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| Defense focuses on informant in Toledo terror trial |
| 2008-05-05 |
| His true identity cloaked for months under the assumed name "the Trainer," Darren Griffin spent years gathering information in Toledo's Muslim community - information that federal prosecutors say revealed a plot by three local men to create a terrorist cell and that defense attorneys contend was nothing more than "fishing." Mr. Griffin, 42, took the witness stand April 2 in U.S. District Court in Toledo as the first witness in the government's case against Marwan El-Hindi, 45, Mohammad Amawi, 28, and Wassim Mazloum, 26. Over a period of eight days and using about 33 hours of audio and video clips, federal prosecutors used Mr. Griffin's testimony to present a timeline to jurors of how the three defendants planned to fund and support terrorism activities overseas. And for an additional four days, defense attorneys for the three men used the same audio to debunk the government's allegations and raise questions about Mr. Griffin's credibility. Attorneys extensively questioned Mr. Griffin about his past of drug use and financial troubles and about the tactics he used during conversations with the three defendants. The first month of a trial expected to last more than three months was dominated by the testimony of the former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces-turned-confidential informant. His testimony concluded Friday, although attorneys for Mr. El-Hindi suggested that he would be called again as a defense witness. Throughout his testimony, Mr. Griffin outlined his interactions with the three defendants from 2003 through the end of 2005. Most of the evidence came in the form of audio and video clips, all recorded on hidden devices. |
| Posted by:ryuge |