[Marxism] Mistrial declared in Liberty City 7 case

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

MIAMI HERALD

Posted on Thu, Dec. 13, 2007

Mistrial declared in Liberty City 7 case  
BY JAY WEAVER AND LUISA YANEZ

Federal jurors in the homegrown terrorism trial of seven Miami men
charged with a jihad conspiracy against the United States said
Thursday they acquitted one defendant but could not reach an
agreement on the others.

That prompted U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard to declare a mistrial
for the remaining six defendants.

''We believe that no further progress can be made,'' the 12-member
jury told Lenard, ending their deliberations after nine days
following a two-month trial.

The jurors found defendant Lyglenson Lemorin not guilty on four
terror-related conspiracy charges. But they said they could not reach
agreement on those counts regarding the other six defendants --
including the ringleader of the so-called Liberty City 7, Narseal
Batiste.

Lemorin, 32, a Haitian immigrant, cried with his attorney, Joel
Defabio, after the verdict, saying they were ''ecstatic.'' Lemorin
won't be immediately released from the Federal Detention Center in
downtown Miami because immigration officials put a hold on him.

Defense lawyers requested a mistrial, and the prosecution didn't
object. But they were ordered by the judge not to speak to the media
because of a retrial already set for next month.

At trial, prosecutors tried to prove the Liberty City 7's mission was
to spread ''chaos and confusion'' by blowing up Chicago's Sears Tower
and FBI buildings in major cities. But the jury foreman said the
racially mixed panel was ''evenly split'' on the four conspiracy
counts against the remaining defendants -- especially the sedition
charge.

''It was a very difficult case with a lot of evidence,'' said foreman
Jeffrey Agron, 46, of Pinecrest, a lawyer who is a principal of a
Jewish school in Kendall. ``People see evidence in different ways.
There were different takes that people had.''

He said jurors took sides: Some believed the government's conspiracy
case was strong because the seven defendants took an oath to al Qaeda
in March 2006 led by an FBI informant posing as a member of the
global terrorist group.

But some thought the defendants, especially Batiste, were simply
trying to con money out of the FBI-directed informant, who
infiltrated the group and led the seven men deeper into the alleged
terror plot.

Agron himself said: ''My personal belief is there may have been
sufficient evidence to convict some of the defendants'' on some of
the counts -- including conspiring to provide material support for a
foreign terrorist organization, al Qaeda.

The foreman said the jury acquitted Lemorin, a Haitian who is a
lawful permanent resident, because of the ''general lack of
evidence.'' Lemorin had already moved to Atlanta to distance himself
from the group in April 2006 -- two months before they were all
arrested by the FBI.

The case of the Liberty City 7 drew international media attention,
especially because the Bush administration touted their arrests as a
significant victory in the war on terror.

After the judge declared the mistrial on Thursday, federal
prosecutors said they would retry the remaining six defendants. They
remain in custody.

The judge scheduled the next trial to begin on Jan. 7 with jury
selection.

C 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com

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


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism