Mistrial in Muslim charity case; "strung together with macaroni noodles... was so little evidence."

[ProSense]

The case "was strung together with macaroni noodles. There was so little evidence."

by GottaLaff · Monday October 22, 08:21 PM

A mistrial has been declared in the Muslim charity case.

The biggest terror-financing trial since Sept. 11 ended in confusion Monday, with no one convicted and many acquittals thrown out after three jurors took the rare step of disputing the verdict.

Two months of testimony, 19 days of deliberations, and the Bush administration blew it.

<...>

BushCo must be seething.

"I thought they were not guilty across the board," said Neal, a 33-year-old art director from Dallas. The case "was strung together with macaroni noodles. There was so little evidence."

President Bush personally announced the seizure of Holy Land's assets in December 2001, calling the action "another step in the war on terrorism."

It's so obvious a conviction would have been a piece-o'-cake if they'd tortured them into confessing. If only they'd thought to waterboard them.

"This is a stunning setback for the government," said a former U.S. attorney, Matthew Orwig. "There is absolutely nothing positive in that verdict today for the government."

Bush's credibility is strung together with macaroni noodles, too.

[Fresh_Start]

1. Omigod, they lost a terrorism trial in Texas

and the jurors say the case was thinner than a kleenex tissue?

Thank God for trial by jury. Its not perfect but its better than the alternatives (propagated by this administration).

[rusty quoin]

2. " things turned chaotic, as three jurors said they disagreed with the verdicts."

I would've like to be in that courtroom.

[Richard Steele]

5. Sounds like that jury had three Freeper-types who weren't happy with the FACTS.

They voted to ACQUIT in the jury room,
then OBJECTED to the verdict in open court.

What's up with that?

[The Stranger]

9. That reeks of fucking jury tampering.

Someone got to those jurors between the time they rendered a verdict in the jury room and the time they were polled.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Weird

Acquittals for two other defendants, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh, also were read in court. But when the judge polled each juror — normally a formality — things turned chaotic, as three jurors said they disagreed with the verdicts.

U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish sent the jury back to resolve the differences, but after about an hour he said he received a note from the jury saying 11 of the 12 felt further deliberations would not lead them to reach a unanimous decision. Then he declared a mistrial.

The jury forewoman said none of the jurors raised objections to the verdicts in the jury room.

The jury reached verdicts Thursday, but they were sealed until Monday because Fish had been out of town.

Quite the turnaround. After NINETEEN days of deliberations, jurors reached verdicts on Thursday. Then three days later three jurors suddenly, when polled in the courtroom, had other thoughts. Result: a mistrial (instead of aquittals) and a second chance for prosecution by *co.

I wonder who visited those three jurors between Thursday and today?

[The Stranger]

10. That fucking reeks of jury tampering.

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. It reeks like a dead skunk.

But are we the only ones who catch the wiff?

[jpgray]

4. Hurray for that Texas jury for holding the gov't to a high standard

Seriously. That they stood up to the xenophobia and political pressures is no mean feat.

[ThomCat]

6. Wow. This shows exactly the extent to which our government

has been using smoke and mirrors to manufacture fear of terrorism.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. OK, now I have this mental image ....

of the prosecution giving its presentation to the jury -- using posters which are covered with glued-on macaroni, press-on foil stars, and lots of glitter ... probably a result of Bu**sh**'s personal intervention.

[flashl]

8. Article reads like a Grisham novel. n/t

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Kick for this (gotta be jury tampering by *co)