Chicago Six to be Tried for Third Time

Despite two mistrials due to hung juries, Federal Prosecutors announced on Wednesday they plan a third trial for six men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower. “The United States has decided it’s necessary to proceed, your honor, one more time to a jury,” stated prosecutor Richard Gregorie to US District Judge Joan A. Lenard during hearing this week.^[1]

The six defendants were arrested in June of 2006 at a warehouse in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, after FBI informants posing as al-Qaeda operatives allegedly persuaded the men to pledge their allegiance to the terrorist group. The men were also offered $50,000 to take part in a terror plot, and had reportedly taken pictures of federal buildings in the Miami area. The group’s leader, Narseal Batiste, testified at the previous trials that he agreed to the proposal with the intent of defrauding the informants’ out of their money, not to commit terrorist activities.^[2] Prosecutor Gregorie pointed out that taped conversations obtained by the FBI counter Batiste’s assertions. "In referring to Americans, Mr. Batiste said he wanted to kill all the devils," Gregorie told the judge.^[3]

During the trial, prosecutors argued the men planned to finance the terror plot using the money provided. Hundreds of video and audio recordings were presented, but the government failed to show that any of the men possessed any weapons, explosives, or ammunition at the time of their arrest. The first jury acquitted one of the original defendants, Lyglenson Lemorin, of all charges, while the first and second juries deadlocked after nine and 13 days of deliberations, respectively.^[4]

Many legal analysts have used the “Chicago Seven/Six” mistrials to underscore their criticisms of the Bush administration’s handling of terror prosecutions, but former US Attorney Kendall Coffey defended the third retrial. "It's not a surprising decision given the seriousness of the allegations and the Department of Justice’s focus on terrorism…We can expect that they would pursue defendants unless or until the prospects of conviction are truly hopeless."^[5] It is expected that the third trial will commence sometime this winter.^[6]

Further information on the prosecution of terrorism crimes can be found on the Terrorism Crimes Blog.


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[1] Julienne Gage, US to Make Third Attempt to Prosecute Miami Group, Washington Post Online, April 24, 2008 (available at www.washingtonpost.com).

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.