Acquitted terror defendant can't speak publicly about trial

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Acquitted terror defendant can't speak publicly about trial

By The Associated Press
01.29.08
MIAMI — A man facing deportation to Haiti despite his acquittal on terrorism conspiracy charges can speak publicly about his immigration situation but not about the underlying criminal case, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard said that Lyglenson Lemorin, 33, is likely to be a defense witness in the retrial of six remaining members of the so-called “Liberty City Seven” and that she wants to prevent publicity about the first case from influencing potential jurors this time.

Jury selection for the retrial began last week. Prosecutors decided to try the remaining six a second time after jurors in the first case could not agree on their guilt or innocence.

“The court has a duty to make sure that the defendants are tried by a fair and impartial jury,” Lenard said at a hearing.

Lemorin’s attorneys say he is seeking to publicize what he considers an injustice: that is, to be found not guilty by a jury of plotting to destroy Chicago’s Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices and yet be put into deportation proceedings based on the same allegations.


Read more: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19609

[Judi Lynn]

1. Tall Stories: The Plot to Topple Chicago's Sears Tower Was Not All That It Seemed

Lyglenson Lemorin

Published on Sunday, June 25, 2006 by the lndependent/UK
Tall Stories: The Plot to Topple Chicago's Sears Tower Was Not All That It Seemed
The plan uncovered by the FBI last week proved little more than wishful thinking

by Rupert Cornwell

The alarming news flashed across America's TV screens on Thursday evening: government agents had thwarted an al-Qa'ida plot, using home-grown American terrorists, to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago in a ghastly repeat of 9/11.

When the dust had settled barely 24 hours later, a rather more modest version of events had emerged. The seven young black men arrested at a warehouse in Miami and Atlanta had never been in touch with al-Qa'ida, and had no explosives. Their "plan" to destroy America's tallest building was little more than wishful thinking, expressed by one of them to an FBI informant purporting to be a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organisation.

Even the FBI admitted as much. John Pistole, the bureau's deputy director, described the plan on Friday as "aspirational rather than operational" and admitted that none of the seven (five US citizens and two Haitian immigrants) had ever featured on a terrorist watch list.

In essence, the entire case rests upon conversations between Narseal Baptiste, the apparent ringleader of the group, with the informant, who was posing as a member of al-Qa'ida but in fact belonged to the South Florida Terrorist Task Force.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0625-04.htm

[notadmblnd]

4. Is the the case that the FBI operative initiated?

[Judi Lynn]

5. Absolutely! We've got a gov't running wild here. This is a national shame. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. Lawyers: Deck Is Stacked Against Us

Jan 3, 2008 2:55 pm US/Eastern
Lawyers: Deck Is Stacked Against Us

Liberty City 7 Lawyers: Deck Is Stacked Against Us
MIAMI (CBS4) ― Defense lawyers for six of the so called "Liberty City 7" claim there are signs the deck is being stacked against them for their second trial in Miami.

The first trial against the seven men, who are accused of plotting to bomb several federal offices across the country and the Sears Tower in Chicago, ended in a mistrial.

Defense attorneys claim the presiding judge's decision to keep jurors anonymous and partly sequestered could make the panel more likely to convict. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors say they plan to introduce
new evidence against the group's alleged ringleader, Narseal Batiste, which will portray him as a Muslim fanatic.

The defense has argued that this was a case of entrapment and that the group was enticed by a government snitch and went along only to con him out of money he promised would be coming from Osama Bin Laden.

More:
http://cbs4.com/local/liberty.city.7.2.622610.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Attorneys appeal gag order in Liberty City terror case
By Vanessa Blum | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
5:39 AM EST, January 25, 2008

Lawyers protesting a strict gag order in the so-called Liberty City terror case have taken their fight to a federal appeals court, with an emergency motion filed Wednesday night.

Attorneys Scott Srebnick and David O. Markus argue the gag order imposed by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard violates free speech protections because it prevents a man jurors found not guilty from defending his reputation or criticizing authorities who are seeking to deport him.
(snip)

Though gag orders are not uncommon in high profile cases, Lenard's order has drawn attacks from free speech advocates. They say it goes too far because it covers people not directly involved in the Miami retrial, such as Lemorin's immigration lawyers.

In their appeal, Srebnick and Markus criticized Lenard for not holding a hearing before imposing the order or putting forth specific reasons why it was necessary. A call to Lenard's chambers was not returned Thursday.

Lemorin, a Haitian national, moved to Miami more than 20 years ago and is a legal permanent resident. The Department of Homeland Security is trying to deport him based on terrorism charges.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-125gag,0,1447522.story

[flashl]

3. IIRC, this story pushed off the headlines a huge scandal surfacing in Florida. nt

[Judi Lynn]

6. Really.... Had no idea. Too bad the media can't cover the stories we NEED to know about. n/t

[flashl]

7. From Rawstory ...

Rawstory:Methods questioned in investigation leading up to Sears Tower arrests

Rameau says that the Liberty City Seven coverage has upstaged other important news. In a conversation with RAW STORY earlier this week, he said that on the day of the Liberty City arrests, “a former director of the right-wing Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) admitted to planning terrorist acts against Cuba.”

Yet this “failed either to draw national attention or merit ‘above the fold’ coverage on the front page of the Miami Herald,” said Rameau.

The CANF conspirators were charged and acquitted by a Puerto Rican jury in 1997, after a federal judge threw out one of the defendants' self-incriminating statements. No charges have ever been brought against the individuals on the U.S. mainland.

Rameau notes that while the government has taken action against "men with little to no demonstrable capacity to advance their plans beyond the discussion stage,” it has refused to extradite – or prosecute – Luis Posada, suspected mastermind of the bombing of a Cuban airliner “full of human beings” in 1976.

And, IIRC, there was a meltdown in progress within the Florida Dept of Corr.

[Judi Lynn]

8. So depressing! They really know how to "play" the public, don't they?

Also from the linked Raw Story you provided:

Rameau further notes that the raid “was timed to happen at the exact same time that FBI Director Robert Mueller was on the Larry King Show. It was a made-for-TV event.”

Legal scholars and civil liberties advocates also have criticized the Liberty City Seven case. In general, the material support provision – conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization – has been widely challenged by lawyers and several courts have found portions of it unconstitutional.
(snip)

These federal guys working for _Bush are so damned dirty. They have absolutely no respect for anyone, or for U.S. laws.

[damntexdem]

9. He'll be in danger if deported to Haiti.

But at least his freedom of speech will return once he's out of the American police state.