Terrorism defendants seek verdict reversal
Detroit case evidence was not given to their lawyers, US now says
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's first major post-Sept. 11 prosecution, which broke up a terrorist cell in Detroit, is in danger of unraveling after the Justice Department divulged it had failed to turn over evidence that might have helped the defense. The evidence includes a letter from an imprisoned drug gang leader who alleges the government's key witness confided he made up some of his story.
The December 2001 letter, which could have been used by defense lawyers to challenge the prosecution witness during the trial this spring, wasn't turned over until a couple of weeks ago.
The defendants are now asking that their convictions be overturned, and the judge has scheduled an emergency hearing for tomorrow to demand an explanation from the government.
"It has come to the attention of the court that the government has recently provided defendants with certain material that was not provided to defendants either prior to or during trial of this matter," US District Judge Gerald Rosen said in ordering the hearing.
Senior law enforcement officials told the Associated Press yesterday the Justice Department is concerned how the judge will rule and will acknowledge that its prosecutors erred.
Under the Supreme Court's Brady v. Maryland ruling, prosecutors are obligated to turn over all evidence that can be used to impeach the testimony of prosecution witnesses or to prove innocence.
The Justice Department will argue, however, that the jailhouse allegation that prosecution witness Youssef Hmimssa lied is not supported by the facts and that the convictions should be upheld, the officials said. The two prosecutors who handled the trial have been replaced.
The Detroit terror cell came to light six days after the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings, when federal agents raided an apartment and found false IDs and other materials that the government alleged were blueprints for terror attacks. Months after the trial, prosecutors turned over the December 2001 jailhouse letter from drug gang leader Milton "Butch" Jones, who said he had talked with Hmimssa while both were being held in Wayne County Jail in Detroit.
Hmimssa "get to telling me how he lied to the FBI, how he fool'd the Secret Service agent on his case," Jones said in the three-page letter. "Youssef get to telling me the roll he played with the terrorists of Sept. 11, 2001 and how he made ID and documents for them to get around any where in the world."
Hmimssa, a Moroccan and self-described scam artist, lived briefly with some of the four defendants in the trial, who were accused of conspiring to support terrorists. He was a star prosecution witness and described the defendants as extremists who wanted to support attacks against the United States, ship arms to the Middle East, and smuggle "brothers" into the country.
Before testifying, Hmimssa pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
A jury in June found two defendants guilty of conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism and of document fraud.
One other defendant was found guilty of document fraud but acquitted of terror charges. The fourth was acquitted on all counts.
Lawyers for the convicted men asked this week that the convictions be thrown out. "The government engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of misconduct that deprived the defendants of their due process right to a fair trial and undermined the integrity of the court," they argued.
