Fatal Convictions

81

Alex and Shannon both knew that Special Agent Michael Long would be a tougher witness than the mosque’s sheepish bookkeeper. Long took the stand with an air of crisp authority. He was clean-cut, articulate, and handsome enough to have the single women on the jury drooling. Alex had no doubt that Taj Deegan would draw out his testimony as long as she could.

Long’s role was to authenticate the text messages sent from Khalid Mobassar’s cell phone. To get there, he would have to explain the ins and outs of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Patriot Act, as well as the reasons that the Department of Justice had been tapping Khalid Mobassar’s phone. Since Agent Long had a law school education, Taj Deegan turned his testimony into a tutorial on the legal basis for national-security wiretaps.

“So long as the primary purpose of the eavesdropping is to obtain foreign intelligence information, the special court will allow the wiretaps to take place,” Long explained. He discussed the government’s concern that mosques like the Islamic Learning Center were sending funds to Hezbollah to help in the rebuilding of Beirut following the 2006 war. “Hezbollah is a known terrorist organization with a history of attacking innocent civilians and American soldiers. It is one of the two or three most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world,” he testified.

He talked about the specific authorizations that were obtained under FISA and the Patriot Act to record phone conversations and intercept text messages and e-mails sent and received by leaders of the Islamic Learning Center.

“Did those leaders include Mr. Khalid Mobassar and Mr. Fatih Mahdi?” Deegan asked.

“Yes, ma’am, those men were included.”

Shannon stood and addressed the court. “At this time we would renew our earlier objection to the admissibility of any information obtained under the Patriot Act on the grounds that the act is unconstitutional as applied to our client. The Patriot Act does not require probable cause-”

“I know the argument,” Judge Rosenthal said, cutting her off and motioning her back to her seat. “And I’m overruling the objection for the reasons previously stated in my opinion.”

“After the murders of Ja’dah Mahdi and Martin Burns, did the local authorities request access to the phone records and e-mails of the imams at the Islamic Learning Center as well as Mr. Mahdi?” Taj Deegan asked.

“That’s correct. They did.”

“And were you part of the team that searched those records?”

“Yes, ma’am. I supervised that team.”

“Did you find any text messages, e-mails, or phone conversations related to the murders of Ja’dah Mahdi and Martin Burns?”

Long testified about running searches through the digitized programs that recorded conversations and text messages. He explained the various search terms and parameters the authorities used to unearth the messages related to the murder investigation.

Once the technicalities had been covered, Taj Deegan made a Hollywood production of introducing the text messages into evidence and having them read to the jury. She had reproduced them on poster-board blowups that she placed on easels so the jury could read along. After she milked the testimony for all it was worth, she asked the witness whether he personally ran searches on text messages, e-mails, and phone conversations by Fatih Mahdi.

“Yes, ma’am, I did.”

“And did those searches reveal any text messages, e-mails, or phone conversations that would in any way implicate Mr. Mahdi in the murder of his wife or Martin Burns?”

This time, Special Agent Long hesitated for a second or two so that he could have the jury’s undivided attention.

“No, ma’am, they did not.”

“Your witness,” Deegan said.