Small World, Big God

I set off early on Sunday morning so I could see Henry when he got out of the church service at his school.  We spent an hour or so running through what was scheduled to happen on Tuesday at the oral argument.  In many ways, it was the visually impaired leading the one without eyes – I am not really sure what will happen on Tuesday.

In Uganda, the court of appeals affords comparatively little deference to trial court determinations.  In fact, the court of appeals is authorized to take new testimony and receive new evidence not presented at the trial.  Because the two points of appeal we are raising focus primarily on legal errors we are alleging, we are not seeking to admit new evidence on appeal.  That doesn’t mean, however, that the court will not want to hear from Henry.  (We had previously unsuccessfully sought permission for Henry to stay in school on Tuesday, rather than attending the hearing).  Accordingly, we spent some time on Sunday morning walking through some possible scenarios that could play out.  Better safe than “sorry, sorry.”

While we were talking, Henry called his sister Doreen and made sure that the family spelled “James Josiah” correctly on the baptismal certificate prepared that day in conjunction with the baptism of Henry’s new little brother in Hoima.  I wish I could have been there for it.

I spent the rest of the morning reading and re-reading the trial court record, such as it is.  The lawyer I had dinner with on Saturday evening had warned me that one of the judges scheduled to be on my appellate panel occasionally quizzed the lawyers about the contents of the record just to make sure they were prepared.  I am already quite prepared, but there is no harm in committing most of it to memory.  After all, the trial court record is rather sparse.

In Uganda, there is no verbatim transcript of trial court proceedings.  Instead, the “record” consists of the trial judge’s handwritten notes summarizing the testimony.  Needless to say, precision is in short supply.  This practice allows the trial judge to skew the record, consciously or unconsciously, in favor of the judgment entered by the court, further hampering efforts to overturn judgments on appeal . . .

Late last week, I learned that my friend Steve Swigert is here in Uganda this week also.  Steve is the Oklahoman who, after reading the article I wrote for Guideposts Magazine in late 2011, connected us with our Twin Family – the Gregstons and Gashes did life together for six months in Uganda in 2012.  I got ahold of Steve on Saturday, and we agreed to meet up for lunch on Sunday at a restaurant overlooking Lake Victoria.  It was great catching up with him and a colleague of his whom also assists Watoto (Mega) Church with agricultural initiatives.  Accompanying Steve to lunch was a larger-than-life retired Aussie.  To clarify, he is retired from work, not from being an Aussie.  I knew I was going to like this guy when insisted on a double bear hug when we were introduced.

I quickly (or not so quickly) learned his life story.  He started out as civil servant, then became a successful businessman, then lost everything investing in and breeding race horses.  After embezzling a quarter million dollars from an organization with which he worked, he checked himself into a motel room and tried to kill himself.  He got close, but God had other plans.  When he came to, he found both a Gideon Bible and a reason to go on.  After serving several years in a prison Down Under, he started an organization doing prison ministry all over the world, including in Uganda.

He was kind enough to give me a business card.  After inspecting it briefly, I turned it over in my hand.  On the back was printed “The Starfish Story.”  I couldn’t help but think “Small world, Big God.”

Cool back-of-a-business-card

I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing and refining my oral argument, and then met up with Justice Kiryabwire, his wife, and David Nary for dinner.  Justice K is the designated coordinator of all things Pepperdine in Uganda.  I am his biggest fan, and it is always good to catch up with him.  David just returned from a weekend adventure in Fort Portal, where David and I are heading after the argument on Tuesday.  It is also where I hope to lead a team of lawyers this summer to help clear the backlog of prisoners waiting for trial.

On Monday morning, I headed to the Court of Appeals to watch the morning session of oral arguments so I could get a sense of how things worked here.  To put it gently, what I saw was confidence inspiring.  The advocates there set a fairly low bar I hope to surpass on Tuesday.

I met up with David and Sarah (from the High Court) afterward and got an update regarding the two juvenile sessions that are just wrapping up right now – one in Kampala and one in Mbale.  Both went quite well, but there are still some kinks to work out.

I then met up with Mark Riley, a Brit who works for the Ministry of Gender trying to help them get their arms around the orphanage/adoption challenges faced in Uganda.  Mark came out to Pepperdine last month and played a lead role in the Inter-Country Adoption conference we hosted.  Mark and I are trying to put together a working document that attempts to find and expand common ground among those around the world on both sides of inter-country adoption.

Next was a meeting with the experienced and highly successful Ugandan counsel, Edward Sekabanja, whose assignment it is to keep me from making a fool of myself and/or breaking court rules in Tuesday’s hearing.  Quite a tall order.  He indicated that the Ugandan court of appeals justices would not have seen a more structured, organized, and persuasive appellate submission in their years on the bench.  That was also quite confidence inspiring.  Once again, the bar has not been set very high.  While at Edward’s office, I was able to pick up my Special Practising Certificate, allowing me to argue tomorrow’s case.

I'm Official

David and I had a quick dinner, and I am turning in early.  My driver picks me up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to take me to get Henry and then to the court of appeals.

Your prayers are appreciated.