Second Terror Mistrial Hurts Bush Administration, Critics Say
Hung jury leads to second mistrial in "Liberty City Seven" case.
April 16, 2008— -- Federal prosecutors again failed to win convictions for six Florida men on terror-related charges, as a deadlocked jury led a judge to declare a mistrial in the case Wednesday.
The men, part of a group dubbed the "Liberty City Seven," were charged with planning an attack on Chicago's Sears Tower following a 2006 FBI raid on a warehouse that served as their headquarters and "temple" in Liberty City, one of Miami's poorest neighborhoods.
An earlier jury acquitted one man and deadlocked over counts against the other six in December.
Critics accused the Bush administration of "see[ing] terrorism under every rock," and of essentially fabricating a major terror case against seven men using a paid informant.
At the time of the raid, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales personally announced the details of the case against the men at a press conference. He said the men aimed to wage a "full ground war against the United States" and vowed to "kill all the devils we can."
The group, which called itself "Seas of David," had no firearms, no explosives and no links to a terrorist group when they were arrested. Its leader was reportedly known for roaming the group's neighborhood in a cape or bathrobe, toting a wooden cane.
The government built its case against the men with a paid FBI informant who infiltrated the group posing as an al Qaeda terror group member. The informant offered to help the Seas of David members obtain new boots, guns and $50,000 from al Qaeda if they swore allegiance to the Islamic terror organization.
The men took the oath, led by the informant, unaware they were being videotaped. The tape was a key piece of evidence in the trials against them. [Watch video.]
In closing arguments for the second trial, the Miami Herald quoted prosecutor Richard Gregory as telling jurors, "These are not people saying 'No.' These are people who are dedicated soldiers -- dedicated to overthrowing the United States."
Critics have said the administration's efforts to prosecute the men on terror charges undermines its credibility.
Miami law professor and civil rights lawyer Bruce Winick said the defeat was a harsh blow to the Bush administration. "It makes them look bad," said Winick, who has criticized the Liberty City Seven case in the past. "They don't have any credibility... you can't see terrorism under every rock," he said.
"It demonstrates that this case was an overreach," Neal Sonnett, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said of today's mistrial. The government's case was "more hype than evidence," he had told ABC News recently. It was viable to argue, as the men's lawyers did, that the government informant "created the crime."
As for its next move in the case, the Justice Department said it will announce its "position on the matter" at a hearing next Wednesday.