Fatal Convictions

73

The days between Thanksgiving and the start of Khalid’s trial passed in a giant blur of paperwork and trial prep. Alex arrived at the office every day by 8 a.m. and was typically the last person there, frequently leaving after midnight. He had witness notebooks to prepare, subpoenas to issue, exhibits to review, and an opening statement to write. Meanwhile, Shannon took the lead on pretrial motions, jury instructions, and collecting information on the prospective jurors.

Alex spent three entire afternoons preparing Khalid for his turn on the stand. During one of those afternoons, Shannon conducted a mock cross-examination, and they videotaped Khalid’s answers.

Complicating matters was the fact that Alex was not as focused as he needed to be. Though he and Nara both tried to act as if the Thanksgiving night kiss had never occurred, he couldn’t get her out of his thoughts. The others on the trial team could apparently sense that things had changed dramatically between Alex and Nara. For one thing, they were no longer constantly at each other’s throat about trial strategies. In fact, Nara was so supportive of Alex that it became a little awkward for everyone else. All of this only made Shannon more businesslike; Alex thought he detected a slight tinge of jealousy in the air.

Late one afternoon, Alex’s grandmother mentioned something about it. “It’s really none of my business what goes on between you and Nara,” Ramona said, “except I do know that your grandfather had some pretty strict rules about fraternization with clients.”

“I’m not fraternizing with her,” Alex said. And it is none of your business, he felt like adding.

Ramona took a quick glance around. Alex could sense that she had been debating whether to say anything at all. “I just don’t want to see you mess up things with Shannon,” she said. “I always thought you two would make a great pair.”

The comment caught Alex a little off guard. He and Shannon had developed an amazing friendship. But even before Nara had arrived on the scene, he had decided not to ruin a special friendship by making another attempt to date her. “Shannon and I are really good friends, Grandma. And we work great together. But we’ve kind of got an unspoken pact that we won’t jeopardize that by trying to turn it into something more.”

“I see,” Ramona said. “And like I said, it’s really none of my business. I’m just not so sure that Shannon remembers signing that pact.”***

Three days before trial, Judge Rosenthal surprised Alex by ordering the federal government to immediately turn over Fatih Mahdi’s telephone calls, text messages, and e-mails. Boxes of CDs and documents arrived the next day. Ramona and Nara immediately began the mind-numbing task of listening to every telephone conversation and reviewing every e-mail and text message Fatih had sent or received.

As the trial grew closer, Alex vacillated about whether to put Nara on the stand. The torment of that decision was exacerbated by the fact that he couldn’t discuss it with anyone except her. On the eve of trial, they agreed to play it by ear. Nara would take the stand only if it looked like they might otherwise lose the case.