Al-Arian jury puts trial in doubt

A few days ago I wrote in a column that Al-Arian's supporters would not be laughing for long. However, this is a group that knows well how to play the system, and they will play this for all it's worth and then some. Al-Arian walk watch, from the St. Petersburg Times, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

TAMPA - Was there jury misconduct?

That is the question the federal judge in the trial of Sami Al-Arian and three other defendants must answer in the next few days. Then he must decide whether to dismiss up to three jurors and, then, whether to declare a mistrial in the 13th week of the trial.

At the end of last week, a juror sent an anonymous note to the judge asking: "Could you just remind the jury to keep their opinion to their self?"

On Monday, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody questioned each juror one by one, in the absence of the other jurors, about the note and the reason for it. Were any jurors discussing the case and giving opinions, he wanted to know.

Of the 12 jurors and six alternates, 15 said they had not heard any discussion or opinions pertaining to the trial and knew nothing about the note. But two said they had heard discussion and opinions. One of those two said she had written the note to the judge. A third juror said she had advised the concerned juror to write the note.

One juror, identified as juror No. 214, told the court he did not write the note, but "heard people making different comments about some things, comments about the school (Islamic Academy of Florida)."

"This particular juror believed this was a front for the PIJ," juror No. 214 said....