Sleeping Prosecutors

Judge Gerald E. Rosen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has reversed the conviction of two Arabs -- the first to be charged with terrorism-related offenses after 9/11 -- after the government conceded misconduct in its handling of the case. "The prosecution's understandable sense of mission and its zeal to obtain a conviction overcame not only its professional judgment, but its broader obligations to the justice system and the rule of law," wrote Rosen in his opinion in United States v. Karim Koubriti, et al.

Lest one think this was just liberal judging, the Court emphasized that 9/11 represents a "monstrous apparition of fanatical terrorism that presents to our Nation -- indeed, to the whole civilized world -- the gravest threat of the first decade of the new Millennium." And it was the government itself, concluding that exculpatory documents had been withheld intentionally from the defense (a clear constitutional violation for more than 40 years), that confessed error and moved to dismiss the indictment.

Last year, Attorney General John Ashcroft heralded the Detroit convictions as a clear message that the United States would work diligently to disrupt and dismantle terrorist "sleeper cells" at home and abroad. “Every victory in the courtroom brings us closer to our ultimate goal of victory in the war on terrorism. The Department of Justice will continue its aggressive battle in the courts to ensure the safety and security of all Americans," Achcroft crowed in June 2003. Well, it seems as if it's the Justice Department's own lawyers who were the real sleepers in this case.

 Posted by glenn