A federal judge is deciding whether to grant a new trial to a former Navy sailor convicted of leaking details about ship movements to suspected terrorist supporters.U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kravitz questioned both sides Tuesday about the level of evidence that led a jury last March to convict Hassan Abu-Jihaad of providing material support to terrorists and disclosing classified national defense information. Judge Kravitz said he was not sure when he would issue his ruling on the defense request for a new trial. Judge Kravitz said he did not want to interfere with the role of the jury,
| ... then don't ... |
Mr. Abu-Jihaad, who was a signalman aboard the USS Benfold, was accused of passing along information that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the formation the group would use to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf on April 29, 2001. He allegedly told his contacts, "They have nothing to stop a small craft with RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] etc., except their SEALs' stinger missiles." The ship wasn't attacked.
Mr. Abu-Jihaad, who is from Phoenix, sought a new trial in October, saying prosecutors lacked evidence and inflamed the jury by playing videos he had purchased that promoted violent jihad, or holy war.
| Jury thought the prosecution had enough evidence ... |
Prosecutors said the leaked documents closely matched what Mr. Abu-Jihaad would have had access to as a signalman. Prosecutors said Mr. Abu-Jihaad was the only member of the military communicating with the group and had access to the classified information. Authorities also noted that the leaked information ended with a bold plea, "Please destroy message," which they said is further evidence that it came from an insider.
But Judge Kravitz questioned how prosecutors could reconcile the call to destroy the message with their contention that Mr. Abu-Jihaad helped provide a physical asset, a computer disk, to terrorists. "That to me is the weakest part of the case," Judge Kravitz said. "Does that suggest we have a confused jury?"
| No, it suggests we have a bleeding-heart judge ... |
Mr. Abu-Jihaad was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Mr. Ahmad, who lived with his parents where the computer file was allegedly found, is to be extradited to the U.S. Mr. Abu-Jihaad, who was honorably discharged in 2002, is scheduled to be sentenced in February and faces up to 25 years in prison.