by TChris

The government's terrorism prosecution of Saudi graduate student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen (TalkLeft background here and here) has run into a snag. The government accuses Hussayen of supporting terrorism by maintaining websites. Judge Edward Lodge ruled today, however, that the government can't show the web pages to the jury unless it first introduces evidence that Hussayen either created the pages or embraced their content -- something the government wasn't prepared to do at this stage of the trial.

Although the government promised to prove later in the trial that Hussayen created the pages and endorsed their content, the judge wisely ruled that it would be impossible to unring the bell after the jury saw the web pages. He gave the government until Tuesday to reshuffle its witnesses so that any proof of Hussayen's involvement in the content of the pages -- if any such proof exists -- can be presented before the jury sees the web pages.

The defense contends that Hussayen helped maintain the sites but wasn't responsible for their content. Not only does the government want to hold Hussayen responsible for providing "expert assistance" to terrorists, it contends that his alleged role as a moderator of an email discussion group should land him in prison.