Judge Upholds Conviction in Terror Case

[struggle4progress]

By BENJAMIN WEISER
Published: November 3, 2005

A federal judge in Manhattan refused yesterday to overturn the 2001 convictions of a former aide to Osama bin Laden in a major terrorism case, but he sharply criticized the United States Marshals Service for suppressing evidence and then trying to hide what it had done.

The judge, Kevin Thomas Duffy of United States District Court, raised "grave concerns" about the marshals' actions in a scathing109-page ruling that nevertheless upheld the convictions of the defendant, Wadih El-Hage.

Judge Duffy had held hearings over the past year about how the Marshals Service made 28 hours of video recordings of prosecutors' interviews with a crucial government witness that were then not given to the defense before the trial.

The witness, Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, a former member of Al Qaeda, was in the witness protection program, which is run by the Marshals Service. Without telling prosecutors, the Marshals Service taped a series of video conferences between Mr. Fadl and the prosecutors interviewing him. Under the law, the transcripts of those tapes should have been turned over to the defense before trial, Judge Duffy said, but the prosecutors themselves did not learn of the tapes until after the trial. <snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/03/nyregion/03terror.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130992816-Y+ji/24wp4v8QDb2VYZDQQ

[Rose Siding]

1. Will any of the marshals or prosecutors face misconduct charges?

Reading about this portion of the ruling, I'm curious as to why the judge determined this shouldn't be a new jury's decision...

The judge concluded that some of the evidence would have provided "fertile grounds for impeachment" by the defense lawyers. In one case, the judge said, the defense could have shown that Mr. Fadl perceived that his immigration status and chances of avoiding prison depended on his testimony going well.

But, the judge concluded, "none of the undisclosed material is powerful enough to displace the government's other evidence of El-Hage's guilt." Mr. Fadl testified at length about the history of Al Qaeda and also Mr. El-Hage's role, and the judge noted that other evidence corroborated Mr. Fadl's testimony.