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Man convicted in U.S. millennium terror plot writes to judge, upsets lawyers
 SEATTLE (AP) - An Algerian convicted of plotting to bomb the Los Angeles airport at the turn of the millennium has written a letter to the judge who sentenced him to 22 years in prison and his lawyers fear it could hurt his chances of winning an appeal. Few details were provided in court filings this week about the letter, written in Arabic by Ahmed Ressam. The filings indicate U.S. District Judge John Coughenour had it translated and placed it under seal but the judge's office refused to say Wednesday whether he had read it. Its content was not disclosed. Ressam's lawyers have asked Coughenour not to read it, for fear of tainting the case. Let him rassle the bear. If he wins, he gets to swap places with these rascal lawyers. - Judge Bean Ressam and federal prosecutors have appealed aspects of his 2005 sentence to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has indicated it may send the case back to Coughenour. Prosecutors said 22 years was too lenient a punishment. Ressam was convicted in 2001 of terrorism and explosives charges for plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport. Customs agents in Port Angeles, Wash., caught him with explosives in the trunk of his rental car when he drove off a ferry from British Columbia in December 1999, a scare that prompted cancellation of millennium celebrations at Seattle's Space Needle. One of Ressam's lawyers, Thomas Hillier, declined to say Wednesday how he learned of the letter. "Mr. Ressam is not a citizen of this country, does not speak our language and has suffered difficult confinement for a substantial period of time," Hillier wrote in court documents. "His letter may have been sent without fully appreciating the inappropriateness of contacting the court ex parte. The government has no right to take advantage of Mr. Ressam without the shield of counsel." Ressam started co-operating with authorities after his conviction, which helped win him a lesser sentence. But he eventually stopped co-operating, infuriating prosecutors who then had to drop charges against two suspected co-conspirators. Federal prosecutors argued in documents filed Tuesday that the judge should be allowed to read the letter because it might say Ressam wants new lawyers or wishes to resume co-operating. "It is for Mr. Ressam to determine whether he wishes to file a matter with the court or whether he wishes to withdraw it, not counsel on his behalf," prosecutors wrote. Posted by: .com 2006-12-07 |
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