Associated Press
Eyewitness News
NEW YORK -- Osama bin Laden's son-in-law (click here) was introduced to prospective jurors Monday
at the start of his trial on charges that he conspired to kill
Americans and support terrorists in his role as al-Qaida's spokesman
after the Sept. 11 attacks.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan asked Sulaiman Abu Ghaith to turn and face the potential jurors before asking if any knew him. None did.
None did. Is that a surprise? Would anyone state they knew this man? I don't believe that was a smart thing to do. Were the jurors notified they would have to undergo a background check before being seated and did they have any reason to deny such a check?
The judge drew silence as well when he asked if there was anyone who had never heard of al-Qaida.
The questioning was part of a process designed to shrink a jury pool of dozens of prospective jurors to the 12 anonymous jurors and several alternates necessary before opening statements begin as early as Wednesday.
The trial, expected to last about three weeks, began a year after Abu Ghaith was brought to the United States following his capture in Jordan....
There was a jury process that was successful when Ramzi Yousef (click here) was tried. The processed used then would be best for the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. The Yousef trial is precedent to date in these cases.
