Ghailani’s Lawyers Detail Terror Defense Strategy

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Prosecutors declined to comment for this article. But they made clear in a filing on Friday that they believed evidence showed that Mr. Ghailani, 36, was a knowing participant in the plot, and that in convicting him of destroying property — and finding that his conduct caused death — the jury rejected the characterization of him as an innocent dupe.

Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment, the same term he would have faced had he been convicted of every count. Such an outcome could make the acquittals seem a hollow victory; indeed, his lawyers say their reaction has been tempered by that prospect.

But the lawyers said they felt the verdict validated their strategy of portraying Mr. Ghailani as an unwitting pawn in the Qaeda conspiracy.

“It would be impossible, I would think, for a jury to have found ‘not guilty’ on all of those counts if they had not accepted our defense that he did not know and that he was used,” Peter E. Quijano, the lead defense counsel, said. “It’s as simple as that.”

In their first extensive interviews since the verdict, Mr. Ghailani’s lawyers provided a rare look inside a terrorism trial, albeit a one-sided view. They discussed how their strategy evolved as their relationship with their client developed. Some provided copies of e-mails they exchanged in the final hours of the case, as they pushed back against the government’s response to the jury’s last question. They also described the pendulum of emotions as they reassessed their initial assumption that the jury was overwhelmingly against them.

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/nyregion/18defense.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all