Mistrial In Lodi Terror Case

Posted on April 25, 2006

An ACLU and CAIR defended terrorist suspect got a mistrial today. Hat tip: Michelle Malkin who quotes from Sacramento Bee.

A mistrial was declared Tuesday in the federal terrorism trial of a Lodi man charged with lying to protect his son, who authorities say attended an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan.
The announcement came one day after the jury told U.S. District Court Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. that it could not reach a unanimous decision in the case of Umer Hayat.

“Their jury declared that it was hopelessly deadlocked this morning,” deputy court clerk Carol Davis said.

Burrell questioned each member of the jury and then discharged them, she said.

A bail hearing was set for Friday on the potential release of Hayat, who will remain in custody until that time. A status conference will be held the following Friday to determine whether the government can retry the case.
Hayat told his attorney he was glad he may be going home soon.

Throughout the trial, lead prosecutor David Deitch refused to comment on any aspect of the case. When asked if it was time to comment now, Deitch replied Tuesday, “It may never be time.”

Umer Hayat, a 48-year-old ice cream vendor, is charged with lying to FBI agents about whether his son attended the terror training camp while on a visit to Pakistan in 2003. His son, 23-year-old Hamid Hayat, stood trial before a separate jury. That jury continued to deliberate on Tuesday.

Umer Hayat faced up to 16 years in prison if he had been convicted of the two counts against him, both related to making false statements to federal agents.

His son faces one count of providing material support to terrorists by allegedly attending the camp while visiting Pakistan in 2003 and three counts of lying about it. He faces up to 39 years in prison if convicted of all charges against him.

Both men are U.S. citizens and were standing trial before separate juries…

Scary, this guy confessed to having terror ties, and gets a mistrial! For extensive background on this case, make sure to read this post at My Pet Jawa.

» Filed Under ACLU, News, War On Terror

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One Response to “Mistrial In Lodi Terror Case”

kerwin_brown on April 26th, 2006 11:54 am

I wonder what the sticking point was? Maybe the prosecutor was unable to prove that he lied to the satisfaction of some of the jurors. Some might have believe he just made a mistake. We will see if the prosecution is confident enough to try a retrial.