Detroit terrorist trial

The department told U. District Judge Gerald Rosen that it supports the Detroit defendants' request for a new trial and would no longer pursue charges of material support of terrorism.

That means the defendants at most would only face fraud charges at a new trial, the legal sources said. The department's decision came after a months-long independent investigation uncovered several pieces of evidence that prosecutors failed to turn over to defense lawyers before the trial last year and exposed deep disputes within the government over the course of the case and the quality of the prosecution's evidence.

The announcement, expected as early as Wednesday, in the shadows of the Republican National Convention in New York, where President Bush and his allies are trumpeting his successes in the war on terror. The legal sources, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because the judge in the Detroit case has imposed a gag order, said the department's filing with the court is harshly critical of Assistant U.

Authorities looking for a man on a terrorist watch list found fake documents, airport badges, the videotape the government said showed possible U.

The government suggested the men were radical followers of the Salafist theology, based in part on audio tapes found in the raid. Defense experts said the tapes espouse mainstream Salafi ideology, which focuses on strict adherence to Islamic traditions.

The defense said the day planner once belonged to a now-dead mentally ill man who liked to doodle. They said the video, which includes scenes of Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. And while two of the men worked as dishwashers for a catering company near the Detroit airport, the badges didn't give them access to the airport itself.

Read More. Unfortunately for the prosecution, the day planner was the property, not of the defendants, but of a previous tenant of the apartment, Ali Mohammed Ali Ahmed, a mentally unstable man who ultimately committed suicide. He told a lurid tale of being asked by all four defendants to join a terrorist cell that was preparing to shoot down airplanes with Stinger missiles and perpetrate other spectacular attacks.

He singled out Ali-Hamoud as the most militant of the alleged terrorists, but the jury acquitted the year-old of all charges. In May, Hmimmsa pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts, including credit card fraud, and was sentenced to 37 to 46 months in prison, on charges carryinga potential maximum of 81 years.

While awaiting disposition of his case, he testified, he encountered Hmimmsa at the federal prison in Milan, Michigan. Hmimmsa advised him to get lesser charges by giving evidence for the government. Shishani said that Hmimmsa expressed the desire to get revenge on the four defendants in the terrorism case because they had stolen money from him and ruined his criminal enterprise. They did not acquire weapons, they did not travel to targeted locations, they did nothing but work at menial jobs, listen to Arabic language tapes and, in the case of Ali-Haimoud, live at home with his mother, the head of the computer science department at the Lewis College of Business in Detroit.

All four face serious consequences, ranging from prison terms to deportation. A preliminary examination hearing is where attorneys discuss the case, a potential plea to all charges, some of the charges, or reduced charges, depending on the case. All three of the Crumbleys have been held at the Oakland County Jail in separate locations. Local 4 News at 11pm The latest local, regional and national news events of the day along with weather conditions and traffic issues are provided by the Local 4 News Team.

Local 4 News at 11pm. Local News.