Fatal Convictions

77

Alex wore a white shirt and yellow tie with his suit for his opening statement. The textbooks said not to alienate the jury by the way you dress.

Taj Deegan apparently didn’t read the same textbooks. The prosecutor displayed a classy nonconformist streak-pressed gray dress slacks with a wide leg, a hunter green suit jacket, gold chandelier earrings, and layered gold chains. Alex admired the attitude. If the jury didn’t like it-tough. Taj did, and that was all that mattered.

When she stood to give her opening, she took a sip of water and walked without notes to the jury box. All eyes were on her, and the prosecutor seemed to like it that way.

“Every year, dozens of fires are set by volunteer firefighters. John Orr, for example, headed a large California arson squad and had a reputation for uncanny instincts about how fires started. It turned out that it wasn’t instinct at all. It was inside knowledge. Orr set the fires himself.”

Alex had been so surprised by Taj Deegan’s opening remarks that he didn’t object until Shannon leaned across Khalid and prompted him.

“I object, Your Honor. If I’m not mistaken, John Orr is not even on trial here.”

Judge Rosenthal looked as confused as Alex. “Sustained,” he said. “Let’s stick to the facts of this case.”

Taj Deegan looked at him and smiled. “Sorry, Your Honor. I just thought it might help to provide the jury with a little context.”

She turned back to the jury, and they were even more attentive than before. “Why would a firefighter start a fire?” she asked. And then quickly added, “And what’s that got to do with this case?”

Alex half-rose to object, but Taj veered in a new direction before he got the words out.

“The defendant, Khalid Mobassar, ordered the beheading of Ja’dah Fatima Mahdi and the execution of her friend Martin Burns,” Taj said. She had that authoritative prosecutor’s voice going now, deep for a woman, a voice that said, Trust me. “The commonwealth will present overwhelming evidence linking the defendant to these gruesome murders. We will show you text messages from the defendant ordering the killings, text messages from the killer’s phone to the defendant confirming the killings, money diverted from the defendant’s mosque to pay for the killings, and an Internet search from the defendant’s computer to find the place for the killings. It’s like he gave us a digital blueprint… digital DNA, if you will. All that evidence points to only one person.”

Taj Deegan paused for a moment so that the jury could take all of this in. She half-turned and looked at Khalid. Alex had coached his client to meet her stare and not blink.

“That evidence alone would be enough to convict Mr. Mobassar beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said, turning back to the jury. “I will go into that evidence in great detail in a few minutes. But that evidence doesn’t answer the question of why he did this. And though the commonwealth doesn’t need to answer the why question in order for you to convict the defendant of conspiracy to commit murder, it sure helps when you’re trying to fit all the pieces together.

“I like to use the analogy of a puzzle.” Taj walked in front of the jury box now, a little chat with her friends who had promised to do justice in this case. “The various pieces of evidence are like the pieces of the puzzle. And when you fit them together, they’ll form a picture of the defendant. But if we understand motive, it’s like looking at the picture on the puzzle box. It helps us understand where the pieces go and how they relate. So let me talk to you first about that puzzle box. Why would somebody order such gruesome crimes?”

Taj had everyone’s attention, including Alex’s, though he tried hard to look disinterested. He scribbled a few notes, the picture of calm. Inside, his stomach was in knots.

“The defendant is an imam at the Islamic Learning Center in Norfolk, Virginia. He is an outspoken critic of fundamentalist Muslims. In fact, he has a very important book that he was about to publish when these honor killings occurred. That book represents the culmination of his entire life’s work. It is his attempt to reform the Muslim faith, a religion that claims 1.5 billion adherents.

“When I sit down, I suspect that Mr. Madison is going to stand up and tell you that his client could not possibly have ordered these murders. That you should ignore the evidence against him because the defendant is not the type of religious leader who would ever order the gruesome act of beheading someone just because they converted to Christianity.”

Taj twisted her face as if she was deep in thought. “And on the surface, that makes a certain amount of sense. Mr. Mobassar is a reformer. He detests violence in the name of Islam. But think about it for a moment on a deeper level. In fact, let me show you something.”

Taj walked back to her counsel table and picked up a few books that Alex recognized.

“When we executed a search warrant at Mr. Mobassar’s house, we found some fascinating books in his library. There were books on the lives of reformers like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The defendant had marked these books and dog-eared the pages. He apparently saw himself as someone who stood in their tradition-a reformer of the highest order.”

Taj took one of the books to the jury box, showing the jury some highlighted portions. “We’ll introduce these into evidence, and you can look for yourselves. You’ll want to take special note of the sections Mr. Mobassar highlighted. He was apparently fascinated with the fact that these men were persecuted and imprisoned for their efforts. And when that happened, it jump-started their movements, giving them a louder megaphone so their ideas could spread faster. In other words, a little controversy can catapult a reformer onto the front pages of the papers and the feature slots on the television news shows. Just like it takes a fire for a firefighter to become a hero.”

Again, Alex wanted to object. But if he did so now, it would only highlight her point.

“Unfortunately for Mr. Mobassar, there were a few things he didn’t know. He didn’t know that his phone was being tapped under the Patriot Act. He didn’t know that the Internet searches he conducted on his computer were under surveillance as well. He didn’t know that his past association with terrorists allowed the government to scrutinize his every move.”

As Deegan continued, Alex lost focus on what she was saying. Instead, he was frantically trying to process the implications of her masterful opening statement.

In five short minutes, she had just gutted the entire theme of his case. In his opening, Alex was going to emphasize that Khalid was a true reformer. But somehow, Taj Deegan had now twisted the logic so that Khalid’s penchant for reform had become his worst enemy. The more Alex emphasized Khalid’s desire to reform the Muslim faith, the more he was playing into Deegan’s hands.

“The defendant knew that Ja’dah Fatima Mahdi’s husband had strong fundamentalist views about the roles of women in the Islamic faith,” Deegan continued. “They were views that the defendant detested. And he knew that Fatih Mahdi would be an easy target to blame.”

Taj paused, looked down, and gathered her thoughts. She delivered her conclusion full force, looking the jury straight in the eye, summoning a silent pact that she would do her part for justice if they did theirs.

“Firefighters don’t start fires; they put them out. And reformers don’t commit honor killings; they rail against them.

“So why would the defendant order the honor killing of someone in his own mosque, especially when that someone was the wife of a friend? Because every reform movement needs a hero. And every hero needs a controversy. And sometimes, it’s necessary to sacrifice the lives of a few in order to change the course of history.”

She let the statement hang out there for a moment and then returned to her seat, heels clicking against the hardwood floor.

Judge Rosenthal turned to Alex. “Does the defense wish to present an opening statement?”