John Nance - Headwind

And suddenly the clerk was calling the case, and Judge O’Connell had swept in from his chambers to convene the court.

“Mr. Campbell, I recognize you, sir, with pleasure,” Justice O’Connell said as he sat down. “I have been continuously impressed with your tireless efforts on behalf of international jurisprudence and the writing and acceptance of the Treaty Against Torture over the years.”

Campbell bowed slightly in pleasant surprise. “I thank you, My Lord, for your gracious words.”

“And Mr. Garrity, welcome back. I certainly recognize you.”

“Not with displeasure, I hope, My Lord,” Michael said with a smile.

“Certainly not,” O’Connell said, adding no more.

Campbell took the floor first, laying out the pedigree of the Interpol warrant as Michael Garrity and Jay Reinhart listened and made notes, waiting for the chance to counter him.

“Mr. Campbell,” O’Connell asked, “is President Harris, the defendant, present in the Republic of Ireland currently, or do you have reason to believe he will be in the immediate future?”

“The answer to both questions is ‘yes,’ My Lord. Mr. Harris arrived Tuesday night in Dublin.”

The President had decided to let Sherry sleep a bit longer, but she stirred now and opened her eyes, smiling as she stretched, before noticing the dour expression on his face.

“What’s going on, John?”

He sighed. “We’re going back, Sherry. The winds were too high.” He relayed what Craig and Alastair had told him when he came to the cockpit after Jillian relayed the message.

“Oh, Lord.”

“It’s okay, Sherry. It’s probably for the best. I’ve been having great doubts about this escape attempt anyway.”

“I haven’t,” she said.

“Well… we’ve no choice now.”

She stood up and pointed to the cockpit. “I’m going to have to use the satellite phone. I promised to let Jay know if this happened.”

The realization that Stuart Campbell might not know that John Harris was airborne and streaking away from Ireland was a surprise. Surely, Jay had assumed, Campbell would have arranged for someone to monitor the EuroAir 737. Was he really unaware, or was he going to officially ignore it to keep it from becoming an issue?

Jay leaned over to whisper directly in Michael Garrity’s ear. “ Michael, should we admit he’s not here? Would that delay things ?”

Michael shook his head and whispered back. “ Not unless we’re one-hundred-percent sure John Harris is not coming back. If we raise the issue, he’ll question us, and we’ll have to admit there’s a chance the plane could turn around. There’s nothing to be gained .”

“There’s everything to be gained if we can avoid showing that tape,” Jay whispered back.

“Mr. Garrity!” Judge O’Connell snapped.

“Yes, My Lord?” Michael replied, startled.

“Would you care to join us in this action, or would you prefer to take your client outside and have a jolly chat where you’re not interrupting these proceedings?”

“My Lord, I beg your pardon, but this gentleman is Mr. Jay Reinhart, the American lawyer representing Mr. Harris, and it is proper, I believe, for me to converse with him quietly, is it not?”

“The key word is ‘quietly,’ Mr. Garrity! I don’t like a lot of whispering in my court. I have sharp ears, sir. I can hear that disgusting psst psst psst sound from yards away, and I will not have it!”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Proceed, Mr. Campbell,” O’Connell ordered.

Jay knew the dangers of challenging Campbell’s assertion that the warrant was valid on its face. Campbell would immediately offer the videotape of John Harris into evidence, a tape that would prove, Campbell would say, that the charges against Harris were obviously substantial enough to justify an Irish warrant and an order to send John Harris to Lima for trial.

But if Michael didn’t challenge the validity of the charges, the Irish warrant would be granted almost automatically. It was a form of catch-22 that Michael and he had discussed carefully, and he was thinking about that discussion as Michael Garrity rose to his feet.

“My Lord, may it please the court…”

“Proceed, Mr. Garrity,” the judge said.

“Thank you, My Lord. Mr. Campbell asserts that the Peruvian Interpol warrant seeking the arrest of a former President of the United States of America is valid simply because it was issued through normal legal process in Peru. I say that this High Court should have full jurisdiction over the simple and vital question: is the Interpol warrant based on real, rational, and reliable prima facie charges? Or, are the charges underlying this warrant a sham, as we maintain? What if the warrant was issued without justification simply because the government of Peru illegally directed a judge to do so? If there is any possibility whatever of that, My Lord, you must require proof that the charges are more than a fantasy, and that proof should be beyond question.

Justice O’Connell literally snorted and leaned toward Michael.

“Mr. Garrity, I love a good flowery rhetorical dance as much as the next overburdened judge with time to burn, but stick to the point and state it in plain English.”

“Indeed, I am attempting to do exactly that, My Lord.”

“You’re not succeeding.”

“Then I shall try again. My Lord, this court must examine the sufficiency of the evidence, not just rely on the Interpol warrant, before issuing an Irish warrant,” Michael replied.

“Good!” O’Connell replied sarcastically. “See there? You can do it if you try to get to the blasted point. Very well. You are challenging Mr. Campbell, here, to provide some reliable proof that the Interpol warrant is based on substance, and I happen to agree with you. Mr. Campbell? What evidence exists that would justify an Irish arrest warrant and extradition order, beyond the fact that an unknown Peruvian judge wants Harris arrested?”

Stuart Campbell rose smoothly to his feet, his six-foot-four frame towering over the table and dominating Jay’s field of vision. He introduced the existence of the videotape, where and how it had been made, and offered document after document to validate it with sworn statements from Barry Reynolds, along with evidence of who physically possessed it and how it had been kept under tight control.

Jay scribbled notes furiously during the presentation and passed them in a constant stream to Michael Garrity as copies of each document were handed over by Campbell’s staff. He could feel the GSM phone vibrating at one point, but he had no time to answer it, and the subsequent small vibrations told him a message was waiting, which he’d have to get to later.

Mike… pls object to this!!! The tape was illegally obtained.

This sworn statement he’s offering merely states that he swears he’s making the statement, not that it’s true!

B.S.! He wants the judge to accept the idea that the technology for this kind of tape existed during John Harris’s term. He needs an expert for that! We don’t know if it did or not, and the presumption should not be our burden.

Michael objected repeatedly to every document, and he was overruled every time.

“Sit down, Mr. Garrity,” O’Connell finally barked. “I am going to receive any and all documents that even appear to be genuine, and then I will decide whether they should be considered real. I’ll hear no more objections on that point.”

“My Lord,” Campbell said at last, “with your permission, I should like to show the court the videotape in question.”