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Judge narrows charges against bombing defendants

U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand suggested that the government 'simplify' the accusations against the defendants

In this story: Defendants' testimony uncertain 18 counts tossed out RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal judge granted defense motions to reduce the number of criminal counts a jury might consider against two of the four men on trial for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand ruled Thursday that all charges linking defendants Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh to the Tanzania attack will be dismissed.

But the two men still face more than 260 counts of terror conspiracy, using weapons of mass destruction and murder stemming from the bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 213 people, including 12 Americans.

CASE FILE Shattered Diplomacy: The U.S. Embassy Bombings Trial An in-depth special report on the trial of four men charged with the embassy bombings Trial reports | Timeline | Key Figures   GALLERY Images from the U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania  TRANSCRIPT Testimony of FBI agent Abigail Perkins - March 19, 2001 (PDF) Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.

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The prosecution completed its presentation of evidence last Wednesday after calling more than 90 witnesses and introducing hundreds of exhibits during nine weeks of testimony.

The defense case begins Monday.

Defendants' testimony uncertain

Odeh told the court Thursday that he will not testify in his defense. Neither al-'Owhali nor the two other defendants -- Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, an alleged Tanzania embassy bomber, and Wadih el Hage, an alleged terrorism conspirator and perjurer -- announced their decision about testifying.

"It will be made at the last minute," said Fred Cohn, an attorney for al-'Owhali.

The judge told the attorneys, assembled without the jury present, that he saw a "great advantage to everyone" if the government pared its accusations.

"I try to put myself in the position of a juror," Sand said.

Sand suggested, instead of trying to prove more than 150 acts alleged in the indictment's first count -- conspiracy to kill Americans -- that prosecutors focus on the two dozen or so acts that allegedly involved the four defendants on trial.

The indictment names 22 defendants, starting with Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, charged with leading the alleged decade-long terrorist conspiracy and ordering the embassy bombings. Bin Laden is one of 13 fugitives in the case, who, with five others in custody, are alleged to have committed many of the acts in the indictment.

18 counts tossed out

Sand explained his thinking by describing a bumper sticker that quoted American essayist Henry David Thoreau: "Simplify, simplify."

"Our life is frittered away by detail ... simplify, simplify," Thoreau wrote.

"As I read the indictment," Sand added, "I really wonder whether this is not the time for the government to simplify the burden on the jury by abandoning some of these counts."

He then took the first step toward doing so -- tossing out 18 counts that charged al-'Owhali and Odeh in the Tanzania attack -- essentially the Dar es Salaam bombing itself and the murders of 11 people killed in the attack.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald argued that participation in the Kenya bombing resulted in "freeing up other members of the crew" to carry out the coordinated Tanzania attack, which occurred minutes later.

"He [al-'Owhali] is taking care of one role in what is to be a dual attack," Fitzgerald said.

Sand disagreed and dropped the Tanzania charges against al-'Owhali and Odeh -- leaving the jury with 268 counts to consider against them.

K. K. Mohamed faces 24 counts of terrorist conspiracy, using weapons of mass destruction, and murder for his alleged participation in the Tanzania bombing.

El Hage is charged with the five main terrorist conspiracy counts, but not the bombings. However, he alone faces 21 counts of perjury before grand juries and making false statements to the FBI for allegedly lying about his contacts with bin Laden and his associates.

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Prosecutors say defendant lied about bin Laden
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FBI agent: Bombing defendant admitted ties to bin Laden
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FBI agent: Accused called bombings 'a message to America'
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Defendant connected to alleged Tanzania bombers
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Survivors recall blast of Tanzania embassy
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Witnesses identify truck parts in bombing trial
March 12, 2001
Agent: Defendant said Kenya embassy 'easy target'
March 7, 2001
Jury hears and sees first account of lethal Kenya blast
March 1, 2001
Agent: Defendant called Kenya attack a 'blunder'
February 28, 2001
Witness backtracks at embassy bombings trial
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U.S. State Department
 •  International Information Programs:
 •  Counterterrorism
 •  Links to United States Embassies and Consulates Worldwide
Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999
FBI Websites Document Evidence Against Bin Laden
Ussamah Bin Laden
US District Court, Southern District of New York
Terrorism Research Center
Africa News on the World Wide Web

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