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versus Feroz Saeed Alivi. ”
    Justice Gaydos said, “Attorneys, please make your appearances.”
    Nick steadied his legs and rose to his feet, summoning all the power he could muster to strengthen his voice.
    â€œFor the United States government,” he boomed, “Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Michael Dykstra.”

3
    â€œLadies and gentlemen,” Nick said as he paced the length of the jury box, “you will be burdened with an extraordinary responsibility in the days and weeks to come. As you well know, the man sitting with his attorneys at the far table is no ordinary defendant. He stands before this court charged in connection with one of the most heinous and cowardly acts in human history. The defendant in this case is charged with mass murder; mass murder and conspiracy to murder thousands of American citizens, right here, on our front doorstep. In our city. The defendant stands before this court to face responsibility for his role in the September 11, 2001, attacks on our nation. And it will be your awesome responsibility at the conclusion of this trial to bring justice to this man for the nearly three thousand souls lost at the World Trade Center here in New York City, at the Pentagon in our nation’s capital, and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a group of courageous American passengers, not so unlike yourselves, perished in a horrific plane crash while attempting to overcome their armed hijackers in order to save not only their own lives but the lives of countless others below.”
    Within minutes of beginning his opening statement, Nick had settled into a rhythm. He had practiced this opening in front of a mirror in his home on the Upper West Side more times than he could possibly remember. Because he knew he’d need to keep his emotions under control. He wanted to speak to this jury with passion and zeal, but not with the all-consuming grief of a widower who had lost his wife and the mother of his only child. He needed to speak to this jury first as a representative for his country, and second as a New Yorker. The jury needed to know that what was at stake for him was at stake for each of them, and all American citizens and their allies around the world.
    As the first hour passed, Nick went on to describe in vivid detail the physical and circumstantial evidence against Feroz Saeed Alivi—recorded messages, intercepted letters and e-mails, photographs, and lengthy confessions. He reminded these twelve men and women what they needed no reminder of—the horror and devastation caused by the attacks twelve years ago on a beautiful September morning, much like this one. He spoke of the aftermath, of the toll on survivors, and this he could describe all too well, because it seemed as though he could recall every moment of his own pain and suffering, every word uttered by his then five-year-old daughter, Lauren, who was trying so hard to understand why she would never again see her mother, and why anyone in the world would have wanted to take her mother away from them.
    Nick talked about the years of training and planning that went into the September 11 attacks. The acts the defendant engaged in were cold-blooded and premeditated, the plans worked and re worked to cause maximum pain and suffering to the United States of America and her citizens. Nick touched briefly on the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and assured the seven men and five women of the jury that while their Al-Qaeda enemies were decimated and on the run, the threat they posed to New York and all American cities remained very real.
    In the second hour, Nick spoke of the witnesses who would present testimony against the defendant in the days and weeks to follow. Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and yes, even a few of New York’s Finest would take the stand.
    Throughout his opening, despite what the legal pundits had repeatedly