“Your Honor, my application is literally before you, among the papers in this case. For the record, I’m admitted to the bar in the State of Washington and in the federal district courts for the Western District of Washington, and I’m requesting emergency admission for the purposes of this matter.” Jacqueline Walton shook her head and laughed in response. “You’re presuming a lot, Miss O’Brien, coming in here and asking to be automatically enrolled and expecting us to shove aside the normal procedures.”
Gracie felt her mind shift to a higher, faster level of thinking. She had researched Judge Walton the night before and knew she was tough, but she had naively let herself hope that a woman appearing before a female judge might elicit a modicum of sympathy.
“Your Honor, I would never presume to do so if this were not truly an emergency matter legitimately requiring the equity powers of this court.”
“So you’ve said. So, tell me precisely, Counselor, why you believe there is a threat of imminent harm here that requires me to act instantly to admit you to this bar as well as enjoin the entire United States government from doing such a wide variety of things?”
“All right, Your Honor, I—”
“I mean, if some branch of the U.S: government has taken the time and trouble and spent the money and resources to raise the wreckage of your client’s downed aircraft, what possible evidence do you have that leads you to the bizarre conclusion that they may be about to destroy it?”
“It’s not destruction of the wreckage that concerns us, Your Honor. It’s the possibility that in storing it, shipping it, hiding it, or otherwise retaining possession of it, they may move or otherwise adulterate exculpatory evidence putatively contained therein, whereas the intervention of evidence which, if intact—”
“Miss O’Brien, I do not tolerate convoluted legalese in this court when English will do nicely. Rephrase what you were saying so a normal human can understand it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The judge shook her head in irritation. “‘Ma’am’ is a contraction for ‘madam,’ Counselor, and I am not, nor have I ever been, a madam. I am a judge. A long-suffering one in some cases, but a judge nevertheless, without regard to gender. You may address me as ‘Judge’ or ‘Your Honor.’ You will not address this court as ‘ma’am.’ Is that clear?”
“Yes, Your Honor. I apologize.”
“And for the record, I am approving your application for admission, but I’ll tolerate no flowery language. They may like that sort of verbal froth out in the ninth circuit, but I don’t tolerate it here.”
Gracie nodded, working hard to hide the confusion she felt, all her carefully constructed and practiced arguments suddenly verging on disarray.
Okay. Plain English, whatever that means.
“Judge, the FAA has revoked Captain Rosen’s pilot’s license based on the accusation that he crashed his airplane by flying recklessly. Captain Rosen, my client, in fact, had a propeller blade break in flight, creating so much damage that he couldn’t control the airplane. The broken propeller caused the crash. Absolute irrefutable evidence of the broken propeller was sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska with the wreckage of the aircraft. That evidence would immediately clear my client of the main charge against him. But the government has chosen to disturb and remove that wreckage. In the process of raising the wreckage and taking it away, the government has endangered my client’s ability to clear himself of the false charge of reckless flying by altering the physical evidence. If the physical evidence of the wreckage at this moment still shows his innocence, then it is vital that no one be allowed to… to… mess with that wreckage any further.”
The judge raised an eyebrow and cocked her head, the slightest hint of a smile on her face.
“Did you really say, ‘mess with,’ Miss O’Brien?”
“Yes, Your Honor. You directed plain English, and while that expression is colloquial, it’s plainly… ah…”
“Plain English. All right. Continue.”
“Complicating the urgency, Your Honor, is the fact that we have been unable to discover which agency of the U.S. Government has the wreckage, where the wreckage is, and what is planned for it. The admiralty portion of this case has to do with the right to disturb or take possession of the wreckage of an airplane in international waters to begin with. First, there has been no abandonment of the wreckage by my client. Second, my client retained a salvage firm. Third, that salvage firm was illegally denied access to the waters over the wreckage by the Coast Guard. Fourth, although ownership of any registered U.S. aircraft and the address of record of that owner can be established in five minutes over the Internet by simply entering the tail number, and despite the fact that the FAA and the NTSB know well who owns that aircraft and where to find him, there has been no effort by the government to notify Captain Rosen of any intent to… disturb the wreckage.”
“You may use the phrase ‘mess with’ again, if you like, Miss O’Brien.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. ‘Disturb’ also works for me.”
“Go on.”
“So, we have a case of unexplained misconduct on the part of some agency of the government in failing to follow any of the established rules for dealing with the non-abandoned wreck of an aircraft, and we have a great possibility of massive harm to Captain Rosen’s career and finances if the physical evidence that could clear him of the reckless flying charge is destroyed or compromised.”
“There are other FAA charges against your client, I see.”
“Yes, Your Honor. The FAA alleges he was drinking while flying. The blood analyses done at Anchorage Providence Hospital immediately after admission completely disprove that. The third allegation is that he was flying under visual rules, flew into instrument weather conditions, and failed to turn around fast enough. We will be able to completely disprove that when some due process is afforded my client.”
“Are we now entertaining a constitutional challenge, Miss O’Brien? Are you alleging the government is acting without due process?”
Gracie caught the intent of the judge’s question just in time. This was no joking reference.
Careful, Gracie cautioned herself.
“Your Honor, there is only one solitary incidence of constitutional due process that has been followed correctly up until you agreed to hear me today, and that was the formal sending of the FAA’s notice of emergency license revocation. There has been no due process regarding the snatching of the aircraft wreckage, nor in the absence of notice of such intent, nor in the refusal to tell us where the wreckage is. Additionally, the reason for specifically proceeding against the FAA today is to prevent a continuation of what, in the plainest English I can manage, is a pure railroad job against Captain Rosen. The FAA inspector in Alaska held an extremely hostile interview with him, in his hospital room, on the afternoon of Captain Rosen’s rescue and made it clear he was going to try to revoke his license with no supporting evidence. The conduct of the government since then has been to frustrate perhaps the most important need my client has, which is to collect and protect the evidence with which to defend himself and his right to practice his career. In other words, Your Honor, the government of the United States has actively prevented my client from showing or proving his innocence, not only in the short term, but… because of the serious possibility of destroying the exculp — I mean, because they may ruin the evidence, in the long term as well. So, even if we were able to secure normal due process, it may not come in time.”