 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The lawyer for the lead defendant in the Fort Dix terrorism trial has asked the court to bar prosecutors from playing videos found on his client's computer that show Muslim terrorists beheading their victims.
Rocco Cipparone, who is representing Mohamad Shnewer, argued that the videos were irrelevant, had no connection to the charges in the case and would unduly prejudice the jury.
"The videos . . . graphically and horrifically depict beheadings at the hands of individuals using a knife or other similar instrument," Cipparone wrote in a motion filed this week. "They are bloody, gory and literally stomach-turning."
Cipparone's motion comes in the midst of jury selection by Judge Robert Kugler, lawyers and prosecutors. On Tuesday, they began individually questioning potential jurors. That process will continue today.
Kugler has said he hoped to get a pool of 80 to 100 qualified jurors before the lawyers begin the final selection process. Twelve jurors and six alternates, chosen anonymously for security reasons, will hear testimony in the case.
Opening arguments are tentatively set for Oct. 20. The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
The videos seized on Shnewer's computer are a small part of what lawyers and the judge have referred to as a "blizzard" of evidence in the case.
Few details have been provided about the scenes depicted, and Cipparone, in both his motion and in comments, spoke only in general terms about what is shown.
In an eight-page motion, Cipparone argued that the probative value of the beheading videos was far outweighed by the prejudice they could produce with jurors.
He also argued that if the purpose of showing the videos was to demonstrate the defendants' "anti-American sentiments and propensity towards violent acts," there was other evidence to try to demonstrate that to the jury.
This would include, he said, recorded conversations and other videos seized during the investigation that contain jihadist, anti-American propaganda.
Cipparone wrote that he and other defense attorneys have viewed the beheading videos and that all agreed "the images and sounds are some of the most horrific . . . they ever have seen."
Admitting them as evidence, he said, "will serve no legitimate purpose" other than to elicit a "visceral reaction" from the jury.
"These videos would incontrovertibly arouse the sensitivities and emotions of the jury in an unduly prejudicial manner against [the defendants]."
Cipparone pointed out that the government has conceded that none of the defendants is affiliated with any alleged terrorist organization and that none of the charges in the case relates to an allegation of beheading or attempting to behead anyone.
Shnewer, 23, and his four codefendants were arrested in May 2007 after a 16-month FBI investigation that included audio and video surveillance tapes and dozens of secretly recorded conversations made by two cooperating witnesses.
They are accused of planning to launch a jihad-inspired attack on the Fort Dix military complex. Evidence includes homemade videos of the defendants at a Poconos shooting range waving weapons and shouting for jihad.
In a second part of the motion, Cipparone has asked that anti-Semitic comments made by his client and secretly recorded during the investigation should not be played, because they also are irrelevant and prejudicial.
The indictment, Cipparone notes, charges the defendants with "conspiracy to attack United States military personnel, not to attack Jewish persons."
The prosecution is expected to respond to the motion next week as the jury-selection process continues. Judge Kugler could then rule on the motion or schedule a hearing.
Shnewer is being tried along with Serdar Tatar, 24; and brothers Dritan Duka, 29, Shain Duka, 27; and Eljvir Duka, 24.
The Dukas and Shnewer are from Cherry Hill. Tatar is a former Cherry Hill resident who moved to Philadelphia.
All have been held without bail since their arrests. They face potential life sentences if convicted of the most serious charge - conspiring to kill U.S. military personnel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fr
Dec 5
|
Sa
Dec 6 |
Su
Dec 7 |
Mo
Dec 8 |
Tu
Dec 9 |
SPORTS
OPINION
today's poll
express headlines
Promotions
photo GALLERY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
email this
print this
reprint or license this
