by Chris Hechtl
“This way, ma'am,” he said, waving a hand to indicate the proper direction.
“Lead on then,” she said with a hint of relief in her voice.
He nodded, but internally, he just wondered if he should have called in sick. It seemed like it was going to be one of those never-ending shitty days.
Act III
Chapter 33
On their second day of prep for the new trial, a human lieutenant commander met them in the conference room. “Gentlemen, my name is Lieutenant Commander Aleck Jasper Chedwiggen,” the man said with a nod to each. “Call me AJ.”
“Well AJ, this is Benny and I'm Bull. I believe you know our client,” Doctor Bullettine stated with a hand motion to first Benny and then the admiral.
“By reputation only. Admiral,” the commander said, coming to attention. “A mutual friend recommended your case, sir.”
“Good to know we've still got some friends somewhere,” Benny replied softly.
“I hope you are in for a fight. It is a career-ender, Commander,” Bull replied, studying the commander.
The commander smiled. “Suits me. I like a good fight. The harder the better. In fact …,” he paged through his documents, “I noticed your previous counsel didn't get everything from the prosecution. Plus, they didn't get all of the evidence used. There are a lot of redacted files, and I've got the necessary security clearances …”
“Show me. I can fill in some blanks with my copies. But I suggest you file some motions. Getting your predecessors to do that was difficult at best,” Horatio said mildly.
The commander looked at him and then nodded. “Well, given you changed horses in midstream, plus the jury pool collapsing as it did, we're restarting the trial process over as you know. It is going to take me some time to get up to speed on your case too. Several days at least.”
“I'm not going anywhere,” Horatio replied with an indifferent shrug.
“Here is my bio,” the young man said as he pulled a chip out of his portfolio and then put it in a tablet. He pulled up the document and then spun it for Horatio and the civilians to read.
The civilians scanned it. “Can I get a copy?” Doctor Bullettine asked.
“Sure,” the commander replied.
Horatio just scanned the document into his implant memory. It was an interesting read he had to admit. The commander was a former spec-ops operator who had done work in anti-terrorism until he was a first lieutenant. He didn't have anything on the missions of course. After that, the resume said he went back to the war college and retrained for space duty. He rose through the ranks to become a destroyer skipper before being transferred to fortress command and then staff duty.
Apparently unhappy with his career path, the commander had gone back to college once more and explored his options. He had graduated law school just after Horatio left with Ilmarinen to B-102c. Horatio looked at his win-loss ratio and nodded to himself. He had since learned the ins and outs of JAG since he'd been there for several years. Based on his read of the commander, he was fairly confident that he was a tough but fair officer. Since he was in the room and had said he had volunteered to take on the case, it meant he was not afraid to stand up for people and for what was right.
He had liked his prior boss, Vice Admiral Soar and Strike, the previous TJAG. He'd respected her. He'd had his share of ass-searing reamings from the Delquir, but the admiral had returned the respect to Chedwiggen. Admiral Shren wasn't nearly the same caliber of tough boss. He was more along the lines of the slimy kind, not that he had any intention of ever being stupid enough to say something like that out loud. He was well aware that he had been allowed to volunteer to take on the case because he was junior and they couldn't spare anyone else. That and he was someone they wanted to get rid of, someone that they'd love to see go down a peg or two or out the door permanently.
There was something that hit him right away. Despite the case being a major one, he was alone as a JAG other than the civilian legal team. It could be because there were so many trials and investigations going on that JAG was overwhelmed, but somehow he doubted it. A capital case usually had at least two JAGs assigned to the case. The prosecution had an entire team.
Usually JAG only needed a small amount of personnel to deal with the usual antics naval personnel got up to during the year. But that was during a normal time period; with Childress in charge, it was far from a normal situation. He was aware that TJAG had dipped into the reserves to pull in JAGS to help deal with the overload. He was also aware that TJAG had brought some retired personnel back as well. But that apparently wasn't enough. The docket was insane.
Since he was the third defense counsel involved, he knew that the brass was going to be impatient. He would have to think and act fast on his feet to keep up with what was going on.
“Is he on trial? Or are we?” he demanded, looking around the conference room. “Security is ridiculous,” he said, eyeing the admiral's cuffs. “Are those necessary?”
“We tried to get them removed. They won't,” Benny replied.
“Well, I will. He's supposed to be treated with respect. This is outrageous,” AJ replied as he pulled up a list of motions. “Okay, I need a list of what you need from me.”
“A lot. You can access files we can't,” Benny said sourly. “Obviously, you can't give us a copy, but you can figure out what they are trying to pull.”
“Can't access files?”
“Some evidence has been deemed sensitive and classified. Most of it is bogus. They classified conversations between officers.”
“Well, it depends on the sensitive nature of the material in the conversation,” AJ replied.
“You'd be surprised. A lot of it has to do with the nature of the recordings,” Benny said sourly.
“Recordings?”
“ONI has had the admiral and everyone who came in on Caroline under extreme surveillance since their arrival,” Doctor Bullettine stated. “They are monitoring us now.”
“That I find hard to believe, but we can explore that later. Admiral,” he turned to Horatio. “You haven't said much. Do you have a problem with me being on your team, sir?”
“No. If you are volunteering as you said, and if you can get things done, Commander, no, no problems. I'm fully aware of your status,” Horatio replied with a brief tight smile.
“Status? Did I miss something?” Benny asked, looking again at the tablet.
“He means the difference between a lawyer lecturing the jury about duty, honor, and following orders and an operator, someone who has been in the field, in combat or as close as we can get to it in Bek anyway, who just so happens to be a lawyer, Benny,” Doctor Bullettine said, looking from Horatio to AJ.
“Got it in one,” AJ said. “They said you were good; they weren't kidding,” he stated.
“I try. I've gotten good at reading people, and I did my homework.”
“I did too, but that part didn't come up. The nuances trip me up. I can't help being who I am,” Benny replied.
“So, we'll divide and conquer,” AJ replied. “I'll hit them there; you hit them with the other facts.”
“Agreed,” Benny replied with a nod.
“We'll need you to come by our offices to talk. We've got secure quarters there we can discuss the case and bring you up to speed on what we've got planned and what evidence and witness testimony we want to highlight,” Doctor Bullettine stated.
“Understood. Did you really have such a hard time with Ginny? I know she had issues, but …,” he frowned as he pulled the tablet over to him and flipped through it.
“She was okay. Not as good as we'd hoped. She made some mistakes. The opening arguments one was partially our fault. We need to do a better job laying out our case to establish our credibility I will admit,” Benny stated.
“She didn't lie to me often,” Horatio stated. All eyes turned to him. “I still am not sure which side she was on. Her vital signs were pretty stable.”
“Which just means she was a
n effective liar,” Benny grumbled. He glowered at Doctor Bullettine. “Don't say it,” he growled.
“Say what?” AJ asked.
“That to be a good lawyer you've got to look good at lying,” Horatio stated.
“You were monitoring her vital signs?”
“After my experience with my first JAG and with the way things have been rigged with the proceedings, I thought it prudent,” Horatio stated as he studied the commander. “Will that be a problem, Commander?”
“No, sir. I'll do my best not to disappoint you.”
“Good.”
@
The new trial brought with it new evidence and charges since the prosecution had more time to process what they had. The defense managed to delay to allow them time to process some of the new evidence and witness testimony. Then there were the usual rounds of schedule conflicts for everyone involved in the trial. Trying to get it all done in a short time was rough.
After the third request for more time, the defense was slapped down. “The prosecution is ready to proceed,” Captain Rising Tide said smugly.
“Then we will do so tomorrow morning,” Admiral Thurgrad stated flatly. “No more delays,” he said, eyeing the defense table.
“It looks like they are on to us,” Benny murmured to the others.
The following morning, they started up with the prosecution's case after opening arguments. The case had been simplified when questionable charges had been dropped. There were still a few that were there however.
“We've done this part so often I suppose we could all do it in our sleep. There are a few new wrinkles but not many,” Benny grumbled.
“They are learning,” Commander Chedwiggen murmured.
“I didn't know he'd act like that! I mean, it was harmless, simple flirting and …,” Lieutenant Commander Tali Fazid complained.
“Objection!” Benny protested, rising from his seat.
“Overruled, Counselor,” Admiral Thurgrad growled. He turned back to the blond seductress. “Continue, Commander.”
“Well, he created such a huff and a hostile work environment that I just had to get a transfer out of there,” she insisted. “I felt embarrassed and harassed every time I went into work.”
When it was the defense's turn to cross-examine, Benny rose. “You state you put in a transfer, Commander? How were you assigned to the admiral's department in the first place?”
“BUPERS assigned me.”
“You are saying no one came to you with specific orders?”
“I … don't have to answer that,” she said, crossing her legs.
“Yes, yes, you do, Commander.”
“Objection, badgering,” the prosecutor stated.
“Sustained. Move along, Counselor,” Admiral Thurgrad stated.
“Commander, according to your testimony of the incident in question, you were flirting. As rebuttal evidence, I will play for the court …”
“Objection!” the prosecutor said, rising to his feet. “Your Honors, I move for an immediate Article 39a hearing.”
“In chambers,” Admiral Thurgrad said, tapping the hand gavel. “The members are excused until after lunch.”
Within the judge's chambers, Admiral Logan listened impassively as the two sides hammered it out. It came down to that his recording of the incident was not condoned by the prosecution.
“Your Honors, my client's implants did so as self-protection against this very claim.”
“Nice try, Counselor,” Admiral Silvestri stated. “But we've already ruled once that the evidence is inadmissible.”
“In direct application, normally, yes. But the witness has committed perjury. This is rebuttal evidence, Your Honor.”
“How about it, Counselor?” Admiral Silvestri said, addressing Captain Rising Tide before Admiral Thurgrad could object or get a word in edgewise.
“For ages, we've had a mistrust of electronic data. That is why we prefer hard copy. Anything can be faked these days,” the captain stated.
“Such as the request for transfer?” Benny asked. “I have Admiral Logan's copy. Printed out too,” he said, pulling it out of his briefcase. “I took the liberty of doing so since his electronic filing went astray. Funny, it was replaced by her request for transfer. And oddly enough, my techs have examined the electronic file you provided, Captain, and found all sorts of problems with it,” he said. “We can of course call our expert to explain, and we'll have our people go over the originals …”
“There is no way we're allowing civilian techs into a military database,” Admiral Thurgrad growled.
“They have a point about the testimony and rebuttal evidence,” Colonel Talia stated. “And I'm suspicious of both sides on the transfer filings. As you just pointed out, Captain, electronic data can be faked,” he said, taking the copy from Mister Cosolon.
“Given that the accused files do rebut the witness testimony, I feel the government should drop the charges at this time,” the captain stated.
“See? Now everyone's happy,” Admiral Silvestri stated. He turned to the prosecutor. “You can pick up your case after lunch, Counselor?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you'll file charges of perjury against the witness?” the colonel asked.
“I'll certainly consider that and pass it up the chain of command,” the captain replied with a grimace.
“Do so,” the colonel stated.
@
“Okay, quit with trying to sneak things in front of the jury that they aren't supposed to hear. They are officers; they obey orders. They will do their damnedest to disregard it if they are told to,” AJ said as they returned to the conference room.
Benny grimaced. “We're trying to establish credibility. It's hard to do when the prosecution is condoning perjury.”
“I know that. It bothers the heck out of me too. I'm going to file charges just as soon as I can,” the commander stated.
“It's not quite what it seems. Sometimes we get slapped down even on a legitimate line of questioning, Commander,” Horatio stated. His hands were together in front of him.
“We need to shoot for a hung jury. This play for time isn't going to work. The system is set up to prevent defense games. It is too easy for evidence to be lost or witnesses to die or be transferred,” AJ stated.
“Tell us about it. We've seen it on their side already. Anything that helps us and hurts them suddenly mysteriously disappears or is transferred,” Benny griped.
“Ah,” AJ said, unconvinced.
“Can you at least get them to stop recording these sessions?” Benny asked plaintively. “It is illegal, but they don't care.”
“Are you serious?” the commander's eyes bulged. “Tell me you aren't,” he demanded, eyes narrowing in concern. He looked around the room. Horatio pointed with a finger surreptitiously to a microphone. “What …?”
“They tried, but I can still sense them. I'm an engineer with implants, their worst nightmare. The ODN line they ran to a camera is cute, but the lens doesn't work. It gives it away,” Horatio said, pointing to a shiny spot on the wall and then another above their heads.
“Now I am definitely going to look into that. At the least, it is grounds for a mistrial all on its own,” the commander said firmly as guards came into the room.
“Right on cue,” Benny said in disgust as they turned to the guards. “Let me guess, you need the room and the interview is over?” he asked sarcastically.
Commander Chedwiggen glared at the intruders balefully. He got up and checked the wall where Horatio had pointed.
“Sir, you can't do that.”
“I can and I am. The last time I checked I outrank you. I don't know of any judge in the system, even Admiral Shren, who would be stupid enough to sign off on a warrant for this crap,” the commander said. Finding what he was looking for, he pried it off with a fingernail, then got it clear and yanked a wire out.
Just the act of finding the device proved something to AJ. It proved malicio
us prosecution, no surprise there, but also that he had a trustworthy and innocent client on his hands.
“Sir …”
“I'll be taking this as evidence. I'll need to document this room.”
“That will be enough,” a Neochimp commander said, entering the room. “Hand that over, Commander; it is navy property.”
“Oh really? And you are?” the commander demanded.
“None of your business,” the commander replied.
“Commander Arnold Onslo, Naval Intelligence,” Horatio supplied. The Neochimp shot him a dirty look. “We met on Ilmarinen remember, Commander?”
“I'll be filing formal charges, Commander, unless you can show me that warrant,” the commander stated. “And no, you can't have this,” he said, pocketing the device. “I am a member of the court; this is now evidence. I do need a camera, hell, a whole forensics team to document this,” he said looking around the room. “We'll need to take your statement too,” he said, leveling a gaze on the fuming commander.
“Do I need to involve Admiral Shren in this?” the commander asked dangerously, his fur rising in agitation.
“Are you telling me that Admiral Shren, the Judge Advocate General of Bek signed off on violating attorney-client privilege this grossly? That he has sabotaged this trial, Commander?” the commander demanded, aghast at the very idea.
“Commander, hand it over,” the commander ordered imperiously, hand out. “I won't ask again. I will drop the disobeying an order charge, however, if you comply and don't speak anymore of this.”
“Fat chance,” the commander said, but he handed the device over when he saw the guards blocking the door. “This should get interesting,” he said, looking over to the civilian defense team.
But they were allowed out of the room without further incident. The group was split up in the hallway however. The commander turned at the door to have a talk with the commander.
“Commander, if you want to remain a commander you might want to consider whose side you are on,” the commander stated once they were in the hallway. Benny frowned. He was too far away from the Neochimp and commander, but Horatio could hear them just fine.
