Deadlocked jury forces 2nd mistrial in Miami terrorism case

[sabra]

Source: ABC News/AP

13 days of deliberations produce deadlocked jury, second mistrial in Sears Tower terror case

MIAMI Apr 16, 2008 (AP)
A federal judge has declared another mistrial against six men accused of plotting to spark an anti-government war by toppling Chicago's Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard ordered a mistrial Wednesday when jurors reported they were hopelessly deadlocked after 13 days of deliberation in the case of the so-called "Liberty City Seven." The first trial ended in a mistrial in December because of a hung jury for the same six defendants and the acquittal of a seventh.

The six defendants could have faced up to 70 years in prison if convicted of four conspiracy charges.

It's not clear what the prosecution's next step will be.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4663770

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Good...this prosecution is a farce

[uppityperson]

2. How many times can a mistrial be retried, before it's declared a wash?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. It can go until the prosecution buys the right jury

Sending the FBI in to interview the jurors WHILE IN THE MIDST OF DELIBERATIONS should tell ya how badly they want this.

[uppityperson]

7. Thanks. If they got "innocent" then couldn't retry, but hung can go on.

[lonestarnot]

4. hmmmf. Sounds like the government doesn't have a good enough case against the defendants.

:shrug:

[Dr.Phool]

5. Why don't they just torture confessions out of these guys.

It seems to work everywhere else.:sarcasm:

I wonder how long it will take for the FBI to visit these jurors.

[lonestarnot]

8. Good question! That's what we do you know. Torture! and if that doesn't work

scare the fuck out of the jurors with the FBI. Nation of thugs and criminals w/o borders.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Does anybody have the 'batting average' of the US vs. 'terrorists' convictions?

I think there has only been a handful. These 'wanna-bes' should be freed.

[Dr.Phool]

9. A little more info from 2 years ago, after the big bust.

Is it any wonder that these clowns can't catch a real terrorist, when they're busy building cases like this?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2006/07/paintballers_plotted_world_tak.php


Paintballers Plotted World Takeover
By Paul Kiel - July 6, 2006, 1:21PM

Yesterday was the bond hearing for the Seas of David cult, the seven "homegrown terrorists" whose arrest two weeks ago was a shining example of anti-terrorism efforts, according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The ragtag, kooky group, who all belong to a sect "that mixes Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Freemasonry, Gnosticism and Taoism," had plans to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago,

(snip)

That said, the group never got their hands on any real weapons. In fact, they apparently trained by shooting paintball guns in the woods. During their raid of the group's Temple, a windowless warehouse, FBI agents found only one knife and a blackjack.

How did the group show up on the FBI's radar? It's unclear, but from the Miami Herald's reporting of the hearing, it sounds like the group's leader, Narseal Batiste, went down to his local 7-11 to "obtain financial and military support." I'm not kidding.

He eventually got a lot of promises from another FBI informant for guns, boots and $50,000 in cash. But the lawyer for one of Batiste's followers says Batiste, who used to "roam the streets" in a bathrobe, was just scamming the informant because he was hard up for money.

(snip)

[underpants]

10. The FBI "infiltrator" built up a fake case and W's DoJ used it for PR purposes

The whole thing is so drawdropping stupid only a bunch of stoners would have gone along after the "new guy" started doing all this whacked out stuff including having them pledge allegiance to alQaeda.

Money completely wasted.

To be honest this should scare us about the FBI and DHS more than it should scare us about "terrorists"

[Judi Lynn]

18. Absolutely! It's been admitted they wanted the money, boots, etc. they were offered by the plant. nt

[benEzra]

21. That sounds like something you'd see in the Onion...

Yesterday was the bond hearing for the Seas of David cult, the seven "homegrown terrorists" whose arrest two weeks ago was a shining example of anti-terrorism efforts, according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The ragtag, kooky group, who all belong to a sect "that mixes Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Freemasonry, Gnosticism and Taoism," had plans to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago,

...

That said, the group never got their hands on any real weapons. In fact, they apparently trained by shooting paintball guns in the woods. During their raid of the group's Temple, a windowless warehouse, FBI agents found only one knife and a blackjack.

How did the group show up on the FBI's radar? It's unclear, but from the Miami Herald's reporting of the hearing, it sounds like the group's leader, Narseal Batiste, went down to his local 7-11 to "obtain financial and military support."

[Joanne98]

11. Terrorism case ends in second mistrial in Miami

Source: Reuters

MIAMI, April 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday for six men accused of joining forces with al Qaeda to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad against the United States.

The decision was a setback for U.S. prosecutors. It was the second mistrial declared by District Court Judge Joan Lenard in the case involving the men from Miami's impoverished Liberty City neighborhood.

U.S. authorities had billed the arrest of the men as a breakthrough in their efforts to detect and smash home-grown terrorism plots in their earliest stages, and said the defendants conspired to bomb America's tallest skyscraper, the Sears Tower, the FBI's Miami office and other federal buildings.

But after 13 days of deliberations, and three notes from the jury members to the judge saying they were unable to reach a verdict, Lenard declared a mistrial.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN16382447

---

Let them go!!!!

[Jim__]

12. See, this is why junior needs to be able to declare people "enemy combatants".

Then we don't need no stinkin' trials. :sarcasm:

[TomInTib]

13. And to think that they almost pulled it off...

All they needed was some money, some uniforms, maybe some firearms and some explosives.

Oh, yeah, and a car and some drivers' licenses.

And some hotel rooms in Chicago.

And a map.

All they had was some reefer and some cheap beer.

And an FBI informant who was leading them down the garden path.

[reprehensor]

14. Steeeee-RIKE THREE!!

Preemptive Terror Trials: Strike Two
By AMANDA RIPLEY - Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007

"The entire situation was concocted by the government. The warehouse was paid for by the FBI, and the defendants moved their operations there at the suggestion of an undercover informant who was also paid by the FBI. The swearing-in ceremony was led by the informant — who at another point also suggested a plan to bomb FBI offices in Miami. "The case was written, produced and directed by the FBI," defense attorney Albert Levin said in his closing arguments."

Continued...
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1694430,00.html?imw=Y

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The FBI is doing this shit all over the country. See this Rolling Stone cover story;
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18137343/the_fear_factory

In Canada, same damn deal. Canadian intelligence services are ginning up the notion of "Homegrown Terrorism" to justify fat budgets and lifelong careers;
http://www.911blogger.com/node/14551

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[struggle4progress]

16. Mistrial Is Declared for 6 Men in Sears Tower Terror Case (NYT)

By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: April 17, 2008

... “In a lot of these cases, the government has really oversold what it’s got,” said Jenny Martinez, an associate professor of law at Stanford who was involved in the Jose Padilla terrorism case. “They’ve held these huge press conferences at the beginning that set up these expectations that the government cannot fulfill.”

The approach, analysts said, often smacked of politics. In this case, when the seven men from the Liberty City area of Miami were arrested a few months before the 2006 elections, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales outlined the most sensational evidence at a news conference. He said the men had been taped promising to fight a “full ground war against the United States.”

The jurors faced far less clear-cut evidence. Testimony showed that a search by the F.B.I. of what it called the group’s headquarters did not find guns, explosives or blueprints for an attack.

Jurors also heard defense lawyers emphasize that the defendants made their most aggressive comments in response to questions or comments by a bureau agents posing as operatives of Al Qaeda and offering $50,000 to help the plot ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/us/17terror.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

[struggle4progress]

17. Mistrial declared in Liberty City terror trial (Miami Herald)

BY JAY WEAVER
[e-mail]

... The foreman in the original trial predicted the second jury would deadlock. Jeffrey Agron, a lawyer himself, said some jurors would have doubts about the prosecution's central case -- that the six defendants intended to carry out terrorist attacks after taking al Qaeda loyalty oaths in front of an FBI informant posing as a representative of the terrorist group ...

Agron also pointed out that no guns, ammunition, explosives or terrorist blueprints were found on the Liberty City suspects after their arrests in June 2006 ...

http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/498030.html

[struggle4progress]

19. "... prosecutors will announce their next legal move on April 23 ..."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gix_yw2bb58ejESoOprEem0dt3iw

[struggle4progress]

20. If the prosecution refiles, they should be laughed out of court