That was 77-year old defendant Hafiz Kahn to the AUSA during cross-examination, suggesting that he was mentally ill for the questions he was asking. The prosecutor responded: "KAHHHHHHNNNNNNN!"
Actually, he said: "I'll let the jury make that determination, Mr. Khan."
Judge Scola then sent the jury out and told the defendant to chill: "You are never going to convince Mr. Shipley to change his mind about you. The only chance you have is to convince the jury to believe you."
Curt Anderson from the AP has all the dramatic details here. A snippet:
"In front of God, I did the right thing. In front of my tribe, I did the right thing," Khan testified in Pashto through an interpreter. "It was all lies, and it was all because of the money."
Khan spent a second day on the witness stand in his own defense on charges of funneling at least $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban beginning in 2008. He previously testified that money he sent overseas was for the poor, for his extended family and for a religious school, or madrassa, he owns in the Swat Valley. He insisted he has never supported the Taliban.
The imam repeatedly clashed during cross-examination with Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley, who pressed Khan on whether the FBI recordings represented his true beliefs on terrorism. Among other things, the recordings have Khan praising the attempted bombing in 2010 in New York's Times Square and hoping that Americans would die trying to capture former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
In taped conversations with the informant Siddiqui, Khan answered, "There are many times I am agreeing with him, but that does not mean that I mean it. I didn't want to harm anyone."
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
How come Rumpole is not writing more about the cop killer case? Is it because Rumpole might be Escobar's defense attorney?
ReplyDeleteAnother brilliant defense strategy! Put your client on the stand to explain away his tape recorded statements as "all lies." Yeah, that'll work.
ReplyDeleteNot true-he's all over it. Read his tweets.
ReplyDeleteRumpole is not Phil. Rumpole is J.Blecher.
ReplyDeleteRumpole is Carl Maztal.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I am neither. "I am that I am."
ReplyDeleteThat being said- this whole Kahn obsession has got to end. Hopefully TBS runs "A few Good Men" all weekend for you, or Paris Hilton gets sued in Miami.