“MR. NEWBURY, IS IT POSSIBLE to determine the exact computer that is used to send an email?” Karp asked his question standing in the well of the courtroom with his arms crossed, looking up at his longtime friend and colleague, Assistant District Attorney Vincent Newbury.
Dressed immaculately, as always, in a dark blue Brooks Brothers suit, light blue button-down shirt, and a bright red silk tie with a diamond stickpin, Newbury was clearly enjoying his role as an expert witness for the People. The lines around his eyes and mouth had not eroded his boyish good looks, though the WASPy blond hair was thinning and there were hints of gray throughout. But his mind and wit were as razor sharp as they had been when he and Karp were both rookies finding their way around the New York DAO.
Although he was in the same generation as Karp, Newbury gravitated toward the modern technology of the younger generation. The chief of the DAO’s White Collar Crimes Bureau, he’d always been a meticulous prosecutor known for assembling the most intricate cases in such a way that a jury could easily see the big picture when he laid it out piece by piece. But he’d really found his niche when personal computers became a tool for prosecutorial investigations. As he’d explained to the jurors a few minutes earlier, he’d assembled quite a team—he called it the DAO Geek Squad—of forensic computer experts, accountants, and tech-savvy detectives. “Among our caseload are a lot of identity theft cases, and cases in which computers are used in the commission of crimes or to investigate and prosecute such crimes.”
“Yes,” Newbury answered. “Although there are some caveats and exceptions, the basic answer is that we can identify a specific computer as the sender or receiver of an email message, even if the message itself no longer exists.”
“Without losing us in the internet jungle,” Karp continued, “could you give the jurors a basic computer course?”
“I’ll try,” Newbury replied before turning to look at the jurors like a professor preparing to lecture a class of freshman students. “I’m going to explain this as simply as I can, not because you’re unintelligent—indeed, some of you may know more than I do—but just so we’re all clear on the basics. You may have heard that computers using the internet have ‘IP addresses,’ or more specifically Internet Protocol addresses. An IP address is a number assigned to each device, such as a computer, printer, iPad or iPhone, that is part of a computer network. That number is the ‘address,’ sort of like 100 Centre Street is the address for this building. We good so far?”
Newbury looked from face to face, all of whom nodded. “Good. Now I won’t bore you with all of the details—though it really is quite fascinating how the internet works—but essentially when someone sends or receives an email part of the information included in that email, though usually hidden from view, is the IP address where the message originated, and the IP address to which it was sent. Sometimes a message sent from one IP address may actually pass through other IP addresses before reaching the final destination, sort of an internet Pony Express, changing riders at each station along the way, but it can still be traced back to the originating device.”
“And to reiterate, this IP address is specific to a device, such as a particular computer?” Karp asked.
“It can be, and most often is,” Newbury said. “But say there is a large company office that has a number of computers all using the same network, they may have the same ‘external’ IP address, but they will also have an internal IP address for each computer that a message can also be traced back to.”
As Newbury was talking, Karp glanced over at the defendant Olivia Stone. Her expression was one of mild boredom. He knew she was aware of it when he now turned to look directly at her instead of Newbury to ask his next question, though she kept her eyes on the jurors.
“Is it possible to use this to trace an IP address to a specific computer even if the emails have been erased, as well as the internet history, and the computer then ‘wiped’ to further expunge the record?”
Stone furrowed her brow, and her already pale complexion blanched further still. Her eyes fixated on Karp, she leaned over and said something to Mendelbaum, who shook his head.
“It’s more difficult, but there are a few tricks of the trade that make it possible, especially if the effort to remove the information was incomplete,” Newbury replied. “We’ve all heard that nothing ever really disappears from the internet, and for the most part that’s true. But the majority of casual computer users, even those who consider themselves to be security conscious and have all the latest removal apps, believe that by taking these steps, they can permanently remove information from their computers. However, if you know what you’re doing and where to look, even some of these more sophisticated efforts to eliminate the information don’t remove it all.”
“So can you retrieve emails that have been deleted?”
“Usually not the email itself, though sometimes if we get to them right away before they’ve been permanently deleted and are cached somewhere,” Newbury said. “But unless the user is really sophisticated and understands how it all works—and is worried about someone equally sophisticated—we can tell when and where an email was sent and where it was received.”
Karp noticed that Stone’s face had grown whiter still when he asked, “What is browsing history?”
“Browsing history on the web is a list of web pages the computer user has visited recently as well as such things as the page title and the date and time of the visit,” Newbury said. “For instance, if someone searched the web for information on the New York County District Attorney’s Office, they’d find a webpage—manhattanda.org—and that would be recorded by their web browser software as part of their browsing history. It makes it easier to locate the page again the next time, and is mostly for the benefit of repeat visitors.”
“Can this web browsing history be removed from a computer?”
“Well, it can be deleted and then purged from easy discovery if the user wants, and there are a number of programs that can be downloaded to carry it a step further,” Newbury said. “But once again, unless the user knows all of the different places and ways that computers store information, it can often be retrieved by someone with the expertise.”
Karp moved over to the jury box and leaned against the rail. “Moving from the theoretical to the practical matters involved in this case, were you and your ‘Geek Squad’ asked to examine three computers?”
“Yes, we were.”
“Would you identify for the jurors each computer you were asked to examine?”
“A Toshiba laptop belonging to Yusef Salaam,” Newbury replied. “And two Hewlett-Packard desktop computers taken from the work offices of Thomas Monroe and Olivia Stone.”
Karp noticed that Stone suddenly turned to her attorney and said something. Mendelbaum scrambled to his feet. “Your honor, may we approach the bench before this line of questioning goes any further?”
Rainsford nodded. “By all means.”
Reaching the sidebar with Karp, Mendelbaum immediately voiced his objection. “My understanding, and granted I am an old man so all of this boggles my mind, is that given the lead-up to where we’re at with this witness now is that the People will claim to have information related to these IP addresses that will connect my client to either of these gentlemen named.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Karp replied. “And then some.”
“Your point, Mr. Mendelbaum?” Rainsford interjected.
“We have no record of this information from the prosecution regarding these IP addresses or Google histories . . .”
“Browsing histories,” Karp corrected.
“Yes, of course, browsing histories. So I’m objecting on the grounds that this is new information that should have been turned over to us. And since it wasn’t, this line of questioning should be prohibited.”
The judge turned to Karp. “And how do you plead to this accusation of withholding new information?”
“Not guilty, your honor,” Karp replied. “The defense was given as much access to the computers as they requested, and they did have them examined by their own forensic computer experts. We didn’t allow them out of the DA’s office with the computers, and they had to work in the presence of Mr. Newbury and his associates, but they were given the opportunity to see everything our people saw.”
Rainsford turned back to Mendelbaum. “Did you have someone examine the computers?”
“Yes, your honor, and the report I received was that there were no emails indicating any connection between these parties or incriminating browsing history. They did see some photographs on Mr. Salaam’s computer that taken out of context might appear to be questionable, but I didn’t hear anything about IP addresses or locating hidden material. And if the DA found such information, we should have been informed.”
Rainsford looked disapprovingly and shook his head at Mendelbaum. “You know better, counselor. This isn’t information that the prosecution was hiding from the defense, even if your experts didn’t find it. In this case, both parties had access to the computers. I’m going to allow Mr. Karp to pursue this line of questioning. However, if you care to have your expert look at the machines again, I’m sure Mr. Karp will make them available to you.”
Mendelbaum sighed. “I’ll reserve my right to do that until after I’ve heard Mr. Newbury’s testimony. I tell you what, though; I miss the days of typewriters and telephones you dial.”
“Well, Mr. Mendelbaum, evidently computers do have some virtues,” the judge replied.
Returning to his seat, Mendelbaum quickly conferred with Stone over the results of the conference with the judge. Karp was gratified to see her face tighten and fists clench; the chess pieces were moving exactly as he intended.
“Mr. Newbury, would you please give the jurors a synopsis of what the examination of the three computers revealed, such as it pertains to this case?”
“I can do that,” Newbury said, and faced the jurors. “We’ll begin with our examination of the laptop belonging to Yusef Salaam, also known as Henry Burns. Some of the information was easy to obtain as there’d been no attempt to delete or encrypt the material. That includes approximately twenty-five photographs we believed were of interest to the Rose Lubinsky homicide in New York County, as well as the attempted murder charge for the subsequent events outside the Jay Street Bar in Brooklyn.”
As Newbury spoke, Karp walked over to the prosecution desk, where he retrieved the photographs he’d shown Burns. “Mr. Newbury, I’m handing you five photographs marked People’s Exhibit 30 A through E. Were these among the photographs you just described as having been found on Salaam’s laptop computer?”
Newbury quickly glanced through the photos and then looked up. “Yes.”
“Would you please briefly describe the content of the photographs and what they represent?”
“Yes, these are photographs taken by an iPhone belonging to Mr. Salaam . . .”
“Excuse me for interrupting . . . how do you know that they were taken by that particular device?”
Newbury smiled. “Remember how I said IP addresses are assigned to different devices so that when something—such as a photograph—is sent from them to another device, we can trace the origination? Such devices also include iPhones. This particular iPhone and corresponding IP address belonged to Mr. Salaam and was found on his body following his death.”
“Thank you. Please continue with your description of the photographs,” Karp said.
“Of course. All of the photographs in People’s Exhibit 30 A through E depict fires engulfing three buildings and two vehicles. With the aid of the New York police and fire department arson investigators we were able to determine that at least four of the photographs, and probably all five, depict acts of arson, and in one case, homicide.”
“Were any of these cases resolved with the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator?”
“Four of the cases remain open,” Newbury said, “the fifth, the homicide, is what we’re currently here to determine.”
“Were these photographs Mr. Salaam could have picked up from media through the internet and downloaded onto this iPhone and later transferred to his computer?”
“No, we were able to determine that he, or whoever had possession of his iPhone, took the photographs.”
“Mr. Newbury, would you please describe the contents of the photograph marked as People’s Exhibit 30-E.”
“The photograph shows a vehicle—actually a 2012 Ford Taurus—engulfed in flames. You can see two people lying on the sidewalk near the front passenger side of the car. And you can also see what appears to be someone in the backseat.”
“Were you able to determine what this photograph represents?” Karp asked as he walked over to the diagram depicting the street crime scene People’s 1 in evidence.
“Yes, it was taken from across the street . . .”
“I’m sorry, just a moment, Mr. Newbury,” Karp said, and looked at Rainsford. “With the court’s permission, may the witness be allowed to approach People’s Exhibit 1, the diagram?”
“Granted.”
“Thank you. Mr. Newbury, would you please come here and mark on this diagram of the crime scene the location of the photographer and direction of the camera when this photograph was taken?”
Newbury did as asked. “Here is the approximate place he stood and was facing this direction toward where the circle marked ‘Lubinsky car’ is on this diagram.” He then returned to the witness stand.
“Were you able to identify the people you described as lying on the sidewalk, as well as the person we can see in the backseat of the car?”
“Yes, the two victims on the sidewalk are Rose Lubinsky and Alejandro Garcia. It is my understanding that Mr. Garcia had just pulled her from the car. The victim in the backseat was a young woman named Mary Calebras.”
Karp walked over and accepted the photographs from Newbury, which he then passed to the jurors. As they were looking at the exhibits, he returned to the prosecution table and picked up two more photographs that he handed to Newbury. “Mr. Newbury, I’m handing you two more photographs. Can you identify them?”
“Yes, these were also found on Mr. Salaam’s computer,” Newbury said. “The first is a photograph of Rose Lubinsky taken from approximately thirty feet away. She appears to be speaking at a rally or meeting. The second is of a young man we were able to identify as Micah Gallo. It appears to have been taken outside an apartment building from across the street.”
“Mr. Newbury, was there anything else of interest in regard to this case on Mr. Salaam’s computer?”
“Yes. We had to dig deeper as much of what I’m about to discuss had been deleted, and in some cases attempts to wipe the memory from the computer’s hard drive were made. There was one other item he’d made no attempt to remove but is indicative of Mr. Salaam’s character. He was what those who engage in social media outlets refer to as a ‘troll.’ He’d create false identities, including using photographs of other people he found on the internet, and would then engage other people, such as on Facebook, for the sole purpose of antagonizing and disrupting the lives of these people. He would make harmful remarks and sow dissension and then leave the conversation.”
“What else?”
“We were able to discover several items from his deleted browsing history that was relevant to this case. This included looking up bomb-making instructions on the internet, including the use of C-4 explosives.”
“Was any research reflected on the computer regarding the method of detonating bombs?”
“Yes. He investigated several possibilities, such as using cell phones,” Newbury said, looking down at his notepad. “He downloaded one title, ‘A Quick Guide to Detonation Using the Vibrating Function on a Cell Phone.’ The internet is full of such useful information.”
“Please continue,” Karp said.
“We also determined that Mr. Salaam used his computer to locate the Seahorse Motel in Atlantic City, as well as bus schedules and pricing for that destination.”
Karp glanced over at Stone, who was bent over her legal pad writing, as her face turned bright red. “What else?”
“Quite a bit,” Newbury said, looking at the jurors. “This goes back to our little chat regarding IP addresses and emails.” He looked down at his notebook. “Mr. Salaam’s laptop had an IP provider number of 172.16.254.”
“And how does that pertain to this case?”
“Well, over the past two years or so, but particularly in the time directly preceding and following the murder of Mrs. Lubinsky, he received a number of emails from IP address 184.12.321.”
“And the significance of that?”
“That is the IP address for the computer removed from the office of former district attorney Olivia Stone.”
Up to that point, most of the media and others in the gallery had been following the discussion about computers and IP addresses with scrunched-up faces and looks of bewilderment. But suddenly, accompanied by a rising tide of murmurs and dropped jaws, it became clear where Karp was leading the witness, and he could tell it had for the jurors as well. Stone stopped writing and simply sat staring down at her legal pad.
“I want to be clear about something,” Karp said. “Were you able to read the content of these emails?”
Newbury shook his head. “No, they’d been deleted and then wiped from the computer’s memory.”
“But you are able to determine that emails had been sent and received?”
Newbury nodded. “Yes,” he said. “The hidden ‘details’ that accompany any email also include the date and time of the transmission and reception. That’s how we were able to determine what I just said about the time directly preceding and subsequent to these attacks, including one sent a few minutes before the explosion of Mrs. Lubinsky’s vehicle that caused the death of three people.”
Karp allowed Newbury’s statement to sink in for a moment before continuing. “Was there any record of Mr. Salaam replying?”
“Only once. Most of the time he only received the transmissions and did not respond. However, on one occasion, the afternoon of the day following the car bombing at Il Buon Pane, he received a message from 184.12.321 and responded almost immediately.”
“Was this the only evidence that he actually saw these emails?”
“Well, the fact that he received these messages over a period of two years and did nothing to prevent or block them would indicate that he was reading them,” Newbury said, “but more than that, he seemed to respond in other ways through his actions. For instance, we were able to connect the reception of emails with the appearance within a day or two of a man matching the description of Yusef Salaam at the Seahorse Motel. This man would check in and then be joined by an unidentified white woman.”
“You said a man matching the description. Did this man register under the name Yusef Salaam or Henry Burns?”
“No. As you know, the Patriot Act requires that motels and hotels check the identification of guests when they check in,” Newbury said. “According to the owner of the Seahorse Motel, which is something of a dive that rents rooms by the hour, the man who matched the physical description of Yusef Salaam presented a driver’s license claiming he was one Charles Beamon of Cleveland, Ohio. However, we were able to determine that the real Charles Beamon—a forty-five-year-old Caucasian male standing five-foot-eight and weighing two hundred twenty pounds—lost his identification to a Coney Island pickpocket on New Year’s Eve two years ago.”
“Were you able to obtain photographs of the real Mr. Beamon and Mr. Salaam and subsequently show them to the owner of the Seahorse Motel?”
“Yes. The owner, a Mr. Islay Kennedy, formerly of County Cork, Ireland, could not identify the real photograph of Mr. Charles Beamon. However, he was able to identify the photograph of Mr. Salaam as the man known to him as Charles Beamon.”
“Did you also show Mr. Kennedy a photograph of the defendant?”
“Yes. But he was unable to say for certain she was the woman who would join Mr. Salaam at the motel.”
“Did he say why he could not identify her?”
“He said he never saw the woman without sunglasses and a heavy coat,” Newbury said. “He also believed that she was wearing a brunette wig. He did say that she appeared to be in her late thirties to midforties.”
“And would they arrive at the motel together?”
“No. Mr. Salaam would show up first on foot,” Newbury said. “The unidentified woman would then arrive in a late-model silver BMW.”
Karp walked over to the prosecution table and picked up a clear plastic bag that he handed to Newbury. “Mr. Newbury, would you please identify the contents of this bag?”
“Yes. It’s the New York registration for a 2013 BMW F13, color silver, registered to the defendant, Olivia Stone.”
“Do you know where the registration was located when taken into evidence by Detective Clay Fulton?”
“Yes, I believe it was in the glove box of the vehicle.”
With the eyes of the jurors flitting over to the defense table where the blond defendant sat stone-faced and pale, Karp returned to the forensic examination of the computers. “Before we move on, were you able in your investigation to establish any sort of connection between Yusef Salaam and Lars Forsling?”
“There was nothing we found to indicate such a connection.”
“What about between Mr. Salaam and Micah Gallo?”
“None.”
“How about Thomas Monroe or the computer confiscated from his office at the Greater New York Teachers Federation?”
“None whatsoever.”
“Two last questions regarding the browsing history of Yusef Salaam. Was there anything that pertained to the events in Brooklyn that claimed the life of Mr. Salaam?”
“Yes, on that day, a search was conducted on Google maps to locate the Jay Street Bar, and he also searched for the bus routes leading to that location.”
“And did that coincide with any emails received from the computer associated with the office of the defendant?”
“Yes. This is the timing for the instance I mentioned in which he received an email from that computer and then responded.”
As Newbury spoke, Karp looked at the jurors. They were paying attention but also looked as if they’d just been inundated with a lot of material to absorb. He turned to the judge. “Your honor, we’ll probably be using the rest of the afternoon for Mr. Newbury’s testimony and I was thinking that this might be a good time to take a break.”
Rainsford glanced at the clock and nodded. “We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes.”
Karp left the courtroom to call Marlene but then returned as quickly as he could to go over his notes for the remainder of his questions for Newbury. He found Irving Mendelbaum sitting in his chair at the defense table, his chin on his chest and lightly snoring. The old man stirred and opened his eyes.
“Ah, boychick, caught me napping,” Mendelbaum said with a tired smile.
“How you doing, Irving? You okay? You’re looking a little beat.”
“Am I? Well, I’m feeling beat . . . and old,” he said. “All of this talk about IP addresses, and browsing histories, and iPhones . . . so much of it is going right over my head. This is the first time since I was a young and not-so-bright Legal Aid attorney fresh out of Columbia Law that I feel I am not adequately representing my client. I am simply not up on all of this computer stuff.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, not to mention you were never a ‘not-so-bright’ attorney,” Karp said. “You’re the dean of the New York defense bar and you’re still on top of the program. And I have to confess, most of this computer stuff goes over my head, too. I don’t even have a personal computer at home, I’m not sure what social media means, and I don’t use email. I have to ask my boys or Marlene, who’s pretty good at it, to explain any of it to me at home. And I’d be lost without Newbury at work.”
Mendelbaum chuckled. “I’ve always liked Vincent. A good man and a trial attorney. I’ve battled with him several times in the past, and even won a couple.”
“I know,” Karp said, “because he takes every loss as a personal reflection on his abilities. But he doesn’t lose many and dinosaurs like us have to rely on guys like him to lead us through the intricacies of the internet. You had your own experts.”
“Yes, but apparently not as good as Newbury and his ‘Geek Squad,’ and I wasn’t savvy enough to realize that. All I know is that they told me the computer memories had been wiped clean of any questionable material. Now I just feel old and not so smart.”
Karp patted him on the shoulder. “Sometimes there’s no fighting the truth. But you’ll live to battle another day, and you’d have to think I’m not so smart to believe that the old tiger is going to go down without a fight.”
Mendelbaum nodded. “I promise to go out scratching and biting, but old, dull teeth and claws aren’t much good when the hunter has a big new gun.”
As Karp turned to go to his seat, Mendelbaum said, “Hey Butch, catch!”
Nabbing the Snickers bar out of the air, Karp laughed. “Thanks, Irving, they don’t make ’em like you anymore.”
“You still have good hands, you big lug,” Mendelbaum shot back with a smile.
Ten minutes later, Newbury was back on the stand and Karp was pressing forward. “Let’s move on to the computer seized from the office of Thomas Monroe at the Greater New York Teachers Federation building.”
“Yes, Computer 193.41.523, as we like to call it,” Newbury said with a twinkle, thoroughly enjoying himself. “That’s its IP address.”
“Would you tell the jurors about your examination of its contents?”
“Yes, actually we’d received some of that information earlier in the form of a flash drive given to you by Micah Gallo.”
“What was Mr. Gallo’s relationship to Mr. Monroe?”
“He was Monroe’s assistant, sort of a second in command.”
“Was the information on the flash drive identical to some of the information that was also on the computer?”
“It was the same information,” Newbury said. “It had just been downloaded onto the flash drive.”
“Was there anything particularly different about this information?”
“Yes, it had been encrypted, which is saying it was in code, which generally is done to keep the information secret from prying eyes.”
“What, if anything, did you do to break the code?”
“Codes are made to be broken. We had to get a little help from a federal security agency, but we were able to break the code and decipher the information.”
Karp picked up a thick, three-ring binder from the prosecution table. “Do you recognize this binder?”
“Yes, I created it.”
“And what does it contain?”
“It contains printed copies of the information found on the computer after we broke the code.”
Karp turned toward Rainsford and said, “I move to enter this binder and its material as People’s Exhibit 32.”
“Any objections?”
“None,” said Mendelbaum.
“So moved.”
“Mr. Newbury, the jury will be able to go through this material during their deliberations, but would you explain in general what they’ll see?”
“Sure. The material is broken into three subsections, each of which are labeled. The first are records of bank accounts registered to various names and corporations. These banks are located in the United States, as well as the Cayman Islands. The second subsection contains a list of real estate holdings, the listed owners, and transactions, such as transfer of title and payments. The third subsection is the same information from the first two subsections, only now divided according to certain identifying marks found on the documents.”
“Were you able to establish who the owners of these bank accounts, corporations, and real estate holdings were?”
“Actually, most of the accounts and corporations are not legitimate, as in, the people listed as the owners are either fictitious or people paid to use their names in order to disguise the identity of the true owners,” Newbury said. “In other words, these were dummy corporations.”
“Were you able to contact any of these people who were paid for the fraudulent use of their identities?”
“Some of them, but not all.”
“Do you recall speaking to Monique DeVeres of Fort Lauderdale, Florida?”
“Yes, she appears as the ‘owner’ of one of the dummy corporations, as well as some real estate in the Florida Keys.”
“Was her ownership legitimate?”
“No, Mrs. DeVeres is an older woman of Cuban descent who lives in a retirement village off her social security income, which she supplemented with several hundred dollars a month from the real owners of the corporation and real estate.”
“Did Mrs. DeVeres plead guilty to fraud for this in Fort Lauderdale?”
“Yes,” Newbury said. “A sad situation actually. She was having trouble making ends meet and has no family. She was placed on probation due to her age; she’s eighty-three.”
“You testified that in the third subsection of People’s Exhibit 32, the information from the first two subsections was divided according to certain identifying marks found on the documents. What were these identifying marks?”
“They were letters written in pencil next to each of the documents, or next to the list of bank accounts,” Newbury said. “Either a ‘T,’ an ‘M,’ or an ‘O.’ We were able to determine from our investigation that the ‘T’ was for Thomas, the ‘M’ was for Micah, and the ‘O’ for Olivia.”
“Mr. Newbury, I believe your testimony is that there were no emails to or from IP address 193.41.523, identified as connected to the computer in Mr. Monroe’s office, and IP address 172.16.254, identified as assigned to Mr. Salaam’s laptop?”
“That’s correct.”
“What about between the Monroe IP address 193.41.523 and the Stone IP address 184.12.321?”
“Yes, there were quite a few emails going back and forth over a long period of time, including in the late afternoon prior to Mr. Monroe’s arrest, at which point there were several more from the Stone IP address to the Monroe IP address, which were not returned until they, too, stopped.”
“Were you able to read the emails from the Stone IP address to the Monroe IP address?”
“Yes, these were intercepted, and because Mr. Monroe was incarcerated at the time, there was not an opportunity for him to delete them.”
“What did they say?”
“Not a whole lot. Just several requests that he call her. The last one sounded quite desperate,” Newbury said looking down at his notepad, “and I quote, ‘Where are you? Call me, goddamn it.’ ”
“I’d like to turn now to Computer 184.12.321 seized from the office of then District Attorney Stone. First, was there something different about locating information on this computer?”
“Yes. This computer was linked to others within the Kings County criminal courts system, which included the office of the district attorney. As such it had an ‘external’ IP address associated with it and all of the other computers in the building, as well as an ‘internal’ number assigned solely to hers. Kings County refused to simply tell us the number, and we ended up having to subpoena their tech supervisor to get the number.”
“I believe that you testified that except on one occasion, Mr. Salaam received messages from IP Number 184.12.321 assigned to the defendant’s computer but did not respond?”
“That’s correct. Except for the one response, it was all one-way.”
“Can you tell me how many emails were sent from the Stone IP address to the Salaam IP address in the week, days, and hours prior to the car bombing that resulted in the deaths of Mrs. Lubinsky, Mary Calebras, and Tawanna Mohammad?”
“There was one about a week prior to the car bombing murder of Rose Lubinsky and the two other deceaseds.”
“Were you able to note something that would lead you to believe that Mr. Salaam reacted to this email?”
“Yes, the following day he took a bus to the Seahorse Motel in Atlantic City, where he spent several hours in a room with the unidentified woman who arrived in the late-model BMW.”
“Okay, let’s proceed. After that, how many messages were there and when were they sent?”
“There were two more. One the day before the bombing.”
“Was there any indication that Mr. Salaam reacted, such as another trip to the Seahorse Motel?”
“Not that we were able to discern.”
“Okay, what about the third email?”
“It was sent several hours prior to the bombing.”
Karp positioned himself against the jury rail. “What about the following day?”
“That was when he received an email from someone in the afternoon and then responded.”
“Was there something besides his email response that indicated a reaction to her email?”
“He appeared outside the Jay Street Bar where Thomas Monroe was arrested.”
“Is that where he also died?”
“Yes.”
“I believe that your testimony was that when you examined Computer 184.12.321, the IP address assigned to Mrs. Stone’s computer, emails and browsing history had been deleted and attempts had been made to erase all evidence of them from the machine’s hard drive.”
“That’s true.”
“When was this done?”
“Approximately one hour before Mrs. Stone’s arrest and the subsequent confiscation of the computer.”
“Before I turn you over to Mr. Mendelbaum, was there one other computer you were asked to examine?”
“Yes,” Newbury said, consulting his notepad. “Computer 312.55.435 belonging to Micah Gallo.”
“Do you know the circumstances under which this computer was turned over to the New York District Attorney’s Office?”
“I believe Mr. Gallo brought it to your office.”
“Were there any attempts to erase information on this computer prior to turning it over to the DAO?”
“No, other than the usual sort of housekeeping a computer user does. But nothing we could connect to anything regarding this case.”
“Were you able to locate bank account information and real estate documents that incriminated Mr. Gallo in a conspiracy with Mr. Monroe and the defendant Stone to steal funds from the Greater New York Teachers Federation for their personal gain?”
“Yes.”
“Was there any attempt to encrypt this information?”
“No. It was easy to access, and Mr. Gallo cooperated in showing us where to locate the information.”
“Was there any evidence of contact between Mr. Gallo’s IP address and the IP address assigned to Olivia Stone’s computer?”
“None that we could find.”
“What about between Mr. Gallo’s IP address and Mr. Monroe’s?”
“There were occasional emails between them, but it didn’t appear to be a preferred method of communication, which is understandable considering they worked in the same office.”
“Were you able to read emails on Mr. Gallo’s computer between him and Mr. Monroe?”
“Yes, as I said, most were work related. However, there were some that caught our attention as being possibly linked to this case.”
“Would you elaborate please?”
“Certainly,” Newbury said, looking at his notepad. “One day prior to the bombing of Mrs. Lubinsky’s car, Mr. Gallo received an email from Mr. Monroe that read: ‘I want you to go with me to meet you know who tonight regarding what to do about the charter school bill. We’re running out of time and options.’ ”
“Were there any others?”
“Yes, the afternoon of the bombing, Monroe instructed Gallo to meet him at the Jay Street Bar, and I quote, ‘promptly at eight p.m. Don’t be late,’ unquote.”
“Again, was there any contact between the Gallo IP address and the Salaam IP address?”
“Not that we could determine.”
“Was there anything in Gallo’s computer to indicate that he knew or associated with friends of Lars Forsling?”
“Nothing we could find. You asked me to look into that but we couldn’t locate any evidence that Mr. Forsling owned a computer or had access to one. We were also unable to locate an email address attributed to a Lars Forsling, except one registered to Lars Forsling in Cashton, Wisconsin, a sixty-five-year-old dairy farmer.”
“This question is not in regard to the computers, but whether you were able to determine that Henry Burns, aka Yusef Salaam, was represented by the defendant, Olivia Stone, on a juvenile arson case when he was fourteen years old?”
“Yes.”
“No further questions,” Karp informed the judge and turned to Mendelbaum. For a moment, he felt compassion for the old man who rose slowly to his feet. But then he looked at Stone and returned his focus to the task at hand.
Following Newbury’s persuasive testimony for the People, Mendelbaum had done his best to throw his matzo balls during his cross-examination of the assistant district attorney. All of his questions, however, had been anticipated, and very little, if anything, stuck. Karp could see it in the eyes of the jurors.
Mendelbaum tried to make a point that Newbury didn’t know what the emails from the computer in Stone’s office to Salaam’s laptop actually said. “You have no idea what the subject matter was, do you?”
“No, but the timing of the emails and the efforts made to delete and hide them speaks volumes, don’t you think?” Newbury parried.
Mendelbaum then attempted to portray the prosecution as the ones reaching for straws. “Without a shred of real evidence, you and my esteemed colleague, Mr. Karp, have been insinuating a romantic relationship between my client and this troubled young man, Yusef Salaam, while ignoring the possibility of something less scandalous. But, of course, that would not have fit the prosecution’s scenario, would it?”
“From our investigation, you’d have to be in complete denial not to recognize it.”
“Perhaps my old brain isn’t comprehending correctly,” Mendelbaum said at another point, scratching his head as if confused. “But on one hand you testified that your investigation of Gallo’s computer did not indicate any sort of connection between him and Lars Forsling.”
“That’s correct.”
“But then you told the jurors that Forsling didn’t have a computer, or access to one, so how is that first statement even relevant?”
Newbury smiled and shrugged. “I was asked if the examination of the computer showed any evidence of an association. I was not asked if it was possible that Micah Gallo and Lars Forsling communicated in some other fashion, or could have known each other in a way that didn’t involve computers.”
“And how would you have answered that?”
“I would have said that I didn’t know,” Newbury replied. “That was not within the purview of my investigation. I would assume that others looked into that possibility.”
Mendelbaum continued his cross-examination like a squirrel choosing only some nuts while ignoring the rest. “It’s my understanding that when you showed the owner of the Seahorse Motel a photo lineup that included a picture of Mrs. Stone, he was unable to identify her as the mystery woman who met with Mr. Salaam. Am I right?”
And usually the simple answer was enough. “That’s correct.”
Mendelbaum did his best, but he didn’t have much to work with and was up against a formidable People’s witness in Vincent Newbury, who seemed to enjoy pulling his adversary into traps.
“Is it possible that someone else could have sent these mystery emails using my client’s computer?” Mendelbaum asked.
“I suppose it’s possible, but the computer and its email server are both password protected,” Newbury said. “We did not find any evidence that someone ‘hacked’ into the computer in order to bypass the passwords, which leaves only the possibilities that the defendant gave someone her password and that person then sent these emails, and should have been reported as a possible suspect, or that the defendant sent them herself.”
After Mendelbaum gave up getting any useful concessions from Newbury, Karp called Islay Kennedy to the stand. Once again to steal the defense’s thunder, he asked the red-headed native of County Cork, Ireland, to look around the courtroom and see if he could “positively identify” the mystery woman who drove the late-model BMW. The motel owner had looked at Olivia Stone for a long moment, but then shook his head and said, “I can’t be sure.”
Mendelbaum had, of course, made sure he reemphasized the point that the motel owner was unable to identify the mystery woman from the photo lineup and in the courtroom. But Kennedy had looked at Stone again when he said, “Who knows? The woman was wearing sunglasses and a bad brown wig.”
“What makes you think it was a bad wig and not her real hair?” Mendelbaum asked.
Kennedy got an amused look on his face. “A lot of working girls bring their customers to my establishment,” he said. “Believe you me, I have seen my share of bad wigs on the women and the men.”
The courtroom erupted with laughter, which caused the witness to beam at his own cleverness. “I’m sure you have, Mr. Kennedy,” Mendelbaum said, laughing himself despite the discomfiture of his client. “And a few other things as well. No further questions, your honor.”
Rainsford nodded. “Mr. Karp, anything else?”
“No, your honor.”
“Then on that note, we’ll adjourn until morning.”