TAMPA - Key search warrants in the terrorism case against fired University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian were mistakenly shredded by courthouse workers, a federal judge has discovered.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun wrote a letter to Al-Arian's lawyers Dec. 3, saying his courtroom deputy discovered the documents were missing after he requested them for review.
The records were erroneously purged by court employees seeking to cut down on excess paper during a move to the new federal courthouse; a worker apparently misread a guide to destroying documents, said Sheryl Loesch, clerk of the court for the U.S. District Court's middle district of Florida.
Before the mistake was discovered, clerks shredded all magistrate judge files in Tampa from mid 1996 and older, Loesch said.
The documents outlined the government's justification for searches and seizures in 1995 at Al-Arian's home and office, and the office of WISE, an Islamic think tank Al-Arian and others operated at USF. The destruction of those records has led Al-Arian's lawyers to question whether investigators had probable cause to launch their searches.
Linda Moreno, who represents Al-Arian along with William Moffitt, said the defense team needs the affidavit and warrant and accompanying application if it decides to argue to suppress evidence from the searches.
A "massive" amount of evidence was seized as a result of those warrants, Moreno said, including letters, documents, receipts, bills and children's history exams. "It presents a host of issues we are currently investigating," she said. "Neither Mr. Moffitt or myself have ever encountered a case where the original files relating to such an important search were destroyed."
She added: "We are quite curious as to the relevance that the children's exams have to a charge of terrorism."
But U.S. Attorney Paul Perez said he did not see the mistake as a setback. "We do not believe the shredding of the documents relating to the 1995 searches will affect our ability to prosecute this case," Perez said in a statement. "Of course, we shall respond more fully in pleadings in the event any defense motions are filed concerning this issue."
Al-Arian and three other men were arrested in February on charges they supported and raised money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group considered responsible for more than 100 deaths. He dumped his court-appointed attorneys and briefly represented himself before hiring Moreno and Moffitt.
McCoun wrote in separate, identical letters to Al-Arian's lawyers that there is no way to reconstruct the files. However, he has asked the FBI and the office that initiated the warrant, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to look for copies.
