On Sept. 17, 2001, I was scheduled to begin jury selection in a complex fraud and corruption trial before Judge William H. Pauley in the old Manhattan federal courthouse. The trial, United States v. Black, was one that I had long looked forward to. My co-counsel, including Jerry Lefcourt, Fred Hafetz, Abbe Lowell and Frank Wohl, were all highly skilled and extraordinarily competent trial lawyers. As Fred Hafetz remarked early on, ” The defense in this case has a very deep bench.” By early September we were all prepared and ready for what promised to be a hotly contested trial.
After the devastating events of 9/11, both the lawyers’ anticipation and the trial date itself evaporated. In the frozen horror following the planes and the Trade Center collapse, Manhattan below Canal Street had turned into an armed camp. Combat-ready military personnel, along with local and state police, established checkpoints and remained, at some locations, at their posts for months. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic were limited.
