Free The Last Judgment by Craig Parshall Page A

by you about his intentions to create a violent episode, or a riot—but in fact had to do with his feelings while he was being beaten and pursued by the crowd. Correct?”
    â€œI guess so.”
    â€œDeputy—can you point out any entry you made in this memo book, on the day in question, where you record any statement from Gilead Amahn in which he indicates his sharing his religious beliefs with the attendees of the Islamic conference was intended in any way to provoke, instigate, or incite a riot or a public disturbance?”
    â€œI don’t believe so. I don’t believe there’s anything in my memo book that says that,” the deputy answered.
    â€œBut Gilead Amahn did tell you in the squad car that the reason he felt compelled to share his faith in the midst of such a hostile environment was that he was a former Muslim himself. That his mother had been a former Muslim. And that his mother had been killed for her faith over in Cairo, Egypt. Is this all correct?”
    The Commonwealth attorney leaped to his feet and objected to the multiple form of the question.
    Judge Hadfeld sustained the objection with a growing sense of impatience.
    Will asked the question again, this time breaking it down into several parts, but with increasing emphasis in his voice.
    â€œYes,” the deputy answered quietly. “Mr. Amahn did say some of those things.”
    Will rested his cross-examination, and the prosecutor presented no redirect and rested his case. Will then began arguing his motion for dismissal based on grounds of free speech and free exercise of religion. But Judge Hadfeld quickly cut him off.
    â€œCounsel, I’m not going to grant your motion. But you can renew these arguments again in detail after the close of all the testimony. Now let’s hear the defense case.”
    Will nodded, then bent down to Gilead Amahn, who had been sitting quietly and patiently next to him at counsel table.
    â€œThis is it,” he whispered to his client. “Are you ready? If you’d like me to ask the Court to start this after lunch, I could probably make a pitch that way…”
    â€œNo,” Gilead replied confidently, “I would like to testify now. Let’s go.”
    He quickly made his way to the stand, raised his right hand with his left hand on the Bible, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God. And then he sat down.
    Will looked at Gilead, ready to commence his direct examination—but noticed something in his client’s expression.
    His eyes were not on Will or anything else in the courtroom, but somewhere else. Nor did he appear nervous. His face was relaxed, with a slight smile. It was as if Gilead Amahn, while waiting to testify in his own criminal case, was actually harboring a secret that had little to do with the legal proceedings in the District Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
    Will had thoroughly prepared his client for the trial, conducting a painstaking review of the sheriff’s department’s incident reports. However, he had been unsuccessful in his attempt to get the reports of the federal agents and the Department of Justice relating to their initial temporary detention of Gilead Amahn.
    If his client was hiding something, Will wondered whether it, like some concealed detonation device, would be inadvertently tripped during the trial.

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    â€œG ILEAD, TO REVIEW, THESE ARE THE REASONS that you went to the conference at the Islamic Center that day: to preach Jesus Christ to those Muslim attendees, to honor the memory of your dead mother, who gave her life for her Christian faith, and to obey what you described as the command of the Great Commission—to preach the gospel to the whole world?”
    â€œYes, Mr. Chambers. That is why.”
    â€œDid you deliberately seek to incite a violent reaction?”
    â€œOf course not. That would be wrong.”
    â€œWhat desire did you have