Posted on 07/13/2007 1:22:08 PM PDT by joan
(AP) -- Federal prosecutors have asked that an anonymous jury be impaneled for the trial of six men accused of plotting to attack soldiers on Fort Dix.
In a motion filed Monday, the U.S. attorney's office said potential jurors might fear for their safety because of the nature of the charges and the international publicity around the case.
The request could be discussed at a meeting Friday before U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler.
Attorney Rocco Cipparone, who represents Mohamad Shnewer, told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Tuesday's editions that he opposes an anonymous jury, fearing it would only fuel the perception that the defendants are dangerous.
All have pleaded not guilty. The other defendants are brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka; Serdar Tatar; and Agron Abdullahu. Shnewer, the Dukas and Tatar are charged with conspiring to kill American military personnel; Abdullahu is charged with providing firearms to illegal immigrants.
All six have been held without bail in a Philadelphia jail since their arrest in May.
Prosecutors also asked Kugler in a separate request to designate the prosecution a "complex case" and waive the rule that the trial begin within 70 days of the June 5 indictments. Kugler has said it was unlikely the trial could start within the 70-day time frame but asked attorneys to be ready by October.
By MIKE MATHIS
phillyBurbs.com
CAMDEN Federal prosecutors want an anonymous jury to hear the case of six men charged with plotting to kill soldiers in an armed attack at Fort Dix.
Keeping the identities of jurors secret will protect them and their families from public scrutiny and from possible threats from the defendants, their families and sympathizers, according to court documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Camden.
Prospective jurors reasonably might fear that anyone who is willing to engage in potentially suicidal attacks on armed military personnel inside a fortified military base in order to further a politically or religiously inspired agenda to attack the United States government would have few qualms about injuring or threatening to injure jurors selected to decide their guilt or innocence, prosecutors said.
Jurors who are asked to sit in judgment of these defendants could reasonably fear retaliation from at-large sympathizers of al-Qaida, regardless of whether or not retaliation is actually in the works, they said.
Michael Riley, the attorney who represents defendant Shain Duka, said yesterday the government's request would be prejudicial to his client, despite assertions by prosecutors that U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler could inform the jury that anonymity is a routine occurrence in federal court.
We have some obvious concerns because it raises the implication to the jurors that they may be in personal jeopardy, Riley said.
A hearing on the request has not been scheduled, but the issue could be addressed during a routine hearing Friday.
Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22; Eljvir Duka, 23; Dritan Duka, 28; and Shain Duka, 26, all of Cherry Hill; and Sedar Tatar, 23, of the Bustleton section of Philadelphia are charged with conspiracy to kill members of the military. The Duka brothers also are charged with unlawfully possessing firearms as aliens. The five face life sentences if convicted.
A sixth man, Agron Abdullahu, 24, of Buena Vista, N.J., is charged with aiding and abetting the illegal purchase of firearms and faces 10 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors allege Abdullahu provided the weapons that were to be used in the attack.
All six have pleaded innocent. They have been held in a federal detention center in Philadelphia without bail since they were arrested May 7.
Kugler previously said the case would be tried in early October and that as many as 1,000 prospective jurors could be summoned because of the intense pretrial publicity. The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
ping
How would they do this ,,, just not name the jury, or would they be seated behind a screen????
Has it come to this? That we’re afraid to openly empanel a jury in the USA? I have a better idea. Send all Muslims back to their country of origin, and in the future, don’t let any into the US.
“..potential jurors might fear for their safety because of the nature of the charges..”
This is how things will be in the future when dealing with members of Al-Qaeda. Prosecuters will be hard pressed to find jury members just like in the Al Capone days. His gangsters were mere boy scouts compared to what we have seen so far of the terrorists. There will come a time when family members of prominent politicians will need 24-hour/day protection.
the answer to this is simple : slay the perps...
end of story
Hey, just like a third-world country! How did that happen? Oh, yeah--you import the third world into your country, don't require citizenship, and - voila! - you're a third-world country!!
Bingo.
You know what they’re pushing... letting them go.
Screw this, i’ll be on the jury... only if they hang them and I can release the latch/kick the chair.
You’ve got to see this ping.
Yes. And Milosovic could have prevented this.
Now we have an administration and many in Congress who want to cede Serbia's Kosovo to a bunch of war lords like Agim Ceku!
What are we to think when Congressman Tom Lantos is quoted as saying at a press conference on 17 April, The United States stands foursquare in the creation of an overwhemingly Muslim country in the heart of Europe."
Have people like him and his ilk insane? What right does he have to take what belongs to someone and give it to someone else? Incredible!
This jury should be afraid. It wouldn't be the first time that the Albanian Mafia ordered "a hit" in the US. Back when Rudy Giuliani was a prosecutor, they put a hit out on him!
I doubt if one man could have prevented 09-11-01, but at least Milosevic did not embolden Islamic Terrorists as many U.S. and European leaders did during that period in history, and unfortunately continue to do so today.
I doubt if one man could have prevented 09-11-01, but at least Milosevic did not embolden Islamic Terrorists as many U.S. and European leaders did during that period in history, and unfortunately continue to do so today.
Milosovic supplied weapons to Iraq even after UN sanctions were imposed on that country, and even though Iraq was a backer of the PFLP terrorist group.
I also note you linked an article by Antiwar's Raimondo.
Raimondo- who doesn't like us using his stuff... published an article for Randall Todd Royer, aka Ismail Royer, probably since they both hold the same views on Israel.
The name should ring a bell but if it doesn't, Ismail Royer is part of the Virginia Jihad "paintball" terrorist cell, a cell which was led by an American of Iraqi parentage known as al Timimi, who is involved in various other investigations, not just Royers' case. Timimi's involved in the Falls Church terror finance cases too.
In the article you link, Raimondo even cites Alexander Cockburn's newsletter Counterpunch.
Just in case you don't know who Alexander Cockburn is...
He writes for The Nation, not exactly an unbiased source. He seems to have a taste for fudge... and was involved in attacks on two GOP candidates, one which hinged on fudging the ages of people the light-in-the-loafers congressman was writing in order to make it seem they were underage, and he was involved in attacking another congressman in South Dakota whom he smeared with false allegations that Cockburn was forced to retract.
Cockburn's associated with his bud James Abourezk, the guy the latter congressman had defeated. Abourezk's ex aide ran against the latter congressman and needed his opponent smeared, so cockburn obliged. Abourezk is a supporter of the PLO and a founder of the ADC [the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee which tries to put candidates in both political parties. Its officials include members of the PFLP terrorist group, Hezbollah, members of lefty groups like Veterans for Peace, etc ] He was also a trustee of the communist group IPS, known for working with Philip Agee, a mouthpiece for Castro.
His newsletter Counterpunch hosted the email address of a group of leakers [and liars] known as VIPS. VIPS is just a front for Counterpunch; they tend to work with congressman Kucinich, a certifiable loon, and worse, they encourage government employees, etc., to break the law, violate their oaths, and endanger their fellow citizens and our national security by obtaining and leaking classified information.
While even a blind squirrel like Justin can occasionally find a nut, his stash of nuts is going to be sufficiently tainted by his sources to justify caution before swallowing.
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