Page 27 of Grave Danger
“Make it very quick,” said the judge. “The witness may answer.”
The translator delivered the response. “No, the Tehran medical examiner’s office has never issued a death certificate for Ava Bazzi.”
“Am I correct that your medical office is located in the same province as the Tehran prison, where Ms. Ava Bazzi was jailed?”
A demonstrator shouted something in Farsi from the back of the courtroom, which drew the crack of the judge’s gavel and a stern warning.
“Order! Any further outbursts will result in immediate removal from this courtroom. Ms. Beech, I’ll give you two more questions to wrap this up.”
“I need only one. Dr. Sherif, at any time, was the body of Ava Bazzi brought to your office for examination, from the Tehran prison or from anywhere else?”
“No. Never.”
“I have no further questions,” said Beech.
“Mr. Swyteck, do you have any cross-examination?”
“No, Your Honor. I move to strike this witness’s testimony as completely irrelevant to this proceeding.”
The judge seemed to agree. “Ms. Beech, you promised that the relevance would be quickly apparent. I must be missing something.”
“Judge, even if we assume the marriage was valid, Zahra Bazzi became a stepmother. As stepmother, she has no rights of custody over Farid’s daughter, Yasmin. That’s the law of Iran. It’s even the law of Florida. If she has no custody rights, she has no right to assert any defenses to child abduction under the Hague Convention. The case is over.”
Jack was fully prepared on that point of law. “Your Honor, we concede that my client is not the biological mother. But in the eyes of the law, she is more than a stepmother. She formally and legallyadoptedYasmin. An adoptive mother has the full legal rights of a biological mother.”
The judge grimaced. “I still don’t see how any of this makes the testimony of an Iranian coroner relevant to this proceeding.”
“Nor do I,” said Jack.
“It’s really quite simple,” said Beech. “Under Iranian law, if both biological parents are still alive, a stepparent’s adoption of a stepchild is not valid unlessbothbiological parents consent. As the medical examiner just testified, there is no evidence that Ava is dead. In the eyes of the law, Ava is a living biological parent of Yasmin who never consented to Zahra’s adoption of Yasmin. Without Ava’s consent, it is irrelevant whether Farid consented to the adoption or if his consent was obtained by Zahra’s fraud. By itself, Ava’s lack of consent renders the adoption invalid, which means that Zahrahas no custody rights to Yasmin. As between Farid and Zahra, the court must order Yasmin’s return to Farid.”
The judge seemed impressed. “Ms. Beech, I give you points for creativity. Mr. Swyteck, what’s your response?”
Jack wasn’t aching to turn a courtroom battle into all-out war against the Iranian government, not to mention the US State Department. But Farid’s “creative” new strategy made the nuclear option his only option.
“Your Honor, if this court allows the testimony of this witness to stand, you will have opened Pandora’s box. I will have no choice but to present any and all evidence I can find to prove one point: Ava Bazzi is dead. More specifically, she was murdered by the Iranian government.”
The courtroom erupted with cheers and applause from the demonstrators, which the judge immediately gaveled down.
“Final warning!” he bellowed. “If there is one more outburst, I will close this entire courtroom to the public.”
The courtroom fell silent—so silent that the judge’s deep sigh was picked up by the microphone, audible to all.
“Mr. Swyteck, I take your point. I’m not eager to expand the scope of this proceeding.”
Beech interjected. “Judge, you are not expanding the proceeding. You are streamlining it. In the absence of any evidence—anyevidence—that Ava Bazzi is dead, Zahra Bazzi is not a lawful adoptive parent. This case is over.”
The judge paused, thinking, then spoke. “This is an important issue. My recollection under Florida law is that the consent of both biological parents is required, if they are both alive. But I’m no expert in Iranian law.”
“Judge, it’s the same under Iranian law,” said Beech.
“You may say so, Counsel. But I don’t know that for a fact. So, here’s what we’re going to do. I will give each side until five p.m. to deliver an affidavit from an expert in Iranian law who can answer this question. I will issue a ruling tonight. We are adjourned until nine o’clock tomorrow morning,” he said, and the proceeding ended with a bang of his gavel.
“All rise!” called the bailiff.
The courtroom was silent until the judge disappeared through the side door to his chambers. Members of the media rushed to the rail, shouting questions at both the petitioner and the respondent. Jack led his client away from the commotion to the far side of the empty jury box, well away from the public seating, out of earshot of the media.
“How did this become all about Ava?” asked Zahra. “Does this mean I will lose?”