 Youssef Megahed is not charged with terrorism. But whether the Egyptian citizen was a potential terrorist or just an innocent college student has been a central question since his arrest in South Carolina in 2007, when deputies said he and Ahmed Mohamed had pipe bombs in the trunk of their car.
| What's 'innocent' about a pipe bomb? |
Today, a federal judge will begin seating a jury to decide whether Megahed, a 23-year-old former University of South Florida student, is guilty of transporting explosives and possession of a destructive device.
Although passions have subsided since the Sept. 11 attacks, experts say it will still be a challenge to find a jury that can fairly judge a Muslim defendant. "There is so much prejudice toward Muslims still," said Neil Vidmar, a Duke Law School professor who served as a defense jury expert in the case of former USF professor Sami Al-Arian, who was accused of leading a U.S. cell of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
| And the prejudice towards people with pipe bombs is really amazing ... |
"Ever since Al-Arian, I would never say you can't get a fair jury in Tampa Bay because we did," said Kevin Beck, who represented an Al-Arian codefendant in their 2005 trial, which ended with acquittals on numerous charges and deadlocked jurors on others but no convictions. (Al-Arian later pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to help terrorists.) But Beck said he's concerned it may be more difficult for Megahed's defense to find an impartial jury because the jury selection process won't be as thorough as it was in Al-Arian's case. "I feel that they should be afforded a greater opportunity to question potential jurors than they'll necessarily get," he said.
| You're not entitled to a jury that is most favorably predisposed towards you; you're entitled to a fair jury, and a good judge can settle that in a non-capital case in a day. |
In Al-Arian's case, potential jurors were given detailed questionnaires probing opinions about the case, the Middle East and religion. Candidates were then questioned in small groups by the judge and attorneys. U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has denied defense motions for questionnaires in the Megahed case and may conduct all or most of the questioning himself with larger groups.
| Good for him. That's just what a judge is supposed to do. |
"I think jurors tend to cower to a degree when a judge is doing the questioning," Beck said. "I think there is a significant group of people that will try to please the judge." Prejudice is "a heavy hurdle to overcome," said Edward J. Bronson, a retired law professor and jury expert. "It's not that people don't honestly think they can be fair and impartial, and really believe they can be fair and impartial. ... It's just the way people are."
| So we should just let the pipe-bombers go ... |
Some of the potential jurors discarded in the Al-Arian case expressed extreme hatred toward Muslims in their questionnaires, Bronson noted. A few said they were afraid to serve because they worried terrorists might target them if they voted to convict. Defendants can overcome prejudices, "But that's not the way our system's supposed to work," Bronson said. "You shouldn't go into trial having to overcome a story model that prospective jurors have developed that the defendant is guilty and the burden shifts to the defense to prove that he isn't."
| Notice that the jurors who were most prejudiced were .. not allowed to serve. Seems to me that the system worked. |
Megahed, whose family has lived in the United States for 11 years, was a USF student when he and Mohamed were pulled over in South Carolina in August 2007. Deputies said they found explosives in the car's trunk - PVC pipes stuffed with kitty litter, corn syrup and stump remover. Also in the car were items such as a partially filled can of gasoline, a safety fuse and .22-caliber bullets. The FBI determined the substance in the pipes was a "low explosive" pyrotechnic mixture. Prosecutors contend the devices could have been modified to something more serious.
| Sure could have. Sounds like they were experimenting ... |
Investigators also found Mohamed's laptop computer and a YouTube video he made showing "martyrs" how to use remote-controlled toys to detonate bombs. Deputies said they saw Megahed, the passenger, disconnect wires from the laptop and throw them into the back seat. Minutes before the stop, someone used the laptop to view a video of rockets being fired.
Mohamed, also an Egyptian studying at USF, said he posted the YouTube video hoping it would help martyrs harm U.S. troops overseas. He pleaded guilty to helping terrorists and is serving 15 years in federal prison. Megahed has not been linked to the YouTube video, although prosecutors have said they want to show it at his trial. Merryday has said he will not allow that.
Megahed's attorneys will fight to keep the specter of terrorism out of the courtroom and to keep jurors focused on deciding whether the trunk's contents meet the legal definition of explosives or destructive devices. Bolstered by the FBI report, the defense maintains the contents could not have exploded and, at worst, could have spewed smoke if ignited.
In the portrait that has emerged from the defense, Megahed and Mohamed were college buddies on a road trip to visit beaches with homemade fireworks, or "sugar rockets," to celebrate Mohamed's birthday. The defense says they were stopped by racist deputies who saw Arabic letters on a book and concluded the men were terrorists. Megahed maintains he was unaware of Mohamed's terrorist support.
The prosecution describes two would-be terrorists who were stopped by quick-thinking deputies. To prove intent, prosecutors want to introduce evidence, including videos on Mohamed's laptop, suggesting Megahed was interested in violence against Americans. They also want to show that someone using the Megahed family computer did online searches, viewing information about improvised explosive devices and car bombs two months before the arrest.
"I think the really interesting thing," Beck said, "is going to be how Judge Merryday necessarily controls ... the government's efforts to turn this into a quasi- or mini-terrorism case. |