NY Terror Trials Are Bad Idea

I haven't said anything yet about the terrorists being tried in civilian courts, but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion.

Trying the terrorist suspects in civilian court is an extremely bad idea for a variety of reasons. Let's look at the most obvious first: Miranda.

It is a fact that cases get tossed every day because the suspect wasn't properly mirandized and allowed access to an attorney. These defendants... weren't. Personally, I wouldn't expect soldiers on a battlefield to have to do that, but maybe that's just me. One scenario would be that the judge involved tosses the confessions and a bunch more stuff because they weren't mirandized and provided access to a lawyer. An even worse scenario would be that the cases are tossed entirely because the defendants were DENIED ACCESS to lawyers during their multi-year incarceration... and the defndants walk.

The big danger here is that the civilian courts will essentialy set free guilty terrorists... all because the soldiers who caught and interrogated them didn't operate by criminal court guidelines.


Now don't get me wrong, I have long maintained that depriving suspects of representation increases the likelihood that someone wrongly accused would spend years in jail... but that's not the issue today.

In the first sign that the fears of myself and MANY others aren't just paranoid ravings... the defense attorneys are already salivating over change of venue motions. And they are using the words of President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to make their case.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/expert_bigmouth_prez_helps_defense_ZtW0f2CxjGnJ3b5bnK4oUO#ixzz0XKfzoB8z

Obama put his foot in his mouth, legally if not politically, speaking about 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, when he told NBC: "I don't think it will be offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

Even more damaging, prominent legal scholar Jonathan Turley says, was Holder's statement indicating the trial was being held in New York for symbolic reasons.

"Those are highly prejudicial statements and they further show a motivation in locating the trial in this particular venue," said Turley, who has worked on terror cases.

"I would be surprised if the trial could be held there. Holder has made it much more difficult with his press conference."

So far, we're seeing presumptions of guilt, implications that the trial results are fixed, and claims that the trial venue was chosen for political reasons DETRIMENTAL to the welfare of the defendants. Yeah, any defense attorney would love to have these kinds of things on record.

And this is just the precursor, people. These trials are going to be circuses... thanks to PreBo's bone-headed decision to try terrorists in criminal courts.

I will talk more about this in the future, I'm sure, but right now let's just say that PresBo's actions are questionable at best, and extremely damaging to the US at worst.

Thanks, PB... is THIS what you meant by "Change We Can Believe In?"