NEW YORK: Lawyers for Aafia Siddiqui Monday protested their client’s removal from the Manhattan federal court at a time when the jury was present by tough tackling U.S. marshals, saying her constitutional rights to a fair trial and presumption of innocence have been violated.
In a motion asking Judge Richard Berman to declare mistrial, defence lawyer Linda Moreno said Ms. Siddiqui was made to look bad because of some rough handling by the marshals as they whisked her out.
Other grounds for a mistrial cited by Ms. Moreno were beefed up security measures outside the courtroom requiring visitors to the trial to provide personal identification and sign in. But the judge denied the motion towards the end of fifth day of the trial of Ms. Siddiqui, saying despite his warnings the defendant spoke out of turn, disrupting the proceedings and had to be ordered out.Ms. Siddiqui, 37, the Pakistani neuroscientist, is on trial for allegedly grabbing a rifle and shooting at U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan two years ago. No one was hit.
She denies the charge and has accused witnesses of lying. Ms. Moreno also said that the jurors could feel threatened by the extra security measures being enforced right before the jurors’ eyes. But the judge ruled that U.S. Marshals have denied that Ms. Siddiqui was roughly handled while they moved her out. He also said that additional security measures were necessary for such a “high profile” trial, citing some past instances when it was done. It was an eventful day as two jurors were also “excused” from the jury and replaced with alternates.
The judge ejected the jurors after they “interacted” with a spectator, who was also removed from the court. “They felt they would no longer be fair,” the judge said. Three more witnesses appeared before the court, including the Chief Warrant Officer of the US Army, who claims to have shot Ms. Siddiqui two times during a confrontation at the police headquarters in Ghazni city on 8 July 2008. The officer gave his rank, but not his name. Others who testified were: Specialist Renee Card, a medical worker, and FBI Special Agency Erik McGron, who will be cross-examined by defence lawyer on Tuesday.
The Chief Warrant Officer, his face scarred, limped into the courtroom with a cane, having been badly injured in a roadside bombing a year after the Ghazni incident. He began to weep at the stand as he described his injuries, saying, “Every bone - waist down to my feet - was broken.” “Three of my men were killed, along with one Afghan,” he said, wiping his tears with a tissue handed to him by Judge Berman. As he spoke, Ms. Siddiqui was heard saying, said, “I feel sorry for you. Don’t do take the blame for Captain Robert Snyder.
It will make America look bad in international court.” Capt. Snyder was the first witness at the trial who said Ms. Siddiqui suddenly appeared from behind a curtain dividing the room, brandishing the Chief Warrants Officer’s M-4 rifle. The judge ordered the defendant’s removal, saying, “It’s highly appropriate for her to be escorted out of the courtroom when she acts out.” He allowed her to return later.
The Chief Warrant officer testified Afghan authorities had told him Ms. Siddiqui was under their control, and was shocked when she suddenly appeared from behind the curtain wielding his M4 rifle and raising the slogan of “Allah-O-Akbar.” “It was pretty amazing she got that thing up and squared off,” he said. “She was looking at me and aiming dead at me.” Hearing the rifle go off, the officer claimed he followed his military training and pulled his pistol. Ms. Siddiqui was wrestling with an interpreter when he shot her in the stomach. At this stage, Ms. Siddiqui was heard saying, “I did not fire, I did not fire” as she was again removed by U.S. Marshals.
Last week FBI agents said the rifle allegedly fired by Ms. Siddiqui does not have her fingerprints, the casing of the two fired bullets were not found, nor their projectiles or fragments discovered from the wall of the room where the incident took place. In fact, a ballistic expert told the court Friday that he could not say with certainty whether the gun was ever fired.
During cross examination, Charles Swift, the lead lawyer, brought out some inconsistencies in the statements made by the Chief Warrant Officer. The lawyer pointed out that in his report submitted soon after the incident, the Chief Warrants officer had stated that the defendant was “lunging” towards his gun, contrasting with his statement on Monday that she was pointing the gun at him. The officer felt a little uncomfortable, but said his report was not step-by-step account of the event. Swift also drew the officer’s attention to another of his statement that Ms. Siddiqui’s gun was pointed upwards—another embarrassing moment.
There also contradictions in the statements made by Specialist Card, especially about where Capt. Snyder and the Chief Warrant officer were sitting. SAMAA
Source:samaa.tv/
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