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| Fired Professor Presents No Defense at His Terrorism-Support Trial in Florida |
| 2005-10-27 |
| TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - An attorney defending a fired college professor against federal charges of aiding Palestinian terrorists rested his case Thursday without calling a single witness to refute nearly five months of prosecution testimony. Defense attorney William Moffitt called the prosecution an "all-out assault on the First Amendment" and the right to free speech, and then rested his case for Sami Al-Arian. Attorneys for three co-defendants began presenting their cases, which could take weeks more. Because the trial was continuing, neither side was immediately available for comment. Al-Arian, 47, who was fired from the University of South Florida, and his co-defendants - Sameeh Hammoudeh, Ghassan Zayed Ballut and Hatem Naji Fariz - are accused of using Palestinian charities and educational entities as fundraising fronts for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to support suicide bombings that killed hundreds. The men deny they supported violent acts and say they are being persecuted for views that are unpopular in the United States. Five other men have been indicted but have not been arrested. They are out of the country. Moffitt's announcement that he was resting his case came the same morning that federal prosecutors wrapped up a case that included testimony from more than 70 witnesses and hundreds of pages of transcripts of wiretapped phone calls and faxes. The communications, intercepted by the FBI from the mid-1990s to about 2003, included discussions about the direction and financing of the PIJ. Other times, the participants appear to celebrate suicide attacks that killed Israelis and speak glowingly of the Palestinian "martyrs" who carried them out. U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. said he will instruct jurors that prosecutors must have proved that each defendant did something illegal with the "specific intent to further the illegal activities" of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. However, Moody said he also tell them that they can find defendants guilty if prosecutors showed that they sent money to the group knowing that it would or could be used for terrorist acts. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Defense attorney William Moffitt called the prosecution an "all-out assault on the First Amendment" and the right to free speech, and then rested his case for Sami Al-Arian. Translation: "I got nuthin..." |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-10-27 15:06 |
| #1 No secular court has authority over Moose limbs, I guess... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-10-27 15:02 |