid to Ms. Nwoye, that the husband panicked, called the FBI, filed a report alleging extortion and now you have an innocent poor lady of unblemished background facing prison time for a concocted charge?
Please think about these questions, because if you have any reasonable doubt, as you should, under the law you must acquit Ms. Nwoye of the charge.
You may also be wondering about the third character in the money-collection equation called Ufondu. Have you heard any testimony from him? Did you read any transcript of any secretly recorded conversation between him and Ms. Nwoye? No. Even in the Affidavit that the government used to obtain the warrant to arrest Ms. Nwoye, was there any quotation of Ufondu's statements that would implicate Ms. Nwoye other than the allegations of the primary accuser Dr. Iweala? Now think about this, ladies and gentlemen, when did it become a crime to use the assistance of a friend to obtain the compensation for one's services?
Would it be wrong for Ms. Nwoye to ask Mr. Ufondu, who was a dear friend of hers, to assist her in persuading Dr. Iweala to pay her what he promised? Remember that all the characters in this case are Nigerians. In Nigeria, when your employer has not paid you, you do not run to the courts as Americans do. You use friends, relatives, traditional rulers, and other prominent persons to approach the employer. When Ms. Nwoye contacted Mr. Ufondu on the issue of her entitlements from Dr. Iweala, it was certainly not for the purpose of extortion for a person cannot be guilty of extortion when she merely sought what she was promised or what she reasonably believed that she was owed. If Mr. Ufondu used methods that may have been misinterpreted by the government (or even Dr. Iweala) as amounting to extortion, how does that implicate Ms. Nwoye? Did she conspire with Mr. Ufondu to obtain money for services that she did not perform? No. Again, I must remind you that, according to the law, if you have any reasonable doubt, as you should, you must acquit Ms. Nwoye of this charge.
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, you may be wondering about the alleged photographing of the accuser and Ms. Nwoye while both were discussing her compensation in the vehicle at the parking premises of the hospital. Ufondu told Ms. Nwoye of the existence of the photographs, after the fact. In fact, if you read the government's Affidavit, it clearly states that it was Ufondu who, referring to the photographing at the parking lot, reminded Dr. Iweala that he, Ufondu, had previously warned Dr. Iweala that Ms. Nwoye was being followed. Did he not imply by that statement that someone, perhaps the photographer, was following Ms. Nwoye without her knowledge? As of today, Ms. Nwoye has never seen those photographs and had nothing to do with them, assuming they even exist.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, is it implausible that Ms. Nwoye having invited his friend Ufondu to assist her in collecting her compensation from Dr. Ikemba Iweala, that an overbearing Ufondu took it upon himself to hatch a plot or two that may have been misinterpreted as extortion? After all, this innocent woman served the Iwealas faithfully for many months until Ufondu came into the picture?
Was there a gun held to Dr. Iweala's head by Ms. Nwoye? Was there a threat of force? Was there a kidnapping of his loved ones and a corresponding request for ransom? Was there a specific threat to cause physical injury to him? Based on the evidence presented before you, the answers to these questions are in the negative. How is it that these monies were paid in various installments over several weeks if there was such threat or fear that would amount to extortion? If the first payment was extortion, why did the accuser wait for the fourth or is it fifth payments before contacting the government? Why? It does not make sense ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Remember that two payments of $20,000 each had already been made before the accuser voluntarily agreed to another rendezvous with Ms. Nwoye at the parking lot: if that singular fact does not persuade you that there was no extortion, then I have no faith in the jury system.
I ask you ladies and gentlemen to see this case for what it is: a payment for services faithfully rendered, but when the payer had a change of heart due to the discovery by his wife of the size of the compensation, he decided that it was extortion to be reported to the authorities. Based on the evidence, you should be convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that Ms. Nwoye performed her services so creditably, so beautifully, that the gentle doctor would, if offered the opportunity today, happily accept another sweet distraction with her. You did not hear any testimony from Dr. Iweala that Ms. Nwoye did not perform her services well. Ms. Nwoye is not guilty. Please don't send this sweet and innocent woman to prison.
WayoGuy@aol.com
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Posted by Robot| 22.01.2007 07:36