Alex had just sat down when Taj Deegan mentioned other honor killings. He jumped back up as if his seat were electrically charged. “I object, Judge! That has no place in this trial!”
To Alex’s great dismay, the jurors were leaning forward. Dr. Davidson had an eccentric personality that had already intrigued them. And now the lawyers were adding yet another twist. “Other honor killings.” This case was getting juicier by the minute.
“Approach the bench,” Rosenthal ordered.
On the way up, Alex glared at Deegan. She knew exactly what she was doing. Even if the judge sustained Alex’s objection, she had planted the specter of the other honor killings in the minds of the jury.
“I can’t believe you stooped to that,” Alex whispered to her, just out of earshot of the judge.
“Spare me,” Deegan shot back. “We both know he did it.”
The lawyers huddled around Rosenthal’s bench and engaged in a furious argument. Deegan wanted to ask Dr. Davidson about two additional honor killings that had been committed using the same sword. “The exact same sword, Judge. Under the rules of evidence, other crimes are admissible if they show a pattern of conduct.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Alex countered. “Our client hasn’t even been charged with those killings. Plus, even if the commonwealth could prove that the murders were all committed by the same person, how does that prove a pattern of conduct by our client? Nobody’s saying that our client actually carried out the beheadings.”
As the lawyers argued back and forth, their voices rising with each volley, Rosenthal decided it was time for another break. He announced a fifteen-minute recess so that he could study the issue in more detail. Alex watched the jury shuffle back into the jury room, knowing that the main thing on their mind was exactly how many honor killings the defendant had ordered. And whether they would get to hear about them.
“Now would be a good time to go out in the hallway and tell Nara that you waived your opening statement,” Shannon said to Alex.
“Later,” Alex said.***
After a two-cigarette recess, Rosenthal came back to the bench recharged. Before he called the jury back into the courtroom, he announced his ruling. “Mr. Madison is right. The law requires more than a pattern of conduct. It requires a pattern of conduct that is unique to the defendant, and the commonwealth hasn’t shown that here. For example, it could be that the defendant and another party just use the same ‘triggerman,’ so to speak. The fact that the sword is the same reflects on the triggerman’s pattern of conduct, not the defendant’s.”
Alex requested a curative instruction, and Rosenthal promised that he would tell the jury to disregard the question they heard before the break. As if that would make everything better.
When the jury returned, Rosenthal mumbled something about disregarding the last question asked by the commonwealth’s attorney. “As for defense counsel’s objection about the admissibility of the photographs, I’m overruling that,” Rosenthal said.
To Alex’s surprise, everyone managed to keep his or her breakfast down while Taj Deegan displayed blowups from the crime scene and autopsy. Juror 5 looked pretty pale, and Alex thought she might pass out. Juror 10 had to put her hand over her mouth at least twice. But nobody hurled on the spot, a minor victory for the defense.
Just before lunch, Taj Deegan finished her direct examination of Dr. Davidson, and Judge Rosenthal again turned to Alex.
“Does defense counsel have any questions?”
“Not at this time, Your Honor.”
When the judge and jury had left the courtroom, Shannon let her frustrations show. “A great morning for the defense team,” she said sarcastically.
The deputies were coming over to take Khalid to lockup, and Alex felt the need to reassure his client. He put a hand on Khalid’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re saving our ammo for when it counts.”
“I trust you,” Khalid said.
At least somebody does, Alex thought.
79
Nara was waiting in the hallway when court recessed for lunch. She fell in stride with Alex and Shannon as they made their way down the escalators and out of the building. As they were heading toward the cars, Nara asked how things went that morning.
“I’m going to peel off,” Shannon said, heading toward her car. “I’ll just grab a quick salad and meet you back in the courtroom.”
“Do you really think it’s a good idea for Nara and me to do lunch together?” Alex asked. “We might get the tabloids talking.”
“If you avoid body contact, you should be okay,” Shannon said over her shoulder.
Alex drove down Princess Anne Road until he found a Subway. He needed something quick so he could get back to court and prepare for the afternoon witnesses. Alex looked around to make sure no reporters had the same idea. He and Nara each ordered a sub and found a booth toward the back.
Nara took a few bites and leaned forward. She took a sip of her drink and kept her voice low. “How did it go this morning?”
“I’m really not supposed to say,” Alex said.
“The judge said you couldn’t talk to me about the witnesses. How did your opening statement go?”
Sometimes the woman was too smart for her own good.
Alex chewed a bite of sub and eventually swallowed. He looked at Nara and decided that he couldn’t lie. She trusted him. If they were ever going to have any kind of relationship, he needed to be straight with her.
“I didn’t give it.”
Nara froze mid-bite and stared at him. “What?”
“I didn’t give it. Taj Deegan took the case 180 degrees from where I expected she would go with her opening. I decided it would be best if I waited until we begin our case to give mine.”
Nara looked at him as if he had sprouted a third eye. “Are you serious? You didn’t say anything?”
Alex shrugged. “It’s not like I won’t be able to give an opening. I just delayed it for strategic reasons until the commonwealth’s case is over.”
Nara’s face grew stormy. “Why do you keep holding back on us? What could Taj Deegan possibly have said to make you throw away your entire opening?”
“Shh,” Alex said. People were starting to look at them.
“I’m tired of sneaking around and being quiet, as if we’re ashamed of our case. The least you could have done was to deliver the opening statement that we all worked so hard on last night.”
Alex felt like he was in the middle of an E. F. Hutton commercial as the other conversations in the sub shop suddenly receded. He kept his own voice low, hoping that Nara would catch the hint. “I can’t tell you everything that Taj Deegan said. But, Nara, I’m not holding back… and I think by now you should cut me a little slack.”
Alex turned and glared at some of the people who were staring at him and Nara. The onlookers quickly looked away. He returned his attention to Nara and leaned forward. “Frankly, after putting my life on the line, I hoped I might get a little more trust. Why isn’t anything ever good enough for you?”
Nara snorted. “Don’t turn this on me. Every time we disagree on something, you go into your ‘trust me’ routine.” She wrapped her half-eaten sandwich and crinkled up the bag of chips as she talked. “‘I’m the lawyer, Nara. I know what’s best.’ Do you know how condescending that sounds?” She gave him no chance to answer. “I think I’ll just wait outside.”
Alex tried to dissuade her, but Nara threw her trash away and walked out the door. She stood in front of the Subway looking out at the parking lot with her arms crossed. It was early December and probably forty degrees, but Alex no longer cared. He took his time and ate the rest of his sub. Then he stood in line to get a cookie for dessert.