Lodi Trials: Much Ado About Nothing?
by TChris
After the FBI arrested Hamid Hayat and his father Umer, President Bush declared that their arrests were part of the government's effort to "bust up these terrorist networks." Ten months later, as separate juries deliberate at the end of their trials, residents of Lodi are unconvinced that there was ever a terrorist cell in their midst. (Additional TalkLeft background is here.)
"I think people have gone 'Oh, it turned out not to be a big deal. It turned out not to be a terrorist cell,'" Mayor Susan Hitchcock said.
The government's fear-mongering was based on the word of -- you guessed it -- a less-than-credible informant.
The informant testified that he told FBI agents he had seen Osama bin Laden's physician and two other terrorists living in Lodi during the late 1990s. At the time, the men were wanted for attacks in the Middle East and Africa.
Defense attorneys and terrorism experts said it was highly unlikely they would have been in the United States, a point prosecutors conceded later in the trial.
The FBI's initial investigation went nowhere.
The investigation of Lodi's Pakistani community was started to see if Muslim-owned businesses were illegally sending money to terrorism groups abroad. That part of the four-year investigation ultimately fizzled, and the Hayats were the only people charged.
So what did the government come up with after four years?
The government said Hamid Hayat attended the al-Qaida training camp in 2003 during a two-year visit to Pakistan and returned to the U.S. to await orders. He faces up to 39 years in prison if convicted of providing material support to terrorists and three counts of lying to the FBI. His father faces 16 years if he is convicted of lying about the camps to protect his son.
The validity of confessions stemming from "marathon" interrogations is the key issue in a case that lacks other credible evidence of guilt. Both juries adjourned for the weekend without reaching a verdict.
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