The Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial ended in a mistrial Monday after the jurors deadlocked on most of the counts.
I suspected something like this was in the works after one of the jurors refused to deliberate or vote on a verdict in the case. In my opinion, Judge Joel Fish should have declared a mistrial then and there.
A government prosecutor, John Jacks said the Justice Department would retry the case.
What apparently happened is that jury verdicts were recorded to acquit the three defendants: Mohammad El-Mezain, the Holy Land's original chairman and endowments director, Mufid Abdulqader, a top Holy Land fundraiser and former Dallas public works supervisor and Abdulrahman Odeh, the foundation's New Jersey representative of a number of the charges but were hung on others. And when polled, three of the jurors said they disagreed with the verdicts as read, which is when Judge Fish declared a mistrial.
The defendants and their attorneys were cheered as they emerged from the courthouse. Amid cries of "Allahu Akbar," an attorney for Mr. Odeh, Greg Westfall, was hoisted into the air by those celebrating.
One thing that a lot of Holy Land supporters were incensed at was that the pivotal witness for the government was an Israeli intelligence official who testified under a pseudonym and in a courtroom cleared of spectators at the request of the American and Israeli governments.
"This was an Israeli trial tried on American soil," the spokesman for a group supporting the defendants, Khalil Meek of the Hungry for Justice Coalition, said.
Frankly, with all the evidence available, One has to hope that in the next go-around, the US attorneys will be much more forceful in presenting their case and much better at weeding out problem jurors.
This is the largest terrorism financing trial in US history, and we can't afford to blow it.
UPDATE: Blogpal Debbie Schlussel has a fine post on this..and being a lawyer, she knows of whence she speaks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
yeah, that's it..keep prosecuting till you convict--f*$# it if they're innocent--this is your vision of justice, you ignorant prick? Did you ever pause to think perhaps they did not convict because the dudes are innocent???? Or you think you are smarter than those jurors??? Arrogance + Ignorance = Danger to Justice and Democracy
Ah, they're always anonymous, notice that? Cute.
Ok..in the first place, `anonymous' look up exactly what a `mistrial' is in a legal dictionary. It's not an acquittal. And while you're at it, look up what normally happens with the prosecution in a criminal case after a mistrial. It shouldn't be too taxing, even for someone with your limited capabilities.
Second, unless YOU were on the jury, you have absolutely no basis to render a judgment of whether these men are guilty or innocent, now do you? Apparently even the jurors didn't all agree on all of the charges for all three suspects.
Third, FTR the evidence on the Holy Land Foundation, Al Haramain and other `charities' funneling cash to people like Hamas and al Qaeda is voluminous and not in doubt, and the question here is whether these three men were directly engaged in channeling cash to terrorists from a `charity'.
I realize you probably don't have a problem with that, but it is against US law.
Even Mohammad El-Mezain, who most of the jurors ( but not all) judged innocent of most of the charges is still facing a conspiracy rap that isn't being questioned in this trial and will come up separately later. Remember your homey Sami al-Arian?
Odd that people of your mentality love the idea of using US jurisprudence to protect the rights of these three to the fullest extent of the law but want to deny those same rights to the federal government prosecutors.
What was that about arrogance and ignorance? How's that look staring in the mirror!
ff
keep prosecuting till you convict--f*$# it if they're innocent--this is your vision of justice, you ignorant prick?
oh my, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
that's how they got al capone, gotti, and probably several people ff considers close personal friends i'd imagine.
is it true that you use vulgarity, due to the fact, that you can not express yourself in a more intelligent manner?
this constitutional replublic is in danger alright.
in danger from amoeba like yourself.
Now now, Louie..Weekend Monkey has never been charged with anything - yet.
BTW, what did you think of the radio show?
actually the first person is more right
and we do have the right to decide for ourselves, also some of the jurors from the beginning said "guilty" no matter the evidence that was against the charges, the governments charges were full of holes and there were many misunderstandings in the case
what the government is trying to do is justify why they are still in Iraq
and also is it a crime to feed, clothe and school babies and palestinian children?
Unbelievable.
Pray tell me what this has to do with Iraq, except in YOUR mind?
As for the mindset of the jurors, were you one of them? If not, you have no basis for any opinion on whether `the government's cse was full of holes'. HLF has funnelled millions to Hamas and that's not in dispute...just the guilt or innocence of these three characters.
As for `feeding Palestinian children' riddle me this:
Since Oslo, the `Palestinians' have received more aid from the West per capita than any other country...meanwhile, Arafat stole billions and the Fatah oligarchs like Mohamad Dahlan live millionaire lifestyles.
Abbas controls the $1.4 billion Palestinian Investment Fund, with a yield of tens of millions per month - and NONE of this money is used to alleviate the misery of the `Palestinians'.
Imagine how much better off the `Palestinians' would be if all this money was used for economic development and infrastructure instead of funding jihad against the Jews.
Or if the Palestinians' `Arab brothers' had done what the Jews did with the 800,000+ Jewish refugees from the Arab world after 1948, taken them in and resettled them among their population.
You're entiltled to your opinion, Hassssss..just not your own facts.
ff
I knew this would happen. I was hopeful that the Government could get a conviction here but in all honesty I would have beens shocked.
This illustrates the point I have tried to make since the attacks of 911. The War on Terrorism CANNOT be fought like it is a law enforcement matter. I'm reminded of the O J Simpson trial. Simpson was able to used high priced lawyers and a favorable jury to beat the rap for a crime he committed. The Holy Land Foundation and these defendents did the same. Terrorist sympathizers control the Courts and the Justice Department.
Hamas and other terrorist pose a mortal threat to the United States, These people are far more dangerous to the United States than Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan ever were or likely ever could have been.
I think it is higly probable that the members of the Jury were paid quite well by Hamas and their supporters to render this verdict. The bottom line is these terrorist did what many highly organized thugs before them have done. They gamed the system to carry out an injustice. Unfortunately in this case we are not talking about common thugs like Mr. Simpson. We are talking about an existential threat to the United States. This jury should be ashamed of themselves. The blood of millions and perhaps tens of millions maybe even one hundred million or more Americans may be on their hand.
The only way to defeat Islamic terrorists is through no holds barred all out war. Eventually we will realize this. I just hope and pray that when we do it is not to late to win. This enemy grows stronger literally by the day.
Unfortunately this travesty of justice has made victory much harder. The people on the Jury should be ashamed of themselves. They are either idiots or they are blined by ideology. Perhaps they were paid off. Maybe it is some combination of all of the above. In any event, it does not reflect well on them.
I hope someone in the Government has the cojones to retry this case. Unfortunately I don't know where we can find a venue where the Prosecution can get a fair trial or how we keep the terrorists and their supporters from gaming the system.
Maybe he can hire Dershowitz like OJ did. LOL
Though DErshowitz is probably too busy studying everything that Norm Finkelstein has ever said, ate, thought or written.
Post a Comment