She-Hulk (Vol. 3) #9
The Good Old Days: Part 2
Folger v. Rogers. Day 1.
Steve Rogers is in the middle of a wrongful death suit of Sam Fogler who died in 1940. The lawsuit was filed by Harold Fogler, a relative, who has recently died of old age. Defending him in court is the She-Hulk. However, things are complicated as Matt Murdock is the lawyer for the prosecution. Matt Murdock has the opening statement, explaining to the jury how a dying declaration is admissible in a court of law. With that out of the way, he calls the first asks Officer McKinley, the police officer that took Harold's a death bed statement. The officer tells the story of Steve Rogers, the man who used to be Captain America, that happened in 1940. Officer McKinley begins reading off the statement taken from Fogler's death bed.
Los Angeles, 1940
Harold Folger admits that back in those days he got in with a bad crowd, however at the time he didn't want to be a soldier and they were paying him, giving him a roof over his head, and three meals a day. He followed them to Los Angeles to work with them hoping to get by until the war was over. Unfortunately, during a heated meeting with their leader, Harold went outside to get some fresh air where he discovered that his brother Sam and his friend Steve Rogers followed him to California to talk him into coming back home. When Harold refused, Steve spoke up despite the fact that he was a scrawny young man he was firm and to the point. It was then that one of the other men in the meeting went outside and caught Sam and Steve talking to Harold. Sam and Steve were then hauled into the warehouse where they were questioned by the leader of this gang. Harold was sure he could have talked sense into them and let his brother and his friend go. However, Steve Rogers kept on talking and talking, to the point where Harold's boss pulled out a gun and shot Sam dead. Not long after, when Captain America appeared on the scene he instantly recognized was Steve Rogers. At the time he kept that a secret, not wanting to tarnish the legend of the man. However, now that he was on his deathbed he wanted the truth to be known.
The Present
With the testimony read aloud, Matt Murdock addresses the jury and tells them that it will be his job is to convince them that this was a wrongful act and was negligent. Hearing all this, Jen thinks that they will have an uphill battle ahead of them. Steve Rogers, however, is confident to see how things play themselves out. Next, Murdock calls the chief archivist of the LA police. He reads out a hard copy of the police report filed on November 6, 1940, relating to the incident. The archivist reads the report which confirms the death, the presence of Steve Rogers, and quotes Rogers as saying "this is all my fault" at the time. When Jennifer gets to cross-examine this witness and asks him about the possibility that the report was a forgery of some kind. When he admits that it is a rare occurrence, Jen ends her cross-examination.
Next, Murdock calls up Professor Flannigan who is part of the history department at Stanford University. He questions her regarding the date in which Steve Rogers tried to enlist in the military and subsequently volunteered for the Super Soldier program. She confirms that those events happened a week after the incident in question. After she confirms that the experiment cost a number of lives and that they often took criminal volunteers for the experiment as well. With that, Murdock ends his questions. When Jennifer's turn comes up, she asks Flannigan if patriots also signed up for that program, which she confirms. When She-Hulk asks if any such individuals are in the courtroom. The question is not answered due to an objection from Murdock. However, this is overruled, and Flannigan points out Steve Rogers as such a patriot, saying that everyone knows his story. The judge calls an end of processions for the day and states that tomorrow they will hear testimony from Steve Rogers.
Back at the law offices of Matt Rocks, Jennifer begins preparing for the next day. She goes over some tips she got from Tony Stark's lawyer to try and get Matt Murdock removed from the case and getting a mistrial called. However, Steve rejects this idea, still insisting that they try and win the trial fair and square. She-Hulk assures him that it will take extra work, but she is certain that she can win this trial. However, once Steve leaves, she is certain that she is screwed. When Angie suggests that things are not that bad, Jennifer points out that this is a civil case and that Murdock only needs to give them the benefit of the doubt. She-Hulk wants to win this case because this could tarnish Captain America's legacy forever especially since at his age he could possibly die at any moment. She then checks in on Hellcat to see how she is doing on her mission. Patsy answers her phone while breaking into a top-secret facility. She tells Jen that she can't talk and ends the call. After seeing Hei Hei's drawing of a banana of an exhausted Jennifer Walters heads out to get a few hours of sleep.
Later that evening, She-Hulk is woken up by a knock on her window. When she goes to the patio she finds Daredevil standing outside waiting for her. He tells her that he is not there as part of a lawyer conference, but as Daredevil. He then makes Jennifer chase him across the city. When he stops he explains that they both needed the exercise after a tense day in court. When Jen asks why she is prosecuting Steve Rogers, Daredevil shocks her by saying that Steve asked him to do so. She then realizes that Daredevil led her to the warehouse where everything happened all those years ago. He tells her that no matter what happens, Steve wants them both to do their best to find the truth, saying that if he won't let either of them save him, maybe he will save himself. The following day in court when Steve Rogers is sworn in. Murdock begins his questioning Rogers first, asking him if they want to go over the testimony from the day before. Steve then shocks everyone by saying that there is no need to waste everyone's time and that everything said in the testimony is true.
Recurring Characters
She-Hulk, Steve Rogers, Matt Rocks, Angie Huang, Hellcat, Daredevil, Saurespritze, Hei Hei
Continuity Notes
She-Hulk mentions the "whole Shadowland" thing. She is referring to the Shadowland event as seen in Shadowland #1-5.
Daredevil states that the incident in question happened around 70 years prior to this story. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, this measurement of time should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication.
