This afternoon, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit remanded the appeal of Ali Al-Timimi, the accused head of the so-called “Virginia Jihad” or “Virginia Paintball” case. The remand was based on evidence that was discovered by the defense after the appeal was filed. I am lead defense counsel for Dr. Al-Timimi and serve with co-counsel Thomas Huff and Allison Wood. We have long argued that the government has withheld evidence in the case.
This case centers on allegations that Dr. Al-Timimi— a computational biologist employed in cancer research and a prominent Muslim scholar—made comments at a dinner shortly after 9-11 that allegedly inspired certain men in attendance to go forward with a plan to travel to a camp in Pakistan run by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), a group the United States would later designate as a terrorist organization. Under assorted theories of inchoate liability, Dr. Al-Timimi was charged with and convicted of 10 felonies. In a result that the district court described as “very draconian,” sentencing, he received a mandatory lifetime prison sentence.
I previously secured a remand of this case after media reports disclosed the existence of secret surveillance programs conducted by the Government. From April 25, 2006 until May 21, 2014, Dr. Al-Timimi filed roughly two dozen motions seeking discovery of undisclosed evidence. Virtually all of these motions were denied. To establish such a basis, the defense sought evidence through NARA and other sources using the Freedom of Information Act and other means. After years of such attempts, the defense was able to obtain documents referring to earlier investigations involving Dr. Al-Timimi and other figures, like Anwar Aulaqi.
Due to the ongoing litigation, I must remain circumspect about public comments on this case. Below are the filings leading to today’s remand.
On behalf of Dr. Al-Timimi and the entire defense team, we are deeply appreciative to the Fourth Circuit and look forward to presenting this matter to Judge Brinkema in the United States District Court for Northern Virginia.
At least you defend someone from government abuse and tyranny….
Notice, it has to be someone with a status (Dr.) Or previously judge, soldier, police officer, etc.
THE GWOT IS BS.
It is a geopolitical label for the intrigue of the Anglo-Zionist-Saudi dollar zone axis against their rivals among the Shiites and the Russians. Let’s be frank– both sides employ extralegal means against the other.
That is not to say that America doesn’t have legit national interests, or that American shouldn’t pursue those interests, but it is to say that America should not be some kind of phony global supercop or judge.
Some of these prosecutions need to be understood as persecutions and if Prof Turley serves justice in that regard as a lawyer, then he has my highest esteem
@ Ross
Just for the record, the term “United States” only refers to the US government and it’s agencies and not the “United States of America” which refers to the States in the Articles of Confederation. So the term “United States” and United States of America” are two distinct and separate entities.
In the United States you are supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty” – the accused is supposed be able to confront all evidence and all witnesses against him or her in an OVERT adversarial process.
This system forces police, prosecutors and national security officials to follow actual overt statutes or overt laws. The statutes themselves should never be secret. Secret law defeats the entire premise of a civilized society based on written law – how can citizens comply with laws that are secret? It makes the American justice system akin to “Double Secret Probation” on the movie Animal House – you’re in trouble but because it’s secret law we can’t tell you why and you can never challenge our secret guilty verdict.
Government officials that can’t confront the accused with evidence, witnesses or overt law have to end the case in civilized societies.
Justice, Prosecutors can indeed be lazy. However, the dangerous ones are the political climbers who lie and withhold evidence.