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Report: Justice Department Investigating Lead Prosecutor in Terrorism Trial
The Associated Press ^ | Jan 17, 2004 | The Associated Press

Posted on 01/17/2004 2:32:27 PM PST by BenLurkin

DETROIT (AP) - The Justice Department is investigating possible misconduct by the lead prosecutor in the nation's first major post-Sept. 11 terrorism trial, according to a published report. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins requested the investigation in November after discovering possible ethical violations involving Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday, citing sources it did not name.

The allegations include withholding evidence from defense attorneys and trying to convince a court employee to get confidential information about a prisoner, the newspaper said.

Convertino said Collins is trying to destroy his reputation and career.

"This is so untrue, one-sided and about as low as it gets," Convertino said.

The case, in which Moroccan immigrants Karim Koubriti and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi were convicted last June of being part of a terror cell, was hailed as an early success in the Bush administration's war on terror. But the case came in danger of unraveling last month after revelations that government lawyers failed to turn over certain information to the defense.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen held a hearing on the issue last month and is deciding whether to throw out the convictions.

A Justice Department spokesman said Saturday he couldn't confirm or deny whether an investigation was taking place. Collins has declined to comment.

The newspaper said Collins told the Justice Department that Convertino tried to persuade a pretrial services employee at U.S. District Court to dig up damaging confidential information about a federal prisoner; failed to inform another federal prosecutor before he approached a drug defendant to assist in the terrorism case; withheld evidence from defense lawyers; and failed to get approval before arranging plea deals and sentence reductions.

The inquiry is being conducted by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, after Collins told the department about the possible violations, the newspaper reported.

Convertino's lawyer William Sullivan said, "Obviously, I can't comment on the existence of an OPR investigation. But to the extent such allegations exist, we categorically deny them as untrue and unsubstantiated."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; US: Michigan; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 200401; ashcroft; covertino; detroit; detroitcell; doj; elmardoudi; jihadinamerica; koubriti; richardconvertino; terrortrials
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1 posted on 01/17/2004 2:32:27 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin
Knowing Ashcroft, he ordered the prosecutor to do it, so the fact the Justice Department is investigating itself should will keep the fix firmly in. If it's the War on Terror, anything goes. Substitute 'War on Drugs' for 'War on Terror' as needed.
2 posted on 01/17/2004 2:37:57 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: gcruse
A. You do not know Ashcroft.

B. Some prosecutors are over-zealous, and this one may be one.

C. If Ashcroft ordered this, why would he have an investigation of the prosecutor?

3 posted on 01/17/2004 2:40:27 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: Miss Marple
If Ashcroft ordered this, why would he have an investigation of the prosecutor?

In order to 'clear' him?

4 posted on 01/17/2004 2:44:31 PM PST by Grut
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To: Miss Marple
A. You do not know Ashcroft.
      I didn't know Janet Reno, either.  That didn't stop me criticizing Waco.

B. Some prosecutors are over-zealous, and this one may be one.
     Ashcroft's raping and pillaging of the Tenth Amendment give over-zelocity a new benchmark.
C. If Ashcroft ordered this, why would he have an investigation of the prosecutor?
     For the same reason OJ is still looking for the killer.

5 posted on 01/17/2004 2:48:27 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: Grut
Correct. Or to make sure there was no hanky-panky.

John Ashcroft was an honorable and conservative senator. There is no reason to assign him diabolic motives.

6 posted on 01/17/2004 2:49:14 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: gcruse
John Ashcroft was an honorable conservative senator. There is no reason to think that he suddenly became an Orwellian dictator, except in the misinterpretations of the paranoid.

Ashcroft hasn't burned up a group of Americans on nationwide television. If he had done something so reprehensible, I would expect you to attack him.

Instead, you are taking the Patriot Act to the extreme interpretation, and attacking him based on your suspicions.

7 posted on 01/17/2004 2:52:12 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: Miss Marple
The Army officially investigated my brother's death as well. Apparently they did not like the results. So . . . anyways nothing has been done. I think Grunt has a good point here.

8 posted on 01/17/2004 2:52:12 PM PST by PersonalLiberties (Between Life and the Pursuit of Happiness you Need Liberty www.personalliberties.com)
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To: PersonalLiberties
I know nothing about your brother's death, but I am sorry for his loss.

There are multiple possibilities for the results of the Army's investigation. One is that they didn't like what they found.

Another is that there was nothing there to cause further action.

I have no idea which was the answer, but I don't believe Ashcroft had anything to do with your brother's death or the subsequent investigation.

9 posted on 01/17/2004 2:54:52 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: gcruse
Gee,gcruse,why have you been so hard on Ashcroft?
10 posted on 01/17/2004 2:56:30 PM PST by MEG33 (We Got Him!)
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To: Miss Marple
If he had done something so reprehensible, I would expect you to attack him.

So, so long as no one gets killed, nothing matters?

Here's something to ponder. (Oh, and I never mentioned the Patriot Act)

Hindsight always is easy. There is plenty of culpability for failing to anticipate Sept. 11, and even if mistakes weren't made, the tragedy might have occurred anyway. But as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, John Ashcroft's pre-Sept. 11 agenda was fighting gun control, abortion, state laws permitting assisted suicide or medical marijuana and going after hookers and their clients, not terrorism.

An attorney general sets a tone; there are many more crimes than crime-catchers in America so priorities are important. Under Robert F. Kennedy, ambitious U.S. attorneys general or FBI agents zeroed in on organized crime. Under Janet Reno, prosecutions for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, a cause of hers, soared.

There is no reason to think Mr. Ashcroft ordered federal agents in New Orleans to spends hundreds and hundreds of hours watching and wiretapping brothels. But his underlings clearly knew that proving that sin and sex were pervasive wouldn't displease the boss. The endless drudgery of monitoring flight schools was not the path to advancement in the Ashcroft criminal justice system.

11 posted on 01/17/2004 2:59:04 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: Miss Marple
There was findings that charges for manslaughter should be brought against fellow US soldiers. So, they did not like the findings.

All I am saying (as I do not have sympathy for evil doers such as terrorists) is that just b/c someone is in power does not make their hands clean - Ashcroft.

Also, if ordered from somewhere higher to do as told (prosecutor - who works for govt.) not only does that relate to my brother's death but the same body who did the ordering (govt.) will not find itself guilty.

12 posted on 01/17/2004 3:00:52 PM PST by PersonalLiberties (Between Life and the Pursuit of Happiness you Need Liberty www.personalliberties.com)
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To: gcruse
You are quoting Al Hunt as a viable critic, for goodness sake! Get a grip!

Al Hunt hates anyone who is remotely Republican, let alone conservative!

And as for Ashcroft's actions before 9/11, I think he was doing a good job. He was delayed in his taking office, and in addition Louis Freeh submitted his resignation and Robert Mueller didn't take charge of the FBI until the week before 9/11.

13 posted on 01/17/2004 3:04:18 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: MEG33; RJCogburn
Because I have learned to view politics on a spectrum that runs from liberty to authoritarianism, rather than liberal to conservative. I see in Ashcroft a Constitution-breaking, one-track minded statist bent on imposing his lopsided priorities on an America supine with fear.
14 posted on 01/17/2004 3:05:03 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: PersonalLiberties
I am sorry for your family's trouble. Not knowing the facts of the case, I will simply accept your opinion and tell you that there is injustice in the world. God has the final decision.

However, I have seen NO evidence that Ashcroft is an Orwellian dictator out to rob everyone of their civil rights. In my opinion the complaints based on misinformation from the leftist media.

15 posted on 01/17/2004 3:07:22 PM PST by Miss Marple
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To: gcruse
My,my..I see.
16 posted on 01/17/2004 3:08:39 PM PST by MEG33 (We Got Him!)
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To: Miss Marple
Well, you certainly riddled that messenger with bullets. LOL
And, astonishingly to some but not me, Ashcroft KEPT the agents in New Orleans in the weeks following 9/11 when we needed them fighting the real enemy. If it's sex, sin, and drugs, or pesky state laws, Ashcroft's your man.
17 posted on 01/17/2004 3:09:59 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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To: Miss Marple
I brought up my brother's death because before this I would be fully behind you. Now, I am more vigilant in rights and weary of govt. I have felt and witnessed its corruption and power.
18 posted on 01/17/2004 3:10:36 PM PST by PersonalLiberties (Between Life and the Pursuit of Happiness you Need Liberty www.personalliberties.com)
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To: Miss Marple
John Ashcroft was an honorable and conservative senator

John Ashcroft is a sanctimonious fraud. Anybody truly as pious as he presents himself would not ignore corruption in government as he has done. Easy examples are the backdated BIA scandal and the lynx fur scandal.

19 posted on 01/17/2004 3:13:30 PM PST by RJCogburn ("Hooray for the man from Texas!"........Mattie Ross of near Dardenelle in Yell County)
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To: Miss Marple
I would suspect that the investigation is (ultimately) to clear his name. Not that this will ever be reported by the press.
20 posted on 01/17/2004 3:15:18 PM PST by livius
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