Racial concerns halt jury selection in third Liberty City Six terrorism trial

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, 02.12.09
LIBERTY CITY SIX
Racial concerns halt jury selection in third Liberty City Six terrorism trial
A judge halted jury selection in the terrorism trial of the Liberty City Six after a flare-up over a Haitian-American man as a prospective juror.

BY JAY WEAVER
[e-mail]

The issue of race abruptly halted jury selection in the Liberty City Six terrorism trial Wednesday, when attorneys for the Miami defendants -- most of whom are black -- moved to strike all 11 prospective jurors picked so far.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard's decision to put a stop to the divisive selection process cast a pall over the beleaguered case, which is being tried for the third time after two juries could not reach verdicts.


~snip~
The six defendants, part of a struggling group of construction laborers who tried to start a Liberty City religious organization, were arrested in June 2006. They are charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, to destroy buildings such as the FBI regional office in Miami and to break away from the United States.

The first two trials ended with hung juries because jurors couldn't agree on whether the men conspired with al Qaeda. The government's case, built on wiretaps and phone recordings, was an FBI undercover operation.

Standing trial again are the group's ringleader, Narseal Batiste, along with Phanor, Patrick Abraham, Rotschild Augustine, Burston Augustin and Naudimar Herrera, the only Hispanic. Three of the men are of Haitian descent.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/900050.html

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http://img139.imageshack.us.nyud.net:8090/img139/971/libertysevenll6.jpg

Defendants.

anuary 27, 2009
Liberty City Six terror trial is back for third time
The third -- and likely last -- trial of a Liberty City group charged with conspiring with al Qaeda to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI buildings will get under way with jury selection Tuesday.

BY JAY WEAVER ~ [e-mail]

In June 2006, the arrests of a ragtag group of Miami men on charges of collaborating with al Qaeda provided the Bush administration with a powerful tale in the war on terrorism.

But the criminal justice system backfired twice on federal prosecutors: After two mistrials, they will be taking their third -- and likely last -- shot at trying the Liberty City Six. The selection of Miami-Dade jurors is set to begin Tuesday.

In the previous trials, jurors couldn't agree that the men plotted with the world's most feared terrorist organization to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower -- mainly because they saw the case as no more than an FBI sting orchestrated by an informant playing an al Qaeda operative.

More:
http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/01/liberty-city-six-terror-trial-is-back.html

[struggle4progress]

1. The government should drop this case: it's a waste of time and money

These guys didn't come up with this stupid idea themselves: the FBI bribed them to get the silly statements

It was patently obvious the day BushCo announced this case that it an attempt to keep the public nervous as the 2006 campaign season began

[Dr.Phool]

2. Calling Eric Holder....Time to drop this stupid case.

It's a waste of peoples lives, and taxpayer money.

They can hold this Insane Clown Posse on ridiculous, manufactured evidence, but they can't indict anyone from the chimp administration with hard, documented evidence?