Legal Commentary

Najibullah Zazi Pleads Not Guilty, Detained Pending Trial

By Jeralyn

Najibullah Zazi pleaded not guilty today to a charge of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. He will be detained pending trial. The Court declared the case complex, taking it outside of speedy trial limits. The next hearing is December 3, 2009.

Zazi's lawyer, Michael Dowling of Denver, who is licensed to practice in New York state and federal courts, told the media after the hearing (video here)that he hasn't seen any evidence that Zazi conspired with anyone else to commit an unlawful act. He said that traveling to Pakistan and buying products which contain chemicals that allegedly could be used to make explosives do not establish a conspiracy. He said while he hasn't seen all of the Government's evidence, he hasn't seen anything identifying any individuals with whom Zazi allegedly conspired. [More...]

The Government will be introducing evidence it obtained through FISA electronic surveillance and searches. Since that information is restricted, I expect that the pleadings attacking the evidence will be filed under seal.

The Government isn't finished with its investigation. I would expect additional defendants and charges to be brought in a Superseding Indictment. However, that could be weeks or months away. The Government does not need the court's permission to supersede.

For now, Zazi is being held in the most restrictive unit of the MDC Brooklyn. For those of you with PACER, the case is U.S. v. Najibullah Zazi, 09-CR-00663, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 29, 2009 (boomark / email).