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Judge Recesses Al-Arian Trial

By LENNY SAVINO lsavino@tampatrib.com

Published: Sep 23, 2005

TAMPA - The Sami Al-Arian trial will not resume until Oct. 3, while defense attorneys study several Internet records introduced as new evidence in the case.

Judge James Moody called the timeout Thursday after admitting into evidence several computer records the prosecution says link two of Al Arian's co-defendants to Palestinian Islamic Jihad Web sites.

Defense attorney M. Allison Guagliardo had asked for at least two weeks of recess because the computer expert who will examine the records for the defense, Robert DeYoung, is scheduled for surgery today.

"I can't tell him, 'You can't have the operation,' " Guagliardo told the judge.

She asked for more detailed information about the records, which were obtained through forensic examinations of computers belonging to co-defendants Hatim Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut and Islamic Jihad Web sites.

Without a close review of the evidence, it would be impossible to cross-examine the government's computer experts, Guagliardo said.

Most of Thursday's hearing was spent evaluating objections by defense attorneys to the new records, which were projected on a huge screen in the courtroom. The jury was excused for the session.

Many of the records were alleged Islamic Jihad announcements on the Qudsway.com Web site that took credit for almost 200 fatal attacks on Israelis and other Islamic Jihad enemies. Others were lists of Islamic Jihad Web sites allegedly visited by the two defendants at all hours of the day and night.

There were several objections to the records, which were cast as irrelevant hearsay. None of the defendants was linked to the attacks mentioned in the documents, Guagliardo said. Defense attorneys categorized them as "associated evidence" designed to collectively sway the jury.

"They know full well that Dr. Al-Arian had nothing to do with this violence," said William Moffitt, Al Arian's attorney.

"There's not one piece of evidence that connects Dr. Al-Arian to this," Moffitt said.

The attacks were unrelated to the 19 acts of violence mentioned in the indictment, Guagliardo said, making them irrelevant to the case.

Moffitt asked for a mistrial.

Moody quickly denied the request.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Zitek said the records are relevant because they demonstrate that the defendants were keeping track of the Islamic Jihad's activities, which they supported by participating in the alleged conspiracy outlined in the indictment.

Moody sided with Zitek with only a few exceptions.

In a lighter moment, Zitek offered the judge a deal to swap three records already admitted for one he preferred.

"I'd give up 221, 222 and 223 for 224," he said.

Of record number 254, Zitek said: "That's not one of my favorites."

WHAT HAPPENED

Prosecutors introduced records they say tie defendants to Islamic Jihad Web sites. Defense attorneys were granted time to examine them.