After returning home, Kaffee began to think carefully. He sensed something wrong with the whole matter. It was very likely Kendrick who had ordered the Code Red. Then, with the disappearance of Lieutenant Colonel Markinson, the threads of the case began to gradually come together.
Kaffee and Galloway returned once more to the interrogation room to confirm the answer with Dawson and Downey. Indeed, it was Kendrick who had ordered the Code Red. Although Kendrick had convened a meeting at four in the afternoon and ordered no one to touch Santiago, five minutes later Kendrick went to Dawson and Downey's quarters and gave them the order: execute a Code Red on Santiago. This meant that the two soldiers had not intended to commit murder, but were merely following orders. This immediately changed the very nature of the case.
Kaffee found prosecuting attorney Ross, but Ross pointed out that Kaffee had no evidence other than the statements of the two defendants, while the other Marines could all testify that Kendrick's meeting had truly taken place. And the only man who might testify, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson, had disappeared. Ross told Kaffee, "Jessup will soon be promoted. Division headquarters will give me wide latitude to protect him and the unit from disgrace."
Kaffee knew this was the deal offered by division headquarters, so he asked, "How wide?"
"Manslaughter. Two years' sentence. They'll be home in six months." Hearing Ross's condition, Kaffee understood clearly. Headquarters intended to sacrifice Dawson and Downey to cover up the mistakes inside the Corps. And now, since the defendants had neither evidence nor witnesses to prove their innocence, this was already the best condition headquarters would give. If the case ever went to court, Dawson and Downey would not be facing such a light punishment.
Ross firmly believed that Kaffee was an excellent lawyer. Since Dawson and Downey could go home after six months, Kaffee would not take it to trial and let matters spiral out of control. This had always been Kaffee's code of conduct, and it was also the "ability" that an excellent lawyer must possess.
Sure enough, Kaffee thought this was as good a deal as could be. He presented it to Dawson and Downey. But the two soldiers were unwilling to accept, for they believed they had done nothing wrong, only performed their duty. They would not admit guilt.
This completely enraged Kaffee. He believed it was Galloway who had fed them this foolish notion. "You plead not guilty according to your code, and you'll spend the rest of your life in prison! Do as I say—you'll be home in six months."
"And after six months? We'll be dishonorably discharged, right? Then what, sir?" Dawson too was furious. He could not accept Kaffee's words or his approach. "We enlisted to live by a clear code of rules. We felt that in the Corps. And now you ask us to sign a paper admitting disgrace?" Dawson stood up, shouting his heart to Kaffee: "You want us to admit we're not Marines. If the court convicts us, no matter the punishment, I'll accept it. But I believe I did no wrong, sir. I only fulfilled my duty. And I will not bring shame upon myself, my unit, or the Corps just to go home in six months, sir!"
Always one to obey orders, Dawson felt insulted. He even told Kaffee, "You're a coward! I can't believe they let you wear that uniform."
Kaffee was stung. He decided to give up, even planning to request during tomorrow's arraignment that Dawson and Downey be assigned a different defense attorney. Galloway still hoped Kaffee would argue for them. But Weinberg thought, "Defense didn't work for the war criminals who massacred in Vietnam, nor for the Nazis at Nuremberg." Clearly, Weinberg had always believed the two Marines were guilty.
Kaffee held a different opinion. "You really think this is the same thing? They never once doubted the orders were wrong. They're not Nazis." Yet he still believed this was an unwinnable case, not worth a dying struggle. So he decided to abandon it.
"You know they've been wronged. You know how to win. If you walk away, you decide their fate." Galloway made one last effort.
But Kaffee held on to reason. "The moment Santiago died, their fate was sealed."
"Do you believe they've been wronged?" Galloway refused to give up.
Kaffee found it absurd. "You and Dawson live in a dream world. The issue isn't what I believe—it's what I can prove! So don't tell me what I know or don't know. I know the law!"
That finally broke Galloway's will. "You know nothing about law. You're just a used car salesman, Danny. You're fit only to handle traffic disputes. You're nothing. So just keep living that way."
Her final words made Kaffee thoughtful. Sleepless through the night, Kaffee arrived late to court the next morning. After much hesitation, at the very last moment, Kaffee entered a plea of not guilty. The judge announced that the case would reconvene three weeks later at 10 a.m. in the highest military court.
Because Kaffee realized then: the reason division headquarters had appointed him, a lawyer with only nine months of experience, to this case was not his excellence but because they wanted to avoid a trial. They knew Kaffee's habit—he preferred to trade in law. That meant headquarters wanted the two Marines to take the fall, to shield certain others.
At that moment, murmurs spread through the cinema. Clearly the audience could no longer wait to see the final answer. Dawson and Downey's fate rested firmly in Kaffee's hands.
Kaffee persuaded Weinberg, who had never believed the two Marines were innocent, to join the case. Together with Galloway, they launched active preparations for the trial three weeks later.
The first hearing did not achieve much progress. Prosecution and defense each questioned two events. The first concerned the Naval Investigative Service sending an investigator to probe Dawson's illegal firing. But the investigation never proceeded, because Santiago—the only eyewitness—died before it began. The second was about Kendrick's prohibition order meeting. The prosecution stressed that Kendrick had explicitly ordered no one to harm Santiago. The defense argued that after the meeting ended, no one remained in Dawson and Downey's quarters, and thus it could not be proven Kendrick had not made further contact with the two Marines.
The situation reached an impasse.
The second trial mainly questioned the medical experts. The prosecution emphasized that Santiago had died of poisoning, and that many toxins cannot be detected, which made poisoning the most likely cause of his death. The defense stressed, however, that the victim might not have died from poisoning but very possibly from a preexisting illness—such as a cardiac condition—which, when triggered under intense confrontation, could lead to death while presenting symptoms similar to poisoning. And it was precisely such a cardiac condition that had been the reason for Santiago's transfer request.
Although the doctors strongly denied Kaffee's speculation that Santiago might have had heart disease that went undetected, the prosecuting attorney Ross still relied on the authority of the doctors, affirming their diagnosis that Santiago had no illness. Facing the weakness of their side, Galloway lost her composure and repeatedly raised objections to the judge during court, which ended up angering the judge.
This situation placed the defense in an unfavorable position.
Weinberg became angry at Galloway's behavior, which led Galloway to question him, "Why do you hate them so much?"
"Because they bully the weak, that's the fact," Weinberg replied, venting his fury. "Everything else is nonsense. They tormented a weak young man and killed him just because they disliked him! And the reason? Because he couldn't run fast enough."
In turn, Weinberg then asked Galloway, "Why do you like them so much?"
"Because they're guarding the borders," Galloway answered. "And they promise, 'With me on watch tonight, no one can harm you.'" These words touched Weinberg, softening his tone.
Yet Kaffee still lacked confidence in victory, because they had no sufficient evidence. The evidence they held came only from the suspects themselves, which lacked persuasiveness in court. He believed they would lose, and lose miserably.
The third trial centered on the Code Red. Defense attorney Kaffee confirmed with witnesses that if one was late to platoon or company meetings, if the barracks were always messy, if someone fell out during running…all these could result in a Code Red. A witness testified that he once dropped his rifle because of sweaty palms and was subjected to a Code Red. But Santiago had never been subjected to a Code Red, because his platoon leader Dawson—the defendant Dawson—did not allow it.
Faced with this, prosecuting attorney Ross produced a Navy recruitment manual and the internal regulations of the Guantanamo infantry, asking the witness to find the definition of "Code Red" to prove that no such practice existed at Guantanamo. The witness testified that no such words appeared in the manuals.
Kaffee then snatched the manuals and asked the witness to point out on which page the location of the mess hall was marked. Naturally, the witness could not find it. Kaffee argued, "So if the location of the mess hall isn't written in the manual, does that mean Marines don't go eat?" The witness admitted that of course they followed the footsteps of their seniors. Kaffee thus successfully demonstrated that the existence of a practice doesn't require being written down—many rules were passed along by tradition. Code Red was one such unwritten rule.
After this trial, there was finally some progress. And after the session ended, the missing Markinson reappeared. He confirmed to Kaffee that this was indeed a Code Red incident, that the order had come from Kendrick, and that Santiago had never been scheduled for transfer out of the base. The so-called transfer order that Jessup mentioned had been signed only on the morning Kaffee and the others arrived in Cuba—already the fifth day after Santiago's death.
Moreover, Markinson confirmed that Jessup had claimed the first flight to the United States departed at six the next morning, but in reality, a plane had already left for the United States seven hours earlier.
Markinson's testimony restored Kaffee's confidence. But in his private conversation with Ross, Ross warned Kaffee that Kendrick and Jessup were both men who had contributed to the nation. Without concrete evidence, bringing charges against them could very well lead the military court to convict Kaffee of dereliction of duty, ruining his career for life.
But rather than discouraging him, this only fueled Kaffee's fighting spirit. With the fourth trial imminent, he was filled with boundless confidence!
...
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