Read Online Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales by Randy Singer - Free Book Online
Authors: Randy Singer
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an order to slaughter innocent civilians. They were all herded down into a ditch and . . . bam-bam-bam .” Harry acted like he had a machine gun, pointing it into the ditch. “They just mowed ’em all down.
“But there were other men prosecuted for that slaughter as well. Do you know what their crime was?”
Harry surveyed the jury from right to left. He was out from behind the podium now, nothing between him and the jury box. “Their crime was that they allowed the massacre to happen. Because even in war, you don’t allow somebody to kill babies and rape innocent women.
“There is something called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United States is a signatory. I for one am glad we are. That charter acknowledges universal principles, and one of those is that we all have a responsibility to protect the most innocent and vulnerable among us from the atrocities of war.”
Harry was old-school and didn’t use PowerPoint. Instead, he pulled out his most gruesome pictures, blown up and mounted on poster board, and quietly placed them in front of the jury. He walked back behind the podium.
“There is no doubt that somebody assassinated Ahmed Al-Latif. Did it stop the atrocities shown in these photographs? No. But did it slow them down? Possibly.
“My client didn’t assassinate this Sudanese official. But whoever did, they shouldn’t be prosecuted. They should be congratulated.”
“Objection!” Elias King said.
The objection was sustained, but Harry didn’t seem to care.
“I take no joy in showing you these photographs. I take no pride in describing the unspeakable horrors that took place in Sudan. But that’sthe real world. And just because Mr. King wants to pretend it doesn’t exist—that won’t make it go away.”
“Objection!”
“Sustained. You’re pushing it, Mr. McNaughten.”
“Sorry, Your Honor.” Harry lowered his voice. “George Orwell once said that people like us sleep peacefully in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.
“Now, I know what Mr. King is going to say in his rebuttal. No international law authorizes the assassination of another country’s government officials. We can’t allow people to become vigilantes and take matters into their own hands. But when he’s giving that rebuttal argument, ask yourself these questions: ‘How long do we have to wait to bring someone like Al-Latif to justice? How long do we allow him to play judge, jury, and executioner—along with torturer in chief—before somebody does something about it?’”
Harry McNaughten lowered his voice another notch until it was a barely audible growl. “If you acquit my client, you’ll sleep peacefully tonight knowing that you have done the right thing.”
It took the jury less than three hours to do exactly what Harry McNaughten had suggested. And since the alleged triggerman was acquitted, Sean Phoenix was acquitted too. Before leaving town the next day, Sean stopped by the offices of McNaughten and Clay. He put Harry on retainer and hired Brent Benedict to handle a few of Cipher Inc.’s cases working their way through the appellate courts.
“Men like me need defense lawyers like you,” Sean told Harry.
“That informant almost took you down,” Harry said. “Men like you need to be more careful who you hire.”
///
Prosecutors are expected to win the big cases, and for Elias King, the handwriting was on the wall. The Al-Latif fiasco, coupled with a presidential election that put King’s party on the outside looking in, ledto a change in the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A year after losing the biggest case of his career as a prosecutor, King moved to the “dark side,” representing white-collar criminals as a partner at Kilgore and Strobel, one of Norfolk’s oldest and most distinguished firms.
King’s tenacity and work ethic served him well in the private sector, and before long he had become one of
“But there were other men prosecuted for that slaughter as well. Do you know what their crime was?”
Harry surveyed the jury from right to left. He was out from behind the podium now, nothing between him and the jury box. “Their crime was that they allowed the massacre to happen. Because even in war, you don’t allow somebody to kill babies and rape innocent women.
“There is something called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United States is a signatory. I for one am glad we are. That charter acknowledges universal principles, and one of those is that we all have a responsibility to protect the most innocent and vulnerable among us from the atrocities of war.”
Harry was old-school and didn’t use PowerPoint. Instead, he pulled out his most gruesome pictures, blown up and mounted on poster board, and quietly placed them in front of the jury. He walked back behind the podium.
“There is no doubt that somebody assassinated Ahmed Al-Latif. Did it stop the atrocities shown in these photographs? No. But did it slow them down? Possibly.
“My client didn’t assassinate this Sudanese official. But whoever did, they shouldn’t be prosecuted. They should be congratulated.”
“Objection!” Elias King said.
The objection was sustained, but Harry didn’t seem to care.
“I take no joy in showing you these photographs. I take no pride in describing the unspeakable horrors that took place in Sudan. But that’sthe real world. And just because Mr. King wants to pretend it doesn’t exist—that won’t make it go away.”
“Objection!”
“Sustained. You’re pushing it, Mr. McNaughten.”
“Sorry, Your Honor.” Harry lowered his voice. “George Orwell once said that people like us sleep peacefully in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.
“Now, I know what Mr. King is going to say in his rebuttal. No international law authorizes the assassination of another country’s government officials. We can’t allow people to become vigilantes and take matters into their own hands. But when he’s giving that rebuttal argument, ask yourself these questions: ‘How long do we have to wait to bring someone like Al-Latif to justice? How long do we allow him to play judge, jury, and executioner—along with torturer in chief—before somebody does something about it?’”
Harry McNaughten lowered his voice another notch until it was a barely audible growl. “If you acquit my client, you’ll sleep peacefully tonight knowing that you have done the right thing.”
It took the jury less than three hours to do exactly what Harry McNaughten had suggested. And since the alleged triggerman was acquitted, Sean Phoenix was acquitted too. Before leaving town the next day, Sean stopped by the offices of McNaughten and Clay. He put Harry on retainer and hired Brent Benedict to handle a few of Cipher Inc.’s cases working their way through the appellate courts.
“Men like me need defense lawyers like you,” Sean told Harry.
“That informant almost took you down,” Harry said. “Men like you need to be more careful who you hire.”
///
Prosecutors are expected to win the big cases, and for Elias King, the handwriting was on the wall. The Al-Latif fiasco, coupled with a presidential election that put King’s party on the outside looking in, ledto a change in the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A year after losing the biggest case of his career as a prosecutor, King moved to the “dark side,” representing white-collar criminals as a partner at Kilgore and Strobel, one of Norfolk’s oldest and most distinguished firms.
King’s tenacity and work ethic served him well in the private sector, and before long he had become one of
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