Sep 4, 2008 2:11 pm US/Eastern
Judge Refuses To Delay Fort Dix Case Trial
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) ―
-
-
William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
A judge said Thursday that he needs more information before deciding whether to go along with lawyers who want to postpone the trial of five men accused of plotting to kill soldiers on Fort Dix.
But for now, preparations are moving ahead for jury selection to begin late this month and a trial to start soon after jurors are seated.
Defense lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler to delay the trial because an expert witness for their clients is an Army reservist who is being called up this month for active duty in Iraq.
The judge said Thursday that he wants to hear from the witness, law enforcement expert Gregory Lee, before deciding whether he is too important for the case to go on without him.
The five suspects in the case—all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s who have lived much of their lives in southern New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia—were arrested in May 2007 in a case that raised fears about homegrown terrorists. No attacks were carried out.
Prosecutors said the men were plotting an attack on Fort Dix, a New Jersey Army installation used primarily to train soldiers for deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder military personnel and weapons offenses. The men face life in prison if they're convicted on all counts.
Much of the government's evidence—including hundreds of hours of recorded conversations—was gathered by two paid informants. The defense strategy seems to hinge partly on discrediting those men, and possibly trying to show that they entrapped the suspects.
That's where Lee, a former federal drug enforcement agent, comes in. The defense lawyers hired him in March for $10,000 to examine the evidence, serve as a consultant during the trial and serve as an expert witness commenting on the use of the informants.
Last month, lawyers told the judge that Lee was being sent to Iraq as part of a select team trying to find American troops who are missing in action. He has orders to report to Washington Sept. 14, before going overseas a few weeks later. Under his current orders, he's expected back by early January.
In legal papers filed last week, government prosecutors conceded that Lee seemed key to the defense. They also said a law prohibits military personnel from testifying against the interest of the nation—something that would likely preclude him from testifying via video from Iraq.
In court papers, Lee himself said it would put him in an awkward situation to be participating in—or even preparing for—the case while among soldiers.
Kugler asked from the bench why such issues hadn't been resolved before Lee agreed in March to help the defense. The judge also questioned whether Lee would be able to help much.
Rocco Cipparone, one of the defense lawyers, said it was possible he could help show that the defendants were entrapped by the informants.
Kugler replied that it was a long shot. Based on what he knows now, Kugler said, he would not allow the jury to be asked to consider whether the suspects were entrapped.
He said he doubted whether the defense lawyers would try it anyway. "It's a difficult and dangerous defense to raise," he said.
When Kugler was put on the case soon after the arrests, he said he wanted an unusually quick trial, before the end of 2007. Eventually, he agreed to wait until this fall to take testimony. The delay came because lawyers said they would need more time to study mountains of evidence—much of which needed to be translated from the Arabic and Albanian languages.
The judge rejected the suggestion by prosecutors to go ahead with jury selection as scheduled on Sept. 29 and wait until January to hear testimony. Some 1,500 potential jurors have already been notified.
Kugler said he wanted to hear Lee in court next week to determine exactly how important he might be to the case.
The trial might go on without him, he suggested.
"The Sixth Amendment guarantees a fair trial," he said, "not a perfect trial."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments