The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, of course. They couldn’t figure out how an obviously oppressed third worlder like Ressam could have been sentenced to 22 years. “Appeals court vacates sentence of ‘millennium bomber’ Ressam,” from AP, with thanks to all who sent this in:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday vacated the sentence of “millennium bomber” Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested near the U.S.-Canadian border and convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the turn of the millennium.
Ressam was arrested in December 1999 In Port Angeles, Wash., when he drove off a ferry from British Columbia with a trunk full of explosives. Prosecutors said he was intent on bombing the airport on the eve of the millennium.
He was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of all nine charges. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed his conviction on one of the charges and sent the case back to a lower court judge to issue a new sentence and explain the rationale behind the original 22-year term.