Courtroom Staff, Freaked Out By FBI Agents, Failed To Record Important Terrorism Court Hearing
from the spooked dept
We just wrote about the hearing in the 7th Circuit appeals court concerning accused terrorist Adel Daoud, highlighting how Judge Richard Posner had turned it into a secret hearing, kicking everyone but DOJ officials out of the courtroom at one point. One of the reporters in the room (prior to being kicked out), Michael Tarm, had tweeted that everyone should look for the recording of the oral arguments on Thursday "if only to hear Posner" yell: "Look! You answer my questions, not your questions!"Except, if you looked, you would never find that recording. Because it doesn't exist. The court clerk, who's been doing this for 25 years, says his staffers "goofed" and failed to record the hearing at all, in large part because they were so spooked by FBI agents crawling all over the court room for hidden microphones.
Though hearings before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are routinely recorded and published on the court's website, Court Clerk Gino Agnello admitted Thursday his staff "sort of freaked out" before Wednesday's hearing in the case of alleged wannabe South Loop bar bomber Adel Daoud.And, of course, because these hearings are normally recorded, there was no one there to do standard stenography. Instead, the transcript is often written up after the fact... based on the recording. Ooops. Except, you know, not "oops." This is a pretty big screw-up, considering the importance of our supposedly "open" judicial system. Daoud's lawyer, Thomas Durkin, properly points out that "this is what happens when people get scared," and shows how difficult it is to have a fair trial when so much is "driven by fear-mongering."
Court staff who operate the audio recorder saw FBI agents sweep the courtroom for bugs and "misinterpreted" that to mean they shouldn't record the hearing, Agnello said.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: 7th circuit, adel daoud, court clerk, doj, fbi, recording, richard posner, secret hearings
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Is it grounds for a mistrial, as evidence of what happened in court is not available for an appeal?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeah, no
As for the 'misinterpretation' that caused the staff to turn off the recording devices, somehow I doubt that was a 'misinterpretation' at all. The DOJ agents may or may not have said anything directly(with no recording, it's impossible to tell), but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there were more than a few 'suggestive' looks aimed at the people running the recording gear.
When it comes down to it, it could very well have been an honest mistake, but with the government's almost religious view on secrecy('secrecy is it's own reward, it's to be applied as much as possible, and never, ever questioned'), and the lengths they've gone to maintain it, even in cases where it makes no sense, they've long lost any benefit of the doubt in cases like this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yeah, no
In an innocent-until-proven-guilty system, the prosecution should never have the benefit of the doubt because that belongs solely to the accused. When the prosecution has the benefit of the doubt we have a guilty-until-proven-innocent system.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
non recordings happen all the time
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sounds like bullshit to me,
Could they please start hiring some adults to work in the clerks office?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
But this is what they want...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You had...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
FBI agents
So, basically, the plaintiffs in the case seized control of the courtroom? Stand up and witness President Obama's three branches of government: the executive, the executive, and the executive!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ridiculous
Sounds awfully deliberate to me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Crooked FBI agents + Crooked Judge = Fail
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Maybe a home visit would be in order?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Things just aren't adding up. Why would low-level courtroom staff members be in the courtroom during a classified briefing? If the briefing wasn't classified, why was the defendant's lawyer told to leave?
This my friends, is what's called tyrannical justice. Secret courts, with secret laws, being dictated by executive branch secret memos.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Secret Courts
Secret Recordings
Yep this is the open society they claim to give us.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Typo
Not Open society. That died with Nixon.
Its an Ownership Society. Installed fully by the Bush dynasty.
In case you're not aware of the meaning of an Ownership Society, it simply means the Golden Rule.
Those who own the Gold, make, but need not obey, the Rules.
Only those who own no gold, must obey the rules.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hanlon's Razor, anyone?
Chumps.
And you re-elected him because you hated the rich guy and no way are Republicans gonna get your vote because mean racism uncool blah-blah-woof-woof.
Good job, twerps. Perhaps you should go beyond Jon Stewart for information.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hanlon's Razor, anyone?
/s
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hanlon's Razor, anyone?
But then I don't expect much from someone who just stood up for racism.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hanlon's Razor, anyone?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hanlon's Razor, anyone?
Tinfoil? You need to wake the fuck up. If you're not angry you are an idiot. Emperor Obama, indeed. When your choice is a list of chumps imposed on us by other chumps with yet more chumps lined up on two sides of an imaginary line that serves to separate us all with bullshit rhetoric about surmountable issues and slicing up the pittance in public funds that goes towards everything but secrets, arms and more secrets. Secrets that are sucking up our treasure because you fear for your safety more than our prosperity and our rights. All of our treasure used directly against our best interests as a people. You're just as fucked as the rest of us only you *think* your fucked because .. because Obama. Good one, smart guy.
The throne of the executive is too powerful and too far reaching. The judicial branch is now fully embroiled and the integrity of SCOTUS was compromised years ago. Between the capacity of the armed forces and the department of justice we're a kept people... fucking side show carnival government.. freedom and justice for all. Whatever, prick. Have fun riding your blood red republican dream all the way to insanity, meat bag.
There's civil unrest brewing. When rebels rebel unrest will inevitably result in conflict. Erase the state of the secret state or erase the constitution. I see we're headed arrogantly down the easy road.
Thanks for nothing and may your children's grandchildren reap the rewards we have yet to sow.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Does not make sense.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The unhidden microphone is the one they can control, so they can switch it off when they're discussing uber-secret stuff, or discussing things off the record.
Hidden microphones, they can't control.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
They were ordered to not record and also ordered to not tell anyone that they were ordered to not record.
This appears to be standard procedure by the Fed today - use the law against the public. The public truly is the "adversary" of the Fed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Twice.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It should also be pointed out that this is a great example of how well inducing fear can work in favor of the bad guys - in this case the FBI.
Sadly, I can no longer see these tri-letter agencies as anything but The Bad Guys. Good guys simply don't operate this way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Fear makes people suggestible.
Fear makes people compliant.
Fear makes people do evil.
Fear is the single most dangerous of human emotions.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Fear is the greatest weapon in the arsenal of the Bully, the Mobster, the Dictator, and the Fascist - or Corporate Government.
Fear has a history all its own.
It is why most Americans are willing to give up their freedoms and rights in return for the promise of security and safety, and why they now have neither safety, nor freedom.
There is no reason to fear an honest democratic government.
There is obviously no honest democratic government in the USA today.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/2-i-must-not-fear-fear-is-the-mind-killer-fear-is
[ link to this | view in chronology ]