Posted on 03/07/2003 7:41:51 AM PST by freepatriot32
On Nov. 19, law enforcement officials summoned reporters to a news conference to announce the arrests of scores of workers at New York airports as part of a national security crackdown. They gave chilling examples of restaurant workers, mechanics and other employees gaining access to secure areas of airports by lying about their criminal past.
These individuals represent a significant vulnerability to the security of our air transportation system," Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, said at the time.
In 15 cases in Brooklyn federal court, defendants have pleaded guilty, and more than 30 others are working their way through that court. But nearly four months after the news conference, as the first of the cases stemming from the crackdown begin to reach juries, the federal prosecutors are having difficulty winning convictions. In the first three cases to go to trial, juries quickly acquitted two of the defendants, and a judge dismissed the charge before the jury could vote in the third case.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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