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Article published Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Feds expected to rest case tomorrow in Toledo terror trial
BEGINNING OF THIS STORY: 3 charged in terror plot; local suspects planned attacks in Iraq, U.S. says (Feb. 22, 2006)
By ERICA BLAKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
When introducing jurors to the case against three men from Toledo's Muslim community who were charged with crimes that could lead to life imprisonment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Getz said simply: "This is a terrorism case."
But what federal prosecutors contended was "the development of a terrorist cell here in Toledo, Ohio," defense attorneys countered was "a misplaced effort by the government to go out and find terrorists."
The anticipated three-month trial of Marwan El-Hindi, 45, Mohammad Amawi, 28, and Wassim Mazloum, 26, began in U.S. District Court April 1 with opening statements and has continued with numerous witnesses called by the government. Tomorrow, federal prosecutors will present their last witnesses and rest their case.
During 19 days of testimony and with the use of 16 witnesses, the government has shown a timeline that began in mid-2004 and has chronicled how the three men allegedly became increasingly involved in a conspiracy to plan and train for a holy war overseas.
During the cross-examination of witnesses, defense at-torneys focused on the fact that the more than two-year investigation yielded no actions on the part of any of the defendants - and instead relied on information provided by an informant with a history of drug and financial problems. He was paid $350,000 by the FBI over a period of several years.
Mr. El-Hindi, Mr. Amawi, and Mr. Mazloum are each charged with planning to wage a "holy war" overseas using skills they learned on the Internet. In the indictment released after their February, 2006, arrests, the government alleged that the three conspired to kill or injure people in the Middle East - including U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq - as well as providing "support and resources" to terrorists.
Mr. Amawi and Mr. El-Hindi, who have both remained in federal custody since their arrests, are also charged with "distributing information regarding explosives."
The first month of the trial was dominated by the testimony of the government's confidential informant, Darren Griffin - a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces who began working with the FBI in October, 2001. Over a period of eight days and using about 33 hours of audio and video clips, Mr. Griffin outlined his interactions with the three defendants from 2004 through their arrest in February, 2006.
Defense attorneys questioned Mr. Griffin for an additional four days about his motives and techniques while he portrayed a recently converted Muslim who was disenchanted with the U.S. government and sympathetic to Islamic extremists. Playing the same recordings produced by devices hidden within the folds of Mr. Griffin's clothing, defense attorneys said there were times when Mr. Griffin dominated and even initiated conversations about training for "violent jihad."
During Mr. Griffin's time on the stand, attorneys for both the government and the defense focused questions on a Feb. 16, 2005, meeting at Mr. El-Hindi's home - the only time the government had proof of a meeting between the three men.
Federal prosecutors labeled the gathering a "meeting" where the men created a schedule for training. Defense attorneys contended that the meeting was more of a dinner gathering where Mr. El-Hindi's children could be heard on the recordings.
Using testimony from Mr. Griffin, several FBI agents, and analysts of explosives, computers, and languages, federal prosecutors alleged that both Mr. Amawi and Mr. El-Hindi were accessing "jihadist Web sites" - many of which they claimed could be used as training sources. Included in those videos were many that showed graphic images of sniper killings, roadside bomb explosions, and attacks on U.S. military and government sites overseas.
In January, 2005, Mr. Amawi downloaded a video that showed step-by-step instructions on how to construct - and explode - a suicide bomb vest, the government said.
The following month, in February, 2005, Mr. El-Hindi forwarded an e-mail he received from an Islamic extremist group that showed a photographic slideshow on the placement and detonation of improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs.
Using linguists and explosive experts, the government dissected the information for jurors, showing how each depicted step-by-step instructions. The e-mail and the video, forwarded to Mr. Griffin by each of the men, led to the charges against Mr. El-Hindi and Mr. Amawi that they distributed information regarding explosives.
During questioning of Mr. Griffin by Mr. Amawi's and Mr. El-Hindi's attorneys, the confidential informant testified that he requested copies of the videos from both men. He then turned the information over to the FBI.
Discs and documents turned over by Mr. Griffin were then translated and analyzed. The FBI also analyzed documents and videos found on the computer drives and discs confiscated from Mr. Amawi and Mr. El-Hindi after their arrests.
Explosive 'recipes'
Among the documents downloaded by Mr. Amawi was a "cookbook" of explosives that offered various "recipes," or methods of production, for explosives, Kelly Mount, an FBI forensic explosive expert, testified. "You won't build a bomb but you will have an explosive material and things will go boom," she said.
Ms. Mount admitted under cross-examination by Chuck Boss, who is representing Mr. El-Hindi, that many of the "recipes" did not contain proper ratios and that the amounts of material required are needed to successfully create an explosive.
Although not able to call their own witnesses to the stand yet, defense attorneys spent several hours questioning each of the witnesses called by the government to debunk the government's allegations of conspiracy.
Specifically, during the questioning of Mr. Griffin, defense attorneys asked whether he believed he was "gathering information," as was his order from the FBI, or instead dominating, and in some cases leading, the conversation into talk of "jihad" and training.
Mr. Griffin and the two FBI agents who served as his contacts during the investigation - Special Agent Shannon Coats and retired Special Agent William Radcliffe - each testified that they believed Mr. Griffin was following orders to gather information on specific people identified by the FBI.
But during each agent's testimony, defense attorneys pointed to recordings and transcripts where Mr. Griffin was heard encouraging people to go shooting at an indoor range, telling people he was forming a cell, and speaking about using a security company he was forming as a "cloak" for the true purpose of meeting.
Appropriate behavior
Under defense questioning, both agents responded that none of the examples showed a time when Mr. Griffin went beyond what they felt was appropriate behavior.
The government deviated from expert witnesses and law enforcement only once during the case, when Mikaeil Almozrouei, a former member of the mosque on Monroe Street, testified about his interactions with Mr. El-Hindi and his time spent with Mr. Amawi, who was a neighbor.
Mr. Almozrouei, 41, who lives in Michigan, testified on May 8 that he was uncomfortable with the ideals Mr. Amawi expressed about their religion and tried to distance himself. Specifically, he said Mr. Amawi tried to convince him that beheadings and military attacks shown in videos were "just."
He described an encounter in which he was among a small group of men asked by Mr. El-Hindi if they wanted "to go to Afghanistan and train for jihad."
Nine men and seven women make up the 12 trial jurors and four alternates who were chosen to decide the case. The trial is expected to conclude in late June.
Contact Erica Blake at:
eblake@theblade.com
or 419-213-2134.
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