The AP reports that on Monday, President Obama will release a budget request that includes $200 million in security for the city that ends up hosting the 9/11 trials. While no official announcement has been made, it appears Manhattan has been scrapped.

The other day I set out the applicable constitutional and statutory provisions on venue. Most likely, the Government will pick a city in which an overt act in furtherance of the 9/11 conspiracy was committed. Here's a partial list: [More...]

Update: The New York Times reports a DOJ official tonight said they have not decided to move the trial and remain confident the SDNY can handle it.

In light of objections by New York's Mayor, Senator Schumer and other state and local leaders, the White House tonight asked the Department of Justice to find another place to try the 9/11 Defendants.

I hope they pick Denver. We've done it before and we can handle it. [More...]

More whining about anticipated the 9/11 federal criminal trials. Mayor Bloomberg reverses course and now complains about the expense and anticipated traffic jams. And:

Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) said he has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of Justice Department funds to try Guantanamo detainees in federal civilian courts. ...The New York congressman called it "one of the worst decisions ever made by any president," and said terrorist suspects should be tried by military commissions.

Sounds to me the worst decision was NY voters electing Peter King. The trials belong in federal court, New York is the proper venue, federal courts there have successfully dealt with multiple terror trials. As for traffic jams, given that the trials will take months, except on a few days of heightened interest, such as jury selection, opening arguments and closing arguments, it's unlikely they will be a huge draw. Interest in them is likely to wane while the tedious testimony is taken.

A federal judge yesterday dismissed "Shoebomber" Richard Reid's civil lawsuit challenging the conditions of his confinement at Supermax.

(Note: This is an extremely long post because while I don't want to post all the pleadings directly, I think many people who are curious about what life is like at Supermax will be interested in reading the description contained in affidavits by BOP officials in this lawsuit.)

Back in June, I wrote about Richard Reid's lawsuit challenging SAMS's restrictions and noted the Government in a pleading stated the SAMS would not be renewed.

In December, I noted the SAMS had been lifted, Reid had been moved to general population at Supermax, but was still fighting to be able to take Arabic correspondence courses and have greater media access. Reuters has more here. [More...]

On Jan. 15, we wrote about the Superseding Indictment returned against David Headley, formerly known as Daood Gilani, and Tahawwur Rana regarding the Mumbai attacks and alleged planned attack in Denmark. Also indicted were Retired Pakistani military officer Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Pasha)and alleged Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) leader Ilyas Kashmiri. The U.S. Attorney's office released this detailed press release (pdf) on the charges.

Rana, who is still appealing the denial of bond, was arraigned today and pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Patrick Blegen, asked the court to appoint him under the Criminal Justice Act so he can be paid from public funds. [More...]

A grand jury returned a superseding indictment against David Coleman Headley, aka Daaod Gilani and Tahawwur Rana regarding the Mumbai attacks and alleged planned attack on a Danish newspaper.

Also indicted: Retired Pakistani military officer Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Pasha)and alleged Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI) leader Ilyas Kashmiri.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago released this detailed press release (pdf)on the Indictment. [More...]

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments today in the case of Jose Padilla, accused of being a "dirty bomber" and held for years in a S.C. brig before being charged and transferred to federal court in Miami for trial. He was convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim overseas and sentenced to 17 years. Two co-defendants were also convicted and are appealing.

Attorneys for Padilla, Adham Hassoun and Kifah Jayyousi say the trial was forever tainted when the videotape was played because it linked the defendants to the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil even though they were charged with other crimes.

"The error in the admission of the bin Laden video arose out of tying the architect of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, to a case that, as to all defendants, involved conduct which predated these attacks," Padilla's attorney, Assistant U.S. Federal Defender Michael Caruso, argues in his brief.

Another big issue: [More...]

Monday, a federal judge in New York will hear arguments in the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the former Guantanamo detainee charged in the 1998 African Embassy attacks.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to be prosecuted in a civilian U.S. court, says charges against him should be dismissed because he was not given a speedy trial. He is charged in the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. They killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.

His lawyers say he was arrested in Pakistan on July 24, 2004 and held in secret camps where he was questioned until September 2006, when he was moved to Guantanamo.

The Government insists in this the delay was necessary for national security reasons: "lives were at stake." [More...]

Adis Medunjanin, 25, a U.S. citizen of Bosnian origin and Zarein Ahmedzay, a 24-year-old man of Afghani origin, both high school buddies of Najibullah Zazi, the 24 year old arrested last summer in Denver and charged with terror offenses, have been charged in federal court in Brooklyn with crimes related to Zazi.

At a Saturday arraignment at Brooklyn federal court, Medunjanin was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, Pakistan, and one count of getting military-style training from al Qaeda.

...Zarein Ahmedzay, a 24-year-old man of Afghani origin, also was arrested on Friday and pleaded not guilty to a charge of making false statements to the FBI -- specifically, that he lied about where he had visited in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This has probably been brewing for a while as according to docket information on PACER, the Government advised the court in Zazi's case on December 3, 2009 that there likely will be a superseding Indictment. The next conference is set for Feb. 25. [more...]

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab appeared in federal court in Detroit today. A guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

His head was shaved, which according to observers, made him look even younger than his 23 years.

He is represented by the Federal Defender's office. His parents have hired U.S. lawyers from Nigeria to observe the proceedings and keep them informed, but Federal Defender Miriam Siefer (an excellent attorney) told the court their office expects to continue to represent Umar.

Umar faces a possible life sentence on the first count in the Indictment, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction and life sentence of Zacarias Moussaoui. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy related to the 9/11 attacks. During the penalty phase, the jury declined to impose the death penalty, and he was sentenced to life in prison, which he is serving at Supermax in Florence.

According to the statement of facts contained in his guilty plea, and his testimony, he was supposed to be part of a wave of a second set of attacks, the target of which was the White House. He was not, as many first thought, supposed to be the 20th hijacker on 9/11. He always denied that he knew any specifics of the 9/11 attacks.

In addition to affirming the conviction and sentence, the court rejected his request to have the case remanded back to the trial court due to the Government’s disclosure of classified information during the pendency of the appeal

The opinion is here. All of Moussaoui coverage, going back to 2002, is accessible here.[More..]

via BarbinMd, Spencer Ackerman asks a good question:

So Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged would-be bomber of Northwest Airlines flight 253, is being detained and questioned in a federal prison in Michigan. [. . .] If convicted, he’ll be imprisoned in a federal prison. [. . .] Just like the one that Republican politicians said would leave American communities vulnerable if Guantanamo detainees were sent there. [. . . N]ow here’s a real live aspiring terrorist [. . .] going to a real live federal prison on actual American soil and … nothing [from the GOP]. It’s almost like these guys are hypocrites who don’t think through what they say before they find a bank of cameras.