Philip Margolin - Capitol murder

“It sounds like you’ve dealt with Crawford before.”

“Many times, unfortunately. Terry is a complete asshole, but you should never underestimate him. He is also very smart and very, very cunning. The only saving grace of having him as an opponent is that he is so driven to screw all defense attorneys that he occasionally makes mistakes.”

“If you know we’re not going to accomplish anything, why do you want me along?”

“Do you have a good memory, Dana?”

“It’s decent.”

“Good, because your job will be to observe. While we are with Terry, or any of his cronies, let me do the talking. You do the listening. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Terry will do something as a result of his zeal that may, in the future, lead to a motion charging him with prosecutorial misconduct. If I file such a motion, I’ll need witnesses.”

“You got it. So when do I get to interview our client?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Dana frowned. “Some of the best leads I’ve gotten have come from the defendant.”

“I’m sure that’s true, but Ron is off-limits to you.”

“And why is that?”

“Ron Tolliver does not trust anyone. I’ve tried to get him to talk to me about the case, and he refuses.”

“Why don’t you let me give it a shot?”

“Maybe later, but I’m trying to build rapport with him. I also want him to see me as his only point of contact with the world outside his prison. And don’t worry; you’ll have plenty of tasks that will occupy your time.”

Schatz glanced at his diamond-studded gold Rolex. “It’s time to enter the dragon’s den, Cutler. Put on your armor and follow me.”

“S triker, grab a pad and pen and come to my office,” Terrence Crawford barked over the intercom.

Ginny had been arranging thousands of pages of investigative reports into neat piles before punching holes in them so they would fit into a three-ring binder. She had been at this task for three days and was so relieved to escape from it that she was actually grateful to Crawford, who had been treating her like a secretary when he wasn’t ignoring her.

Ginny started to ask Crawford what he wanted her to do, but the intercom went dead. Ginny sighed and pulled a yellow legal pad out of the bottom drawer of her desk. When she reached Crawford’s office, he was reading a brief.

“Sit,” he said, pointing at a chair in a corner of the room without looking up.

Ginny waited for Crawford to explain why he had summoned her. When five minutes passed, Ginny had had enough.

“What is it you want me to do, Mr. Crawford?”

The deputy AG looked at Ginny as if he hadn’t realized she was in the room. Then he directed a malicious smile at her.

“In five minutes, Bobby Schatz is going to come in here and demand all sorts of things, which I am not going to give him. When he comes to grips with the fact that I’m not going to budge, Schatz is going to run to court and accuse me of everything from pederasty to rape. As with any accused, I will fare better in court if I can produce a witness who can testify that I did none of the acts Schatz will dream up.”

Ginny was about to reply when Crawford’s intercom buzzed and his secretary announced the arrival of Schatz and his investigator. Crawford told her to send them in. A moment later, the door swung open and the secretary stood aside to admit Bobby Schatz. A second later, Dana Cutler followed him into the office. Crawford was looking at Schatz, or he would have seen Ginny’s jaw drop. Dana’s eyes locked in on her friend, but her expression gave away none of the surprise she felt.

“Hey, Bobby, come on in,” Crawford said as he walked around his desk and shook hands.

“Thanks, Terry. I’d like you to meet my investigator, Dana Cutler.”

“A pleasure.”

Crawford did not introduce Ginny, but he did motion Schatz and Dana toward a comfortable couch that stood against the wall under a framed copy of the Constitution.

“So, Bobby, what can I do for you?” Crawford asked as soon as he’d retaken his seat.

“I’m interested in discovery, Terry. For starters, I’d appreciate a look at the affidavit you used to get the warrant to search my client’s house.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you there.”

“Why not? I’m entitled to see it, and I’ll need to read it if I’m going to challenge the search.”

“My problem is that I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such warrants.”

“You’re joking!”

“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is no joke, Bobby. If a search warrant affidavit for Tolliver’s house was obtained from the FISA court, it would be classified, and I wouldn’t be able to even acknowledge its existence.”

“If you’re going to use evidence from the search you conducted using a FISA warrant, you have to tell me.”

Crawford shrugged. “It’s early days, Bobby. I have no idea what evidence I’m going to use.”

“Stop screwing around. You know a Federal District Court judge is going to tell you to give me the affidavit. We’re talking about the Fourth Amendment here.”

“Maybe a judge will agree with you. File a motion and we’ll hash this out in court. But I seem to remember hearing that there isn’t a single case where a FISA affidavit has been disclosed to a defense attorney.” Crawford grinned. “Maybe you’ll set a precedent. What else would you like?”

“I’d like to see the statements made by the four men who were arrested at FedEx Field.”

“I’m not at liberty to confirm or deny that such men exist.”

“Terry, pictures of the arrest have been on YouTube, Facebook, CNN, and every media outlet in America and abroad.”

“Then serve a motion for discovery on YouTube.”

“Cute, but you know this is bullshit,” Schatz said.

“Hey, I don’t make the rules. Call your congressman and get him to repeal FISA. Me, I’m just an employee of the federal government, and my boss tells me I have to follow the law, which does not allow me to confirm or deny the existence of these so-called arrestees.”

“Can you give me the names of their attorneys?” Schatz asked.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

“This isn’t a game, Terry. My client is facing serious jail time.”

Crawford sat up and leaned forward. His face was tight and his body language signaled that he had shifted from taunting Schatz to real anger.

“We lost three thousand people on 9/11. There were over ninety thousand people in FedEx Field on Sunday, and your client wanted to kill them all, so I won’t be too upset if he has to serve serious jail time.”

“You’re assuming he had some part in the plot.”

“Oh, he did.”

“You haven’t told me one thing that leads me to believe he was involved with the suicide bombers.”

Crawford got hold of his emotions and leaned back in his chair. “You’ll get discovery at the appropriate time and not a second before. If you don’t like my position, file a motion.”

Schatz looked as though he was about to say something else, but he changed his mind and stood up.

“Thanks for taking the time to see us,” he said.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help,” Crawford lied.

Seconds after the door closed behind Schatz and Dana, Crawford broke into a huge grin.

“I hope you remember what you just saw, Miss Striker, because that is the way to kick ass and take names in the doing-justice business.”

Ginny nodded and kept her opinion of what she had just seen to herself. Everything Crawford had done went against her basic sense of fair play. She knew that Crawford had complied with the law, but the end result was that Schatz would have no information he could use to defend his client. Ginny had no sympathy for terrorists, but a court would have to decide whether Tolliver was a terrorist. What if he was innocent but he couldn’t defend himself because his lawyer had no information about his case?