Tampabay: Taxpayers get bill for Al-Arian defense team

Taxpayers get bill for Al-Arian defense team

A judge appoints two attorneys after learning that the defendant has had difficulty raising money.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA -- At least for the time being, taxpayers will pay the bill for accused terrorist Sami Al-Arian's defense team, a tab that could top $500,000.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun said in court Monday that he did not want to delay the case further while Al-Arian and his family try to raise enough money for a private defense team.

Instead, McCoun went ahead with Al-Arian's arraignment and appointed two experienced defense attorneys, Jeffrey Brown and Frank Louderback.

Two weeks ago, McCoun gave Al-Arian, accused of helping run the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an extra two weeks to raise enough money for his defense.

Al-Arian said Monday that his unexpected move from a Tampa jail to Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County on March 27 stymied his ability to contact potential donors.

Al-Arian asked McCoun for another 13 days to raise the money.

McCoun explained to Al-Arian that he could continue to try to raise money for a private defense team.

"This case is going to move forward," McCoun said.

Al-Arian refused to enter a plea, so the judge entered one of not guilty.

Al-Arian also did not waive his right to a speedy trial. The speedy trial deadline elapses 70 days from when the indictment becomes public or the defendant first appears in court. In Al-Arian's case, that could be as early as May.

However, the law allows for many exceptions for extending the deadline, said Bill Jung, a Tampa defense attorney and former prosecutor. He compared the federal speedy trial laws to a block of "Swiss cheese."

"It would also be very risky for a federal defendant to go to trial in such a short period of time," Jung said. "It would be like going to trial almost blind."

Federal agents arrested Al-Arian and three other men in February on charges that include conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to murder, maim or injure people on foreign soil, including U.S. citizens.

The indictment does not accuse Al-Arian or the three other defendants of carrying out any terrorist attacks.

The allegations focus on their role in supporting and raising funds for the Islamic Jihad.

The three others -- Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut -- all pleaded not guilty and waived their speedy trial rights last month.

Fariz is represented by an assistant public defender. The other two have court-appointed lawyers, who are from a list of private attorneys paid a set hourly fee by the court when the public defender's office cannot represent an indigent defendant.

It is considered a conflict of interest for the public defender's office to represent two defendants in the same case.

Another magistrate judge is expected to rule soon on whether to grant bail to any or all of the four men.

Even if released on bail, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service has indicated it will move to transfer non-citizens Al-Arian and Hammoudeh to an immigration jail for deportation.

After the hearing Monday, Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, told reporters her husband spends most of his days in solitary confinement and has limited use of the phone.

"This is not the America I've come to love and respect," said Nahla, who is a U.S. citizen.

She said many potential donors were afraid of the government targeting them as terrorist sympathizers if they gave money to a defense fund.

"Members of the Muslim community are scared of doing legal things," she said. "This in unbelievable."

-- Graham Brink can be reached at 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com .