MILNET:

MILNET Brief
Arraignment of Lodi Terrorist Hamad Hayat, Updated 6/22/2005

Overview

Hamad Hayat, and his father, an ice cream vendor named Umer Hayat, are scheduled for arraignment in U.S. Federal District Court (California Eastern District Court, Sacramento, California), at 2:00 pm, Tuesday, June 21, 2005.

The presiding judge will be Peter A. Nowinski Nowinski is an experienced jurist, having begun his career in the Department of Justice severing in several positions including U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District in 1986 and Chief Associate Deputy Attorney General to the Department of Justice in 1990. Nowinski was appointed as a Magistrate for the Eastern District in February of 1991.

The U.S. Federal Marshall service confirmed that a little extra security will be in place at the courthouse on I Street in downtown Sacramento due to the notoriety of the case, however, the courtroom assigned is expected to be large enough to accommodate the expected increase in visitors to the court. So far no plans are in place for an "entrance lottery" as in other cases where media exposure has assured plenty of visitors in the courtroom. Of course all that could change on Tuesday.

In a Washington Post article, attorneys for the father and son pair were quoted as saying they would be petitioning for either or both to be released, however it is expected that the U.S. Attorney will undoubtedly resist the motion, citing family and movement of funds into Pakistan from the Hayats that could indicate they could become a flight risk to avoid prosecution. The Defense may also find they have a reasonable rationale for dismissal of the case -- it is rumored that the two defendants did not have an appropriate translator attending parts of their questioning, leaving the door open for both misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Hayat's grandfather (on his maternal side) is a well known cleric in Rawlipindi, Pakistan, and the federal affidavit used to secure his arrest warrant cites the relative as being part of a Jihadist raining regime that includes religious training in his Madrasah as well as a link to a local Jihadist combat training camp. The Associated Press was able to interview the cleric and he denied that his Madrasah teaches Jihadist philosophy and that there are any terrorist connections in his family or near the Mosque in Rawlipindi, Pakistan.

A second version of the FBI's affidavit mysteriously left out reference to the training camp, however, providing some fuel to be used by the defense attorneys to gain release of their clients. It should also be pointed out that officials in Pakistan also deny the existence of terrorist camps and Jihadist teachings in Rawlipindi, which also is the Headquarters for the Pakistani Military.

Contrary to a report from Pakistani officials, GlobalTerrorist.Com offers online provides a video stream that allegedly contains footage of a Pakistani terrorist training camp along the Afghanistan-Pakistani border (Waziristan).

On Tuesday, 6/6/2005, Judge Nowinski denied bail to Hamad's father, Umer Hayat, and on Friday, 6/10/2005 repeated the ruling for Hamad, agreeing with Assitant U.S. Attornies that both men appeared to be flight risks, with strong familal, religious, community, and business ties in Pakistan. Nowinski is quoted as saying, "...the charges were very serious and there could be a motive to flee..." ^{1, 2}

Expected on Tuesday to represent Hamad Hayat is his attorney Wazhma Mojaddidi, and Umer Hayat's attorney Johnny Griffith.

You might like to keep an eye on Michelle Malkin's blog coverage. She is a well known face on Fox News and she does a good job of rounding up other bloggers info as well as keeps a critical eye on immigration issues.. Local talent Charlotte Fadipe of KOVR Channel 13 news introduced herself at the arraignment and made us feel welcome in "The Big City" of Sacramento. Her television coverage is top of the pack and professionally done giving plenty of background and succinctly summarizing the case's current situation.

Arraignment, Tuesday, 6/21/2005

Brief

The Hayat's attorneys were joined by their clients who were dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, shackled at hands to waist and leg irons. The attorneys entered pleas of not guilty and Umer Hayat's attorney requested and was granted a formal discovery hearing on Friday, 6/24/2005, with Hamad's attorney concurring. The proceedings were over in very short order, and the prisoners taken back to their cells. The Hayat's may have found a few welcoming faces at the back of the court, with the back row of the visitor's gallery being manned by nearly a dozen arab dressed men.

Details

The Federal Courthouse building is at Sacramento's Sixth and I streets, News vans with their recognizable microwave broadcast antennas and stowable mast had already begun to gather by 9:30 am. The arraignment of Hamad Hayat and Umer Hayat had moved from a back page item to lead off news story in San Joaquin Valley.

The courtyard of the Federal building features a light spirited set of sculpture created by Tom Otterness in 1999. The artist's contribution consists of various brass sculptures in cartoon like figures to depict various scenes from California history. The figures ranged from a gold panner and indian friend, to a buffalo with a miniature derby hat, featuring "allegorical human figures" and "anthropomorphic animals" to offer a whimsical impression matching the title "Gold Rush".

However the large squares of the plaza leading to the actual courthouse entrance had more sobering messages to deliver, citing various sentiments about freedom, the law, and the American spirit.

The combination of these artifacts with the towering modern edifice demonstrated a broad spectrum of sentiment of the functionality of the Courthouse serving the U.S. District Court's California Eastern District.

The security hurdles downstairs were the usual federal building checks -- no cameras or cell phones in the courthouse, with metal detectors and X-rays inspections for visitor's bags. The lobby of the Federal Courthouse featured a series of a dozen or s marble obelisks shaped like seats facing inward in a circle with motivational verse carved on the backsides.

The arraignment hearing for the Hayat's had originally been scheduled one of the standard courtrooms on the eighth floor, which border along the broad arc of the building's face, visible from I street. Inside the building, these courtrooms have entrances that face onto an arced corridor with rich wood entrance areas, the floor to ceiling glass panels looking down on I street.

In a similar fashion, the "Special Proceedings" court on the sixteenth and top floor offers more security and control of visitors, and was assigned to accommodate the expected numbers of visitors due to the interest over the case. There is a alcove off the South side of the elevator corridor, showing off the entire South side of downtown Sacramento. To the North is another alcove with a natural looking split marble slab offer seating for half a dozen visitors. This alcove leads to the entrance to Courtroom One itself, as well as service corridors for the court officials.

Inside the wide courtroom, the six wide and modern tables ahead of the visitors bar focused the attention to the two tiered dais at the center of the courtroom. The court and Judge's clerks were in position, with no less than five U.S. Marshals who had begun their security sweeps an hour earlier, and maintained a presence in and outside the courtroom throughout the afternoon's business. By 1:58 pm, the visitor's area was full, with some other legal observers who had some standing with the court overflowing into the jury box on the left. The back row of the courtroom's visitor's gallery was manned by men dressed mostly in traditional arab garb. At least one of those accompanying them wore a skull cap and another in western dress word a CAIR t-shirt (CAIR is the Council for American-Islamic Relations).

The Honorable Peter Nowinski, Magistrate of this session of the U.S. District Court was introduced with the ceremonial, "All rise, District Court is in session, the Honorable Peter Nowinski presiding..."

Shortly the door leading to the entry point from the detention facility opened and the two prisoners, Umer the father, and Hamad, younger and slighter taller yet very much thinner than his father, were led into the courtroom. Both were wearing the orange "jumpsuit" labeled with SAC CO JAIL, which is located next door to the Federal Courthouse. The prisoners were shackled at the feet, and their handcuffs were strapped to a wide leather waistband, making it difficult to use their hands. Indeed, Umer had some difficulty positioning his chair so that he could be seated.

Unlike many state or local courtrooms, the six wide tables, three in accession for the prosecution and three for the defense, also featured plush black leather swivel chairs. However, the comfortable seating would find little use.

Steven Latham introduced himself as representing the U.S. Government, a young Assistant U.S. Attorney, flanked by several clerks. On the defense side, the Hamad team, consisting of Wazhma Mojaddidi, a bare headed woman and a young female translator (Kimberly Watkins) in headscarf sat with the defendant. Hamad is a slight bearded young man, clear eyed, but obviously concerned. His father, peering back, perhaps to friends seated in the back row of the visitor gallery, showed no emotion. His attorney, Johnny Griffith, spoke directly to his client without the benefit of an interpreter, while Hamad was constantly being spoken to by his translator.

Judge Nowinski indicated that since the two's last appearance, a new event had made part of the proceedings unnecessary as a three count indictment had been handed down by the U.S. Grand Jury. He asked for pleas, both defendants entering pleas of not guilty on all counts.

Johnny Griffith than rose to request that they move immediately as possible to formal discovery. In a later news conference, Griffith stated that it was his concern that the FBI's evidence was needed immediately so the defense team could analyze and interpret it for the purpose of mounting their defense, implying the case was so weak that a discovery hearing might end the proceedings abruptly.

Latham argued that the government would prefer more time to pull together their evidence prior to a formal discovery hearing, suggesting both an informal hearing in the following week, and then a formal hearing after that. The Judge pressed the point, and Griffith objected to the delay, clearly hoping to force the government to rush their case together.

The proceedings were adjourned after Judge Nowinski scheduled the formal discovery hearing on Friday, giving the government precious few days to bring forward their evidence.

Outside the courthouse, some dozen or so cameras were setup and the two attorneys held a news conference. Griffith attacked the government once again, essentially saying he had asked and had been granted discover -- essentially forcing the government to "put up or shut up". It was Griffith's assertion that there is no terrorism case due to the Government's not presenting it so far, and that the lying case has numerous flaws which he would not go into.

Before the news conference broke up, the gentlemen from the back row of the visitor's gallery separated and went their way, being photographed by journalists for at least two blocks, their heavy bearded faces and arab dress making them stand out and of interest to passers by.

Analysis

Analysis of the court activities indicates that perhaps it is the defense's hope that any evidence beyond the original complaint's charge of lying to federal agents would not be available on Friday. Johnny Griffith, in television interviews broadcast later in the evening, implied that the lying to agents complaint might also fall apart at that time.

Other speculation quickly surfaced through questions by the press -- for instance, someone raised the possibility that the government might attempt to use National Security as an excuse for withholding evidence of terrorist activity and relationships between the Hayat's and possible contacts in Pakistan. An earlier quote from Griffith also raised the possibility that a translator was not available at key points in the FBI's interrogation process, perhaps creating flaws in the FBI's case.

Meanwhile, the defendants were remanded back to the jail where they will remain until their hearing on Friday.

The Government's representative did not appear to argue very strenuously with Judge Nowinksi over the short preparation time before the formal Discovery Hearing. This may be due to his actually being quite prepared to discuss the case fully, or perhaps didn't fully realize the need for rapid response from the government -- 48 hours is not a lot of time for the U.S. Justice Department to make strategy decisions. This is a fact that Nowinksi is sure to understand, himself having served as Chief Associate Deputy Attorney General in 1990, however, he may also be cognizant of the defendant's right to a speedy trial. Neither attorney waived time as is traditional in the over crowded civil and criminal courts in California.

Having said all this, it is also clear that the Government only need prove continued probable cause at this point, and the Judge will move forward to a trial. Surprisingly, there was no attempt to request dismissal or a new bail request by the attorneys. However, Friday's Discovery Hearing may in fact be the right moment for that very typical request. Especially if the Government does not get its act together quickly enough to convince the Judge to schedule a court date instead of a dismissal.

CAIR's attendance, presumably to offer some friendly faces and support to the father and son pair was expected. Indeed one has to wonder how Umer Hayat could afford Mr. Griffith, who is a well paid attorney -- perhaps being an ice cream vendor is more lucrative then most of us might think. Or perhaps CAIR is helping to pay for the two attorneys. One also has to wonder if other outside support is flowing in.

Judge Denies Bail for Terror Suspect, Don Thompson, The Associated Press, found in The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, CA., 6/11/2005
Federal Judge Denies Bail to California Terror Suspect, A.P., BroadbandReports.com, 6/10/2005
Pakistan: Terror Camps Scatter, Persist, Jihad Watch, 6/20/2005
Lodi Teen Shares Thoughts on Arrests of Five Local Men, Sara Caradine, Sentinel, 6/10/2005