Now We Know Why They Want Bush League Trials

Because Ashcroft's justice department isn't ready for the major leagues.
Tip from MEJ's Bill in DC
U.S. to Seek Dismissal Of Terrorism Convictions

The Justice Department will ask a federal judge in Detroit to dismiss the convictions of three men in a high-profile terrorism case last year, saying it has uncovered serious prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

Department lawyers have told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen and defense attorneys that the convictions should be thrown out because prosecutors failed to share potentially exculpatory evidence with the defense during last year's trial, legal sources said last night.

So what happened?

Rosen and the Justice Department have been investigating allegations that two assistant U.S. attorneys withheld information from the defense. The department is continuing an investigation of one of the prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, who has responded by suing the government. He alleges that Justice undermined the prosecution and sought to make him the scapegoat.

Who were these guys?

Justice Department officials, including Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, asserted the men were in a sleeper cell associated with al Qaeda and had plans to secure weapons and attack targets in the United States and abroad.

Authorities stumbled on some of the men when they raided a Detroit apartment shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks in a search for Nabil al-Marabh, who was on a terrorist watch list. They later termed the apprehension one of the most significant in the United States in the war against terrorism.

The justice department incompetence manifested itself in withholding evidence and getting caught doing it. The Justice Department had claimed the two were devout Muslims but withheld a witness who said they were lazy and just sat around drinking and smoking all the time.