Court Calls A Do Over In Terror Hearings After Failure To Record

from the are-they-allowed-to-change-arguments? dept

Mon, Jun 9th 2014 5:28am — Mike Masnick

We covered how court staffers, totally spooked by FBI agents sweeping the court room for recording devices, failed to record the public portion of oral arguments in an important terrorism case (against Adel Daoud), meaning that there was no official recording or transcript of the hearing (part of which was also held in secret). But now, the court has called for a rare "do over" on the public portion of the hearing.

A federal appeals court in Chicago has rescheduled oral arguments in a terrorism case after courtroom staff failed to record a significant hearing.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a notice on Friday saying it would rehear arguments June 11 in the case against Adel Daoud, who's accused of trying to set off a bomb near a Chicago bar in 2012.

So, um, what? The original was a dress rehearsal? Do they get to make different arguments, or are they expected to basically repeat the script they did a week earlier? Will it play out like an awkward re-enactment? And, most importantly, will Judge Posner, once again yell "Look! You answer my questions, not your questions!" at the lawyers?

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Filed Under: 7th circuit, adel daoud, appeals court, do over, doj, fbi, recording, richard posner

19 Comments

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S. T. Stone, 9 Jun 2014 @ 5:43am

I�d say that our court system has become a joke, but a joke typically has a punchline.
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Michael, 9 Jun 2014 @ 5:46am

I am still baffled as to why the FBI was allowed to sweep the courtroom for bugs.

If someone was using a bug to listen into public proceedings, is that really so bad? And if the FBI is conducting business in the courtroom that they think needs to be kept secret, shouldn't they ask the court to verify that the courtroom is secure? Am I allowed to bring my own bug detector into the courtroom?
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Brandon, 9 Jun 2014 @ 5:46am

Re:
The punchline is that unless they're just literally repeating word for word for the benefit of the court reporters, there could be a claim of double jeopardy. Not that it'll actually fly.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 9 Jun 2014 @ 5:47am

Maybe they'll let the defense actually hear portions of the case so that the accused can get a fair trial...

BWHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA just kidding.

Terrorists are so bad we just suspend all of those rules meant only for Good People(tm) (as we secretly decide if they are good or not).
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G Thompson (profile), 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:01am

Re:
Isn't that what your Federal Bug Inspectors are mandated to do though?
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Michaelbearl@hotmail.com, 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:03am

Re: Re:
I thought these were F***ing Bureaucratic Idiots. My bad.
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:12am

I hope the do-over is handled improv style with suggestions from the audience.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:18am

Re:
Judge- "you object"
defense- "excuse me?"
judge - "you're now supposed to say 'i object'"
defnse- "no, that was prosecutor"
prosecutor- "i didn't object, you object"
judge- "quiet you two, this isn't the three stooges"
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Michael, 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:42am

I blame the video games
This is all because of the video games. People have become so accustomed to being able to simply click the 'reset' button on their video games that they have started to assume that it is ok in regular life.

Forgot to record the court case? Ok, let's just reset.

These video games are ruining our society. We need to stop them - for the children!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2014 @ 7:58am

Re: I blame the video games
It is a bit more important than that, without a recording or transcript of proceedings the court cannot prove that it followed the correct procedures during the trial. Therefore only the re-do matters when it comes to an appeal.
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sorrykb (profile), 9 Jun 2014 @ 8:19am

Re: Re: I blame the video games
Anonymous Coward wrote:
without a recording or transcript of proceedings the court cannot prove that it followed the correct procedures during the trial.

Wouldn't failing to maintain a record of the proceedings count as not following the correct procedure? How is this entire case not tainted by this? (Of course, the entire case is already tainted by secret proceedings but...) Is there precedent for such a "do-over" in a trial?
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Michael, 9 Jun 2014 @ 8:23am

Re:
I'm pretty sure that WE are the punchline.
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Personanongrata, 9 Jun 2014 @ 8:30am

It's Still a Disgrace redux or not.
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zip, 9 Jun 2014 @ 8:58am

unfair advantage to the prosecution
It would appear that this do-over could easily give an unfair advantage to the prosecution -- who now get to re-craft their arguments based on knowing how the defense will respond.

It's MUCH easier for the prosecution to revamp it's arguments (and still appear credible) than for the defense -- which is basically stuck with whatever alibi was used the first time around.
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alternatives(), 9 Jun 2014 @ 9:39am

So, um, what?

The Courts have been broken for decades.

MAy 1995 ABA - The lies have it. $-+ year DA for Milwaukee Counry points out how lying in court (perjury) is ignored.

If the Court system is unable to address lying in Court - a simple "do over" is progress.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2014 @ 10:28am

I was sort of confused about how a mistrial could be handled if it was a judicial mistake, so I looked it up.
I'm certainly not a lawyer, but it sounds like this will be fought against: link
If the mistrial results from judicial or prosecutorial misconduct, a retrial will be barred. In United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 91 S. Ct. 547, 27 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1971), the Supreme Court held that reprosecuting the defendant would constitute double jeopardy because the judge had abused his discretion in declaring a mistrial. On his own motion, the judge had declared a mistrial to enable government witnesses to consult with their own attorneys.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2014 @ 11:50am

Phew, does that mean that threat made to me that was gonna make me do what they want and get what they want, that was'nt recorded ......is that a do-over too!?
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2014 @ 5:02pm

So the FBI, Judge, and Prosecutor held a secret court room proceeding with no records. Then discovered that doing so is illegal, and the defense could call a mistrial and the defendant could walk free. So now the FBI, Judge, and Prosecutor want to have a do-over trial and pretend it never happened?

WTF! I stand by my original assessment about these secret trials in secret courts, bound by secret laws and executive memo orders. In other words, tyrannical justice.
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Coyne Tibbets (profile), 9 Jun 2014 @ 9:47pm

Prosecutor's Nightmare before Christmas
'Twas the night before trial;
And outside the court,
Prosecutors were panicked,
That the case would abort.

They'd held a long hearing;
To grind 'neath their heel,
The defendant's full Rights;
But they gave him appeal.

The hearing was held,
Without an epistle,
A procedural error that,
Risked a dismissal.

"What shall we do?"
A desperate cry;
A solution occurs,
"The hearing we'll retry."

"It just didn't happen,
"Redone it will be;
"Because we respect,
"The Rights of the free."
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