2008 Woodie Awards
Jury chosen for conspiracy trial
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: News Briefs
A jury was chosen Wednesday for the retrial of six maen accused of conspiring with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices in Miami and elsewhere.
The identities of the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will be kept secret under orders by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard, who has also barred defense lawyers and prosecutors from commenting publicly about the case.
The first trial ended Dec. 13 after two months of testimony in a hung jury for six of the defendants and the acquittal of one. Despite the innocent verdict for Lyglenson Lemorin, 33, the Bush administration is seeking to deport him to Haiti.
The six remaining defendants face up to 70 years behind bars if convicted of four terrorism-related conspiracy charges. Prosecutors contend they took an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and plotted with a purported terror operative - in reality an FBI informant - to stage the attacks in hopes of sparking an anti-government insurrection.
The group's alleged ringleader, 33-year-old Narseal Batiste, testified in the first trial that he played along with the terror plots in an effort to con the informant out of $50,000.
The identities of the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will be kept secret under orders by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard, who has also barred defense lawyers and prosecutors from commenting publicly about the case.
The first trial ended Dec. 13 after two months of testimony in a hung jury for six of the defendants and the acquittal of one. Despite the innocent verdict for Lyglenson Lemorin, 33, the Bush administration is seeking to deport him to Haiti.
The six remaining defendants face up to 70 years behind bars if convicted of four terrorism-related conspiracy charges. Prosecutors contend they took an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and plotted with a purported terror operative - in reality an FBI informant - to stage the attacks in hopes of sparking an anti-government insurrection.
The group's alleged ringleader, 33-year-old Narseal Batiste, testified in the first trial that he played along with the terror plots in an effort to con the informant out of $50,000.
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