Judge to rule on legal requests in Portland car bomb case
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The federal judge presiding over the case of Portland bomb-plot suspect Mohamed Mohamud is refereeing a slew of legal requests in advance of his trial, including whether to limit the government's use of such terms as "terrorist," ''martyrdom" and "jihad."
The Oregonian reports that Mohamud's lawyers say it's necessary to help ensure he gets a fair trial. They also say that to offset any potential prejudice he could face as a Somali American, they should get an extra half-dozen chances to reject prospective jurors during jury selection.
Mohamed Mohamud was arrested in an FBI sting and is accused of trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction at a Portland Christmas tree lighting in November 2010, when he was 19. His trial is scheduled for January, and he faces a possible life sentence.
"In post-9/11 America, in which the topics regarding Islam and terrorism are highly charged," his lawyers wrote, "the allegations in this case make it exceptionally difficult to find untainted jurors who can both presume Mr. Mohamud's innocence and fairly consider a nuanced entrapment defense."
Prosecutors are also making some pretrial requests. They want permission to take jurors on a field trip into the parking garage of Portland's federal courthouse, to show them what a van loaded with an inert 1,800-pound bomb looks like, and they want to keep secret the identities of two undercover FBI operatives who posed as terrorists to make friends with Mohamud.
Letting the jury observe what Mohamud saw "is also important because the fact-finder needs to assess just how genuine and serious the situation would have appeared to defendant on that day," they say.
U.S. District Judge Garr M. King is expected to rule on several of the requests next month.
The requests from both sides were included among hundreds of pages of briefs, motions and other documents filed last week in advance of Mohamud's Jan. 15 federal trial.
The suspect's lawyers acknowledged for the first that Mohamud indeed tried to ignite the bomb, but say he acted under the direction of the FBI's phony terrorists. They have mounted an entrapment defense, saying the government manipulated a conflicted teen into a crime he wouldn't have committed on his own.
Such defenses are difficult to win in federal court; prosecutors can overcome it by showing that the defendant was predisposed to commit the crime, and that the government merely offered him the chance to do so.
Prosecutors want the judge to protect the identities of the operatives who befriended Mohamud in the FBI sting. They are asking King to allow them to use their pseudonyms (Hussein and Youssef); testify in light disguises, such as changing their facial hair; and prohibit the defense from asking questions that might reveal personal information.
They also want to bar the public and news media from the courtroom when the operatives testify. They are asking the judge to set up a public gallery in another room with a live video feed of the proceedings, but they don't want the public to see images of the operatives as they testify.
The Oregonian reports that Mohamud's lawyers say it's necessary to help ensure he gets a fair trial. They also say that to offset any potential prejudice he could face as a Somali American, they should get an extra half-dozen chances to reject prospective jurors during jury selection.
Mohamed Mohamud was arrested in an FBI sting and is accused of trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction at a Portland Christmas tree lighting in November 2010, when he was 19. His trial is scheduled for January, and he faces a possible life sentence.
"In post-9/11 America, in which the topics regarding Islam and terrorism are highly charged," his lawyers wrote, "the allegations in this case make it exceptionally difficult to find untainted jurors who can both presume Mr. Mohamud's innocence and fairly consider a nuanced entrapment defense."
Prosecutors are also making some pretrial requests. They want permission to take jurors on a field trip into the parking garage of Portland's federal courthouse, to show them what a van loaded with an inert 1,800-pound bomb looks like, and they want to keep secret the identities of two undercover FBI operatives who posed as terrorists to make friends with Mohamud.
Letting the jury observe what Mohamud saw "is also important because the fact-finder needs to assess just how genuine and serious the situation would have appeared to defendant on that day," they say.
U.S. District Judge Garr M. King is expected to rule on several of the requests next month.
The requests from both sides were included among hundreds of pages of briefs, motions and other documents filed last week in advance of Mohamud's Jan. 15 federal trial.
The suspect's lawyers acknowledged for the first that Mohamud indeed tried to ignite the bomb, but say he acted under the direction of the FBI's phony terrorists. They have mounted an entrapment defense, saying the government manipulated a conflicted teen into a crime he wouldn't have committed on his own.
Such defenses are difficult to win in federal court; prosecutors can overcome it by showing that the defendant was predisposed to commit the crime, and that the government merely offered him the chance to do so.
Prosecutors want the judge to protect the identities of the operatives who befriended Mohamud in the FBI sting. They are asking King to allow them to use their pseudonyms (Hussein and Youssef); testify in light disguises, such as changing their facial hair; and prohibit the defense from asking questions that might reveal personal information.
They also want to bar the public and news media from the courtroom when the operatives testify. They are asking the judge to set up a public gallery in another room with a live video feed of the proceedings, but they don't want the public to see images of the operatives as they testify.
very slippery slope... preemptive justice is "mind-police", similar to pre-emptive wars. If we continue down this road, we will become slaves of our own security.
 @Komo Dragon Where would you draw the line?
You can't arrest someone for thinking about blowing something up. Â Once we know of a bomb plot would you have us wait until a bomb goes off to act?
 @My_Thoughts Nope, it does not have to go off, but you cannot encourage someone to build it, and then arrest him fo doing so. If he built it by himself, different story.
 @Komo Dragon I think it highly unlikely that the FBI chose Mr. Mohamud's name out of the phone book and told him "Hey, we think you should build a bomb and blow up a federal courthouse."
They had to have what they thought was credible evidence of his looking for materials and or expertise in building a bomb with the intent of using it.  They then chose to act as supplier and experts so as not to have him build an actual bomb and detonate it.  The original intent was likely all his. Â
Clearly entrapment by the FBI. This kid had no resources or knowledge to build a bomb and the FBI helped him make one supplying cash, materials and the know how. They can setup a kid as a terrorist but they can't arrest the people who collapsed out economy. How noble.
 @Blindman And how does any of the cash, materials, or know how convince him that it was the right thing to do to blow up a federal courthouse?  His will to do so wasn't supplied by the FBI.