Slightly more than one thousand prospective jurors in the trial of former Guantánamo Bay detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani have completed questionnaires in advance of the next phase of jury selection. Defense attorneys and prosecutors are now pouring over the answers to whittle down the number of people who will be asked questions in person before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Wednesday. Mr. Ghailani, accused of conspiring with al-Qaida in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people, was captured in 2004 and subjected to what the government calls “enhanced interrogation techniques” but the defense calls torture.
One of the questions posed to potential jurors asks: “Do you have any feelings about methods the United States has used in responding to terrorism—including, for example, the use of military force, or the detention of terror suspects by the CIA or the Defense Department at Guantánamo Bay—that would interfere with your ability to serve impartially as a juror in the case?” Jurors were also told the 9/11 terror attacks “are not at issue in the case,” but they were asked if they have had “any personal experiences” or “any feelings arising from those attacks” that would interfere with their ability to be impartial. Jurors also were asked whether they have any feelings about Islam or Muslims that would affect their impartiality. And they were asked to rate on a scale of one to five “how afraid are you that you, a family member, or someone close to you will be injured in a terrorist attack?” And, in light of ongoing debate over whether accused terrorists should be tried before military commissions instead of civilian courts, the pool was asked “Do you have feelings about the prosecution of accused terrorists in courts like this that you believe would interfere with your ability to serve impartially as a juror in the case?” Opening arguments are scheduled for Oct. 4. – Mark Hamblett
Circuit Judge Lobbies on Behalf of Ex-Clerk
