Florence Ballard her suit. Angered, Gordy ordered her to return to Detroit, and Birdsong officially replaced her, abruptly ending her tenure with the Supremes. It had been decided as early as May that Birdsong would be Ballard's official replacement once Birdsong's contract with the Bluebelles was bought out. In August 1967, the "Detroit Free Press" reported that Ballard had taken a temporary leave of absence from the group due to "exhaustion". Ballard eventually married her boyfriend, Thomas Chapman, on February 29, 1968. A week earlier, on February 22, Ballard and Motown negotiated to have Ballard released from the label. Her attorney in
Laura Ballard work smoothly together on a case involving girl gang members, and are pleased that they don't have to call on their male colleagues to come in and "save the day". Laura Ballard Laura Ballard is a fictional character in "", played by Callie Thorne. She is a police detective in the homicide division of the Baltimore Police Department. Ballard was born on November 20, 1968 and first appeared in Season 6 after changing police departments from Seattle. She arrives in Baltimore and quickly impresses Lieutenant Al Giardello, and after a rocky start wins over Detective Frank Pembleton as well. She