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St. Petersburg Times January 23, 2004
Al-Arian judge tries to step up the pace
Speed up the evidence exchange, he urges the lawyers, noting that trial is just a year away
By GRAHAM BRINK, Staff Writer
TAMPA, Jan 22, 2004- U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun expressed concern Thursday about the pace of the required exchange of evidence in the terrorism case involving Sami Al-Arian and three other men.
The government's decade-long investigation produced thousands of taped conversations, piles of investigative documents and reams of records.
Lots of the evidence is in Arabic. Parts are in Hebrew. And some documents currently reside with Israeli officials, who haven't been quick to share.
McCoun encouraged the lawyers to pick up the pace, especially now that the trial is just a year away.
To help expedite matters, McCoun ordered government prosecutors to turn over to the defendants English transcripts of the 200 or so hours of taped conversations relevant to the indictment. They also must make available the analyses by the intelligence agents who monitored the wiretaps.
And, within 30 days, they must make available all investigative material related to acts of violence in Israel alleged in the indictment, or show why it cannot be disclosed.
"My view of the (Israeli) evidence is, it may not be a large part of your case, but it's certainly a significant part of the case, given the impact that it could have," McCoun told the prosecutor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Zitek said that, in part, the Israeli evidence was made up of documents from investigations into suicide bombings, including witness testimony, accomplice statements and forensic reports.
Al-Arian and the other men are accused of supporting, promoting and raising funds for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Much of the evidence in the indictment came from wiretaps on the defendants' phone and fax lines, starting in late 1993.
The defense attorneys questioned whether the documents will be in Hebrew, a language none of them read. Zitek told the judge his office does not have any English translations of the documents.
McCoun told the defense attorneys they will have to provide their own translations for the 21,000 hours of Arabic conversations the prosecutors said were not relevant to the indictment. The law does not require the government to translate the entirety of the tapes, he said.
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/23/Hillsborough/Al_Arian_judge_tries_.shtml
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