“How familiar are you with the activities of the accused and his Black Dragons?” Stone asked.
“Very familiar. During the course of our investigation, I have interviewed hundreds of witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents.”
“Have you collected and organized these materials over the past three years?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Can you show the court how you have done that?”
“Certainly.” Jacobson appeared proud to show off the thoroughness of his work. He pushed a button and the terminals in the courtroom displayed what was on the screen of Jacobson’s laptop computer. “I created a number of different directories for the evidence.” He moved the mouse and double clicked on a file. The terminals showed an alphabetical list of directories with such headings as Foca, Omarska, and Prijedor.
“Can you show us an example of how you stored the data that was collected on the accused?”
“Yes, I can.” Jacobson scrolled his mouse to the file labeled “Srebrenica” and double clicked. Another directory appeared with names of victims or incidents that had occurred in the city of Srebrenica. He chose the directory for “July 11, 1995” and double clicked. More directories appeared. He double clicked on one of them and a report of a witness to the murder of Muslim civilians on that day in Srebrenica appeared on the screen.
“Using these directories, have you been able to compile a complete picture of the activities of the accused and his Black Dragons during the entire war in Bosnia?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Objection, Madam President,” Kevin shouted as he rose to his feet. “He’s referring to materials which may not have been disclosed to the defense.”
Stone answered before even being called upon. “To the contrary, defense counsel is quite incorrect. All of the materials have been disclosed to the defense months ago.”
Kevin was in no position to question this, since he did not know what was in the various directories on Jacobson’s computer. He sat down.
“Objection overruled. Please continue, Mr. Stone.”
Stone’s face broke into his smug smile, his pursed lips showing only a bit of white teeth. “Thank you, Madam President.” he bowed slightly. Turning to Jacobson, Stone continued. “Now, as part of your investigation, have you had occasion to collect and review public statements made by the accused during the war in Bosnia?”
“I have.”
“Have you selected a number of those statements and made a composite videotape of them?”
“Yes, I have.”
Turning to Judge Orozco, Stone asked for and received permission to play the videotapes. Kevin and Diane looked at their computer terminal as Draga’s picture in full Black Dragon uniform appeared on the screen. For the next three hours, Stone played excerpts of interviews Draga had given to CBS’ 60 Minutes, the BBC, CNN, and other media. He also played Serbian television news coverage of speeches Draga had given to civic groups, at military functions, and even in an address to the Serbian Parliament. The English translation streamed across the bottom of the screen like a stock market ticker.
Draga’s message had been consistent. Using inflammatory rhetoric, he called for the creation of a greater Serbia through military action. He insisted that the Muslims must leave the Serb areas of Bosnia. He promised to kill anyone who resisted.
Stone finished his direct examination with a flourish. “Did your investigation reveal that the accused had in fact trained his men to kill?”
“Yes, he did.”
“How many men were under his command in total during the war?”
“About 500.”
“And how many people did they kill?”
“About 20,000.”
“I have no further questions,” Stone announced with a triumphant smile as he sat down.
“That stuff is awful,” Diane said after the court adjourned for lunch. “These judges are ready to hang him. You’d better use that CIA evidence. It may be Ellen’s only chance.”
Kevin was silent.
“Are you going to put Draga on the stand?” she asked.
“No way. There’s no way a judge would believe a word he said. If we use the CIA evidence, I’ve got to do it through William Evans’ reports and the tapes I made.”
Kevin decided to stay inside the courtroom during the lunch recess and prepare his cross-examination of Jacobson. He walked over to the witness box and saw that Jacobson’s laptop was still there. He sat down in the witness chair. He was alone in the courtroom. He wondered if he would get in trouble if he looked at some of those files.
They claimed he already had the stuff anyway, so what difference did it make?
Kevin played around with the directories for a while, and then decided to look in the computer’s recycle bin. He wondered what had recently been deleted from the computer. His heartbeat quickened when he saw the files. But before he could examine them, he heard a door open down at the prosecution’s end of the courtroom and the voices of prosecutors Bradford Stone and Charles Oswald.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Stone demanded when he saw Kevin sitting in the witness box.
The prosecutor rushed over.
Kevin quickly closed the screen for the recycle bin. “Nothing.”
“You’ve got no business snooping in that computer. I’m going to report this to the Court.” Straightening his tie, Stone sneered, “This may very well be your third strike that we’ve been so anxiously anticipating.”
“I thought I heard Mr. Jacobson testify that everything in the database had been disclosed to the defense. If that’s true, what’s your problem?”
“I have a problem whenever I’m dealing with unethical defense counsel,” Stone huffed. “You’ve proven yourself capable of just about any transgression.”
Kevin got up and walked back to his defense table. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Where are your witness list and witness statements?” Stone demanded, following Kevin over to the defense side of the courtroom. “We’re entitled to them now.”
“You’re entitled to them after you rest your case.”
“Well, this is our last witness.”
“Then you’ll have the disclosure you’re entitled to when he is done.”
“How many weeks will your defense case take?” Stone persisted.
“I’ll let you know when you rest your case.”
“What a bloody ass!” said Stone, turning his back on Kevin and rejoining Oswald at the prosecution table.
Court reconvened a few minutes later.
“Mr. Jacobson,” Judge Orozco said, “You’re still under oath. Go ahead with your cross-examination, Mr. Anderson.”
Kevin stood up and leaned on the podium. “That’s a neat database you’ve created Mr. Jacobson,” Kevin began.
“Thank you.”
“Would you mind displaying your main directory on the screen for us?”
Without a word, Jacobson moved the mouse on his laptop and the main directory screen appeared.
“What order are the directories listed in?”
“They’re in alphabetical order, sir, as you can see.” A smug smile played on his lips.
“Could you just scroll down the list from A to Z so we can get an idea of the names of the directories?”
“Madam President,” Bradford Stone interrupted. “This is a waste of the court’s time. Mr. Anderson has had this material for many months. If he has a question about a particular document, he should get on with it.”
“I take it that is an objection, Mr. Stone?” Judge Orozco inquired.
“Yes, I object to this line of questioning as irrelevant.”
Jacobson, however, ever the efficient investigator, had started scrolling his directories while Stone voiced his objections. Kevin watched the screen intently, hoping to spot something specific that he could ask about.
“Objection sustained. Mr. Anderson, you’ll have to be more specific.”
“Yes, Madam President.” One of the directories had caught Kevin’s eye. “Mr. Jacobson, could you move to the A’s?”