| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| The Wages of Treating Terrorism as a "Law Enforcement Matter" |
| 2008-04-16 |
| Yes, by all means, let's close Gitmo and bring them all here to stand trial. After 12 difficult days of deliberations, a federal jury on Wednesday deadlocked in the second trial of a Miami group accused of plotting with al Qaeda to overthrow the United States — an unprecedented outcome in the government's legal war on domestic terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. ''At this juncture it is clear to me this jury is unable to reach a verdict,'' U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard said in declaring a mistrial. The decision came after the jury's third note to the judge indicating the panel was unable to reach a verdict. The judge set a status conference for April 23 for federal prosecutors to decide whether to try the six defendants for a third time. ''The United States will announce its position on this matter at that time,'' said Alicia Valle, special counsel to the U.S. attorney in Miami. The mistrial came after the 12 jurors failed to reach a verdict on the four terror-related conspiracy charges against the six Liberty City defendants. The central charge was conspiring to provide ''material support'' to the global terrorist organization for plans to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and federal government buildings. The outcome, which was hinted at in the panel's first note issued Friday, was like the previous jury's verdict. In December, it deadlocked on the four charges against the six defendants and acquitted a seventh after nine days of deliberations. On Wednesday morning, prosecutors urged the judge to make the jurors deliberate further. ''It just seems to me that it's a little premature to declare a mistrial,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango. But defense lawyers, who moved for a mistrial, sharply disagreed. ''At this time, at this point, enough is enough,'' defense attorney Rod Vereen said, citing the jury's note saying it was deadlocked for the third time. ``I don't think it's going to be any clearer.'' |
| Posted by:charger |