Against All Enemies (26 page)

"Objection." Commander Carr shook her head at David Sinclair. "Defense Counsel is speculating and asking the witness to speculate regarding matters not introduced into evidence."

"Your Honor," David Sinclair protested, "it is perfectly reasonable to point out alternative explanations for the presence of the coins on Lieutenant Pullman."

"Your Honor," Carr replied quickly. "Defense Counsel has introduced no evidence to substantiate the argument that those coins were placed upon Lieutenant Pullman by some third party."

Judge Campbell blew out an plainly exasperated breath, holding up her palm to forestall David Sinclair's next statement. "If Defense Counsel wants to argue that someone other than Lieutenant Pullman placed the coins upon his person, then Defense Counsel must introduce some evidence to that effect. Do you have such evidence?"

"Not at this time, Your Honor."

"Objection sustained. The members are asked to disregard Defense Counsel's speculation in this instance."

David Sinclair lowered his head for a moment, then looked up again with his face composed. "Special Agent Gonzalez, did you ask Lieutenant Pullman if the coins were his?"

"No. I—"

"Thank you. That's all."

Commander Carr still standing, extended one hand toward Special Agent Gonzalez. "Trial Counsel wishes to redirect. The witness should please feel free to finish his last reply. I believe you were elaborating on whether or not you asked Lieutenant Pullman if the coins belonged to him?"

"Yes." Special Agent Gonzalez gave a hard look toward the defense table. "As I started to say, no, I didn't ask Lieutenant Pullman if the coins were his. That's because when we read him his rights, Lieutenant Pullman stated that he desired a lawyer. As soon as Lieutenant Pullman expressed that wish, I was no longer able to question him without his lawyer being present."

The members had no questions for Special Agent Gonzalez, who left with another glare toward the defense table.

"The United States calls as its next witness, Captain Richard Hayes."

Captain Hayes gave off an air of command as he sat in the witness chair, seeming as if he were actually seated in the captain's chair on the bridge of the ship which would still be his for another twelve hours. Commander Carr approached the witness stand and spoke respectfully. "Sir, are you Captain Richard Hayes, United States Navy, currently commanding officer of the USS
Michaelson
?"

"That's correct."

"Was Lieutenant Pullman assigned to your ship?"

"Yes, he was." Captain Hayes' voice stayed flat, betraying no emotion.

"Captain, would you please summarize the events which led to Lieutenant Pullman's arrest on 20 August?"

"Certainly." Hayes chewed his lip for a moment, apparently ordering his thoughts. "My ship returned to port here about noon on the first of August. As you may be aware, in the course of our last underway period we had the misfortune to observe SASAL warships firing upon the civilians who had illegally settled upon an asteroid. On the fourth of August, while off the ship on what was supposed to be a visit to fleet staff, I was instead met by agents of the Navy Criminal Investigation Service who informed me that they had evidence that one of the officers assigned to my ship was conducting espionage against the United States."

Captain Hayes paused, then spoke again in the same controlled voice. "I was very disturbed by the charge, but I was shown evidence which convinced me it was very likely true. Over the next several days, I coordinated actions with NCIS to attempt to identify the officer involved. These attempts failed. NCIS then suggested placing a tap on one of the terminals aboard my ship to detect any illegal activities, and arranged for special classified material to be delivered to the ship to serve as bait. I heard nothing more until the afternoon of 20 August, when I was informed by my ship's legal officer, Lieutenant Sinclair, that Lieutenant Pullman had just been arrested as he was leaving the ship."

Another pause. "I immediately contacted NCIS and was told of the coins which had been found in Lieutenant Pullman's possession. I notified my officers and told them to cooperate with any follow-up NCIS investigation."

Commander Carr nodded. "Thank you, Captain. Can you explain which evidence shown to you by NCIS convinced you that espionage had taken place?"

"Yes. I can. NCIS had conclusive proof that the operational orders under which my ship had just sailed, the orders we were following off that asteroid, had been provided to the South Asian Alliance."

Commander Carr turned quickly, facing midway between the judge's bench and the defense table, and speaking while David Sinclair was still rising. "Your Honor, Trial Counsel would like the enter into evidence at this time a list of classified material which U.S. government agencies have certified as having been compromised to the South Asian Alliance."

David Sinclair finished standing up. "Is the defense correct in assuming the orders just cited by the witness are among that list?"

"Yes."

"Your Honor," David Sinclair continued, "while the defense recognizes the need to protect the means and methods by which the U.S. government collects intelligence, it is nonetheless of some concern that we have been presented with the list but provided no means to verify it."

Judge Campbell eyed the Defense Counsel. "Are you making an objection?"

"I am asking the court to rule on the admissibility of evidence which has been provided in such a way that the defense is unable to verify that evidence. The defense doesn't know the means by which the list was compiled, doesn't know the criteria used for placing items on the list, doesn't know the standards applied to assessing those criteria and doesn't even know exactly who compiled the list. Your Honor, Lieutenant Pullman has the right to confront his accusers. That is a fundamental principle of American justice. This list was compiled by individuals who are among Lieutenant Pullman's accusers, but those accusers remain anonymous, unavailable to appear and unavailable to be questioned in Lieutenant Pullman's defense. The defense submits that allowing this list to be entered into evidence will significantly prejudice Lieutenant Pullman's ability to defend himself against the charges brought against him."

Judge Campbell pursed her lips and sat for a moment without speaking. "Trial Counsel? What do you say in response to the Defense Counsel's argument?"

Commander Carr spoke firmly. "Your Honor, the government believes that this list represents a matter of fact, not an accuser. It simply lists documents confirmed to have been provided to a foreign country, documents which the government intends proving were provided to that foreign country by Lieutenant Pullman."

The judge sat silently for several seconds longer. "I am still troubled by this. American justice is not founded upon the use of secret evidence."

"Your Honor," Carr protested, "this is not secret evidence. Lieutenant Pullman's lawyers have been allowed to see this list after signing the appropriate nondisclosure agreements. They know what it contains."

"But they do
not
know how the list was put together. They have no means to question or refute the contents of the list. Is the government prepared to offer such information to the defense?"

Commander Carr shook her head. "Your Honor, I am not authorized to make such an offer. Extremely sensitive intelligence sources and methods are involved."

"Then how is this court to ensure the evidence is indeed a matter of fact, as Trial Counsel claims, and not an accuser at one remove, as Defense Counsel claims?"

This time, Carr nodded with every appearance of reluctance. "Your Honor, I am authorized by the government to provide you with detailed information on the means used to compile the list if absolutely necessary to the prosecution of this case. The government is prepared to give the court the necessary information under appropriate classification safeguards to allow the court to determine that this list is verifiably a matter of fact."

David Sinclair frowned and look back at Lieutenant Owings. Owings rose to his feet and spoke for the first time. "Your Honor, with all due respect, the court is not the defense counsel. You do not represent the interests of Lieutenant Pullman."

Judge Campbell nodded. "That's true. However, the interests of Lieutenant Pullman are not the criteria used for purposes of determining the admissibility of evidence, as you know. It's the court's job to decide which evidence can be brought to bear in this trial. Therefore, I will accede to the government's request and receive a private briefing on the means used to compile the government's list of compromised classified material."

David Sinclair spoke again, spreading his hands. "Your Honor, while Defense Counsel does not wish to call into question the court's integrity—"

"Good for you," Campbell noted dryly.

"— I nonetheless must object to this procedure. If there are reasons why a civilian such as myself cannot be provided with this same private briefing, surely Lieutenant Owings can be given that access."

Commander Carr shook her head again. "I'm sorry, but the government is not prepared to agree to that. Lieutenant Owings lacks the necessary background investigations and clearances, as did Lieutenant Pullman even before his arrest."

"Your Honor—"

Judge Campbell held up a restraining hand. "Defense Counsel's objections and concerns are noted. The court will fairly evaluate the nature of the government's evidence and then rule on its admissibility. Is the government prepared to continue its arguments at this time without reference to the material on the list, or must the court-martial be suspended until my ruling?"

"The government is prepared to continue, Your Honor."

"Then do so."

Commander Carr faced Captain Hayes, who had listened to the argument without apparent emotion. "Captain, Lieutenant Pullman was a member of your crew. What is your assessment of him as an officer?"

Hayes frowned. "To be perfectly frank, Commander, Lieutenant Pullman was a member of my crew for a very limited period of time. I only had the opportunity to develop preliminary impressions."

"Please share those impressions."

"Lieutenant Pullman seemed to be a capable officer."

"Would you describe him as knowledgeable?"

"Objection, Your Honor." David Sinclair gestured with one hand toward Commander Carr. "Trial Counsel is leading the witness."

"Objection sustained. Let the witness use his own words, Trial Counsel."

If Carr was abashed, she didn't show it. "Yes, Your Honor. Captain Hayes, please provide a more detailed description of your impression of Lieutenant Pullman as an officer prior to his arrest."

"All right." Captain Hayes frowned again, this time in thought. "Lieutenant Pullman gave me the impression of being capable, as I said. His performance of duties was at least competent. He learned his new responsibilities as communications officer quickly. He seemed to get along well with his shipmates and presented a good military bearing."

"Did Lieutenant Pullman make many mistakes?"

"Not to my knowledge. I didn't personally observe any significant errors on his part."

"Did he demonstrate awareness of standard procedures on your ship, including the proper handling of classified material?"

"Yes, I believe he did."

"In your professional assessment, Captain Hayes, did you believe Lieutenant Pullman was sufficiently well-trained and capable that he could be trusted to carry out tasks without committing serious errors?"

"Objection." David Sinclair shook his head. "Your Honor, it appears that Trial Counsel is attempting to get the witness to comment on hypothetical situations."

Carr shook her head in turn. "Your Honor, as commanding officer of the USS
Michaelson
it was Captain Hayes' responsibility to make such assessments of all his officers. It is not a hypothetical situation since such judgments are required on a constant basis."

Judge Campbell thought again, then looked toward the members' table. "I'd like the opinions of the members on this matter since it deals with issues of command responsibilities and the court doesn't have that experience. Do you believe such an assessments are made routinely as a part of daily command responsibilities?"

Captain Nguyen, Commander Sriracha and Lieutenant Kilgary immediately nodded. Lieutenant Commander de Vaca, after clearly thinking for a moment, nodded as well. Lieutenant Mahris nodded apparently just as soon as he realized that Captain Nguyen was doing so. Captain Nguyen looked to either side to tabulate the responses, then nodded again to the judge. "It's unanimous. Any commanding officer has to make such assessments every moment of every day. That is why commanding officers are held accountable for failures by their subordinates. They're responsible for deciding whether or not those subordinates can be trusted to carry out tasks."

"Thank you, Captain," Judge Campbell stated. "Objection overruled. Continue, Trial Counsel."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Captain Hayes, would you like me to repeat the question?"

"No, that's not necessary." Hayes' mouth worked for a moment. "Yes, I did assess Lieutenant Pullman as being well-trained and capable enough to carry out the duties of a junior officer on my ship. If I'd thought he wasn't to be trusted to do his work or stand watches properly, I would've relieved him of his duties and had him transferred off of the ship."

Carr leaned closer to the witness stand, her eyes locked on Hayes. "Captain, did you feel you had any reason to doubt Lieutenant Pullman's understanding of security regulations?"

"No. None at all."

"Are you confident he knew it was contrary to regulations to download classified material onto portable media using his stateroom terminal?"

"Yes, I am."

Carr stepped back, raising her data pad slightly again. "At this time Trial Counsel would like to enter into evidence the security briefing papers signed by Lieutenant Pullman when he was granted his clearances, and the nondisclosure agreement signed by Lieutenant Pullman at that same time, which spells out the penalties for unauthorized disclosure of classified material. Trial Counsel would also like to enter into evidence the page from Lieutenant Pullman's service record which certifies that he attended and passed standard security indoctrination training."