Al-Arian trial: Week in review

Jurors asked the judge to let them deliberate through Friday in the trial of former USF professor Sami Al-Arian.

By Times Staff
Published November 28, 2005

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Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants - Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut - are on trial in federal court, accused of using Islamic charities as fronts in a conspiracy to finance terrorist attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for killing hundreds of people in Israel and the occupied territories. The St. Petersburg Time s is providing a weekly summary highlighting important developments.

THE LATEST: The jury has been deliberating for six days in the complicated 51-count case, and took a Thanksgiving holiday break at the close of business Wednesday.

The same day, a defense attorney for co-defendant Hammoudeh filed a motion for a mistrial, arguing that deliberations had been tainted because jurors were accidentally given a copy of the Tampa Tribune that included a short story about an online poll in which 87 percent of those who participated thought Al-Arian would be convicted.

The Assistant Public Defender's Office was supposed to cut out the story from the newspaper.

Jurors notified the judge.

U.S. District Judge James S. Moody has yet to rule on the motion.

WHAT'S NEXT: The jury takes up the case again today.

Jurors asked the judge to allow them to deliberate through Friday, adding an extra day to the four-day weeks that had been scheduled.