272 F.Supp.2d 348 United States District
Court, S.D. New York. UNITED STATES of
America, v. Ahmed Abdel SATTAR,
a/k/a Abu Omar, a/k/a Dr. Ahmed, Yassir
Al-Sirri, a/k/a Abu Ammar, Lynne Stewart, and Mohammed
Yousry, Defendants. No. 02 CR. 395(JGK). July 22, 2003. [*352]
COUNSEL:
Robin L. Baker, Christopher J. Morvillo, Anthony S. Barkow, Jennifer G.
Rodgers, Jessica A. Roth, Asst. U.S. Attys., James B. Comey, U.S.Atty.,
S.D.N.Y., for Plaintiff. Barry M. Fallick, Kenneth Paul, Bobbi C. Sternheim, Jillian S.
Harrington, Rochman Platzer Fallick & Sternheim, LLP, New York City, for
Defendant Sattaro. Michael E. Tigar, Jane B. Tigar, Steven P. Ragland, The Tigar Law
Firm, Annapolis, MD, for Defendant Stewart. David Stern, Rothman, Schneider, Soloway & Stern, P.C., New
York City, for Defendant Yousry. OPINION AND ORDER OPINION BY: KOELTL, District Judge. The defendants in this caseAhmed Abdel Sattar, a/k/a
Abu Omar, a/k/a Dr. Ahmed (Sattar),
Yassir Al-Sirri, a/k/a Abu Ammar
(Al-Sirri), Lynne Stewart (Stewart) and
Mohammed Yousry (Yousry)were charged in a
five-count indictment on April 8, 2002 (Indictment). The First
Count of the Indictment charges Sattar, Al-Sirri, Stewart and Yousry, together
with others known and unknown with conspiring to provide material support and
resources to a foreign terrorist [*353] organization (FTO)
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. Count Two charges each of the
defendants with providing and attempting to provide material support and
resources to an FTO in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339B and 2.
Count Three charges Sattar and Al-Sirri with soliciting persons to engage in
crimes of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373. Count Four charges
Sattar, Stewart and Yousry with conspiring to defraud the United States in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Finally, Count Five charges Stewart with
making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 and
2. Defendants Sattar, Stewart and Yousry now move to dismiss the Indictment on
various grounds. [FN1] FN1. Defendant Al-Sirri is in England and
takes no part in these motions. I. The Indictment alleges the following facts. At all relevant times,
the Islamic Group, a/k/a Gamaa al-Islamiyya,
a/k/a/ IG, a/k/a al-Gamaat,
a/k/a Islamic Gamaat, a/k/a/ Egyptian
al-Gamaat al Islamiyya, (IG), existed
as an international terrorist group dedicated to opposing nations, governments,
institutions, and individuals that did not share IGs radical
interpretation of Islamic law. (Ind.¶ 1.) IG considered such parties
infidels and interpreted the concept of
jihad as waging opposition against infidels by whatever
means necessary, including force and violence. (Ind.¶ 1.) IG regarded
the United States as an infidel and viewed the United States as providing
essential support to other infidel governments and institutions, particularly
Israel and Egypt. (Ind.¶ 2.) IG also opposed the United States because
the United States had taken action to thwart IG, including by the arrest, conviction,
and continued confinement of its spiritual leader Omar Ahmad Ali Abdel Rahman,
a/k/a Omar Ahmed Ali, a/k/a Omar Abdel
Al-Rahman, a/k/a The Sheikh, a/k/a
Sheikh Omar (Sheikh Abdel Rahman).
(Ind.¶ 2.) IG has allegedly operated in the United States from the early
1990s until the date of the filing of the Indictment, particularly in the New
York metropolitan area. (Ind.¶ 12.) According to the Indictment,
IGs objectives in the United States include (1) the establishment of
the United States as a staging ground for violent acts against targets in the
United States and abroad; (2) the recruitment and training of members; and (3)
fundraising for jihad actions in the United States and overseas.
(Ind.¶ 12.) Since Sheikh Abdel Rahmans imprisonment, the
Indictment alleges that IG members in the United States have also functioned as
a worldwide communications hub for the group, in part by facilitating
communications between IG leaders and Sheik Abdel Rahman. (Ind.¶ 12.)
IG was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary of State
on October 8, 1997 pursuant to Title 8, United States Code, Section 1189 and
was redesignated as such on October 8, 1999 and again on October 5, 2001.
(Ind.¶ 18.) The Indictment alleges that Sheikh Abdel Rahman has been one of
IGs principal leaders and a high-ranking member of jihad
organizations based in Egypt and elsewhere since the early 1990s.
(Ind.¶ 4.) Sheikh Abdel Rahman allegedly became an
emir or leader of IG in the United States. (Ind.¶
4.) Under his leadership, IG subordinates carried out the details of specific
jihad operations while shielding Sheikh Abdel Rahman from prosecution.
(Ind.¶ 4.) The Indictment charges that Sheik Abdel Rahman, among other
things, provided guidance about what actions, including acts of terrorism, were
permissible or forbidden under his interpretation of Islamic law; gave
strategic advice on how to achieve IGs goals; recruited persons
[*354] and solicited
them to commit violent jihad acts; and sought to protect IG from infiltration
by law enforcement. (Ind.¶ 4.) Sheikh Abdel Rahman was convicted in October 1995 of engaging in a
seditious conspiracy to wage a war of urban terrorism against the United
States, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New
York City landmarks. (Ind.¶ 5.) He was also found guilty of soliciting
crimes of violence against the United States military and Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak. (Ind.¶ 5.) In January 1996 Sheik Abdel Rahman was
sentenced to life imprisonment plus 65 years. (Ind.¶ 5.) His
conviction was affirmed on appeal and, on January 10, 2000, the United States
Supreme Court denied his petition for a writ of certiorari. (Ind.¶ 5.) Sheikh Abdel Rahman has been incarcerated at the Federal Medical
Center in Rochester, Minnesota since in or about 1997. (Ind.¶ 5.) IG
has allegedly taken repeated steps to win Sheikh Abdel Rahmans
release. (Ind.¶¶ 8-11.) Such steps include the issuance of a
statement in response to Sheikh Abdel Rahmans life sentence that
warned that [a]ll American interests will be legitimate targets for
our struggle until the release of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and his
brothers and that IG swears by God to its irreversible vow
to take an eye for an eye. (Ind.¶ 8.) Also, on or about
November 17, 1997, six assassins shot and stabbed a group of tourists at an archeological
site in Luxor, Egypt killing fifty-eight tourists and four Egyptians.
(Ind.¶ 9.) Before exiting, the Indictment charges, the assassins
scattered leaflets calling for Sheikh Abdel Rahmans release and
inserted one such leaflet into the slit torso of one victim. (Ind.¶
9.) The Bureau of Prisons, at the direction of the Attorney General,
imposed Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) upon Sheikh
Abdel Rahman. (Ind.¶ 6.) The SAMs limited certain privileges in order
to protect persons against the risk of death or serious
bodily injury that might otherwise result. (Ind.¶
6.) The limitations included restrictions on Sheikh Abdel Rahmans
access to the mail, the telephone, and visitors, and prohibited him from
speaking with the media. (Ind.¶ 6.) All Counsel for Sheik Abdel Rahman
were obligated to sign an affirmation acknowledging that they and their staff
would abide fully by the SAMs before being allowed access to their client. (Ind.¶
6.) In the affirmation, counsel agreed to only be accompanied by
translators for the purpose of communicating with the inmate Abdel Rahman
concerning legal matters. (Ind.¶ 7.) Since at least in or
about May 1998, counsel agreed not to use meetings, correspondence,
or phone calls with Abdel Rahman to pass messages between third parties
(including, but not limited to, the media) and Abdel Rahman.
(Ind.¶ 7.) Defendant Stewart was Sheikh Abdel Rahmans counsel during
his 1995 criminal trial and has continued to represent him since his
conviction. (Ind.¶ 16.) The Indictment alleges that over the past
several years, Stewart has facilitated and concealed messages between her
client and IG leaders around the world in violation of the SAMs limiting Sheik
Abdel Rahmans communications from prison. (Ind.¶ 16.) During
a May 2000 visit to Sheikh Abdel Rahman in prison, Stewart allegedly allowed
defendant Yousry, who acted as the Arabic interpreter between Sheikh Abdel
Rahman and his attorneys, to read letters from defendant Sattar and others
regarding IG matters and to discuss with her client whether IG should continue
to comply with a cease-fire that had been supported by factions within IG since
in or about 1998. (Ind.¶¶ 15-16.) According to the
Indictment, Yousry provided material support and resources to IG by covertly
passing messages between IG representatives and Sheik Abdel Rahman regarding
[*355] IGs
activities. (Ind.¶ 15.) The Indictment alleges that Stewart took
affirmative steps to conceal the May 2000 discussions from prison guards and
subsequently, in violation of the SAMs, announced to the media that Sheikh
Abdel Rahman had withdrawn his support for the cease-fire. (Ind.¶ 16.)
The Indictment charges that in or about May 2000 Stewart submitted an
affirmation to the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern
District of New York (the May Affirmation) that falsely
stated, among other things, that she agreed to abide by the terms of the SAMs
applicable to Sheikh Abdel Rahman and that she would not use her meetings,
correspondence or phone calls with Sheikh Abdel Rahman to pass messages between
Sheikh Abdel Rahman and third parties including but not limited to the media.
(Ind.¶ 30.) The Indictment also charges that Sattar is an active IG leader who
serves as a vital link between Sheik Abdel Rahman and the worldwide IG
membership. (Ind.¶ 13.) The Indictment contends that Sattar operates
as a communications center for IG from New York City through frequent
telephonic contact with IG leaders around the world. (Ind.¶ 13.) More
specifically, the Indictment alleges that Sattar provides material support and
resources to IG by relaying messages between IG leaders abroad and Sheik Abdel
Rahman through visits and phone calls by Sheikh Abdel Rahmans
interpreter and attorneys; arranging and participating in three-way phone calls
connecting IG leaders around the world to facilitate discussion and coordination
of IG activities; passing messages and information from one IG leader and to
other group leaders and members; and by providing financial support.
(Ind.¶ 13.) Defendant Al-Sirri was arrested in the United Kingdom in October
2001 until which time, the Indictment alleges, he was the head of the
London-based Islamic Observation Center. (Ind.¶ 14.) The Indictment
charges that Al-Sirri, like Sattar, facilitated IG communications worldwide and
provided material support and resources, including financial support, to the
FTO. (Ind.¶ 14.) Al-Sirri was allegedly in frequent telephone contact
with Sattar and other IG leaders regarding the dissemination of IG statements
on various issues. (Ind.¶ 14.) The defendants make the following motions. [FN2] Sattar and
Stewart move to dismiss Counts One and Two on the ground that 18 U.S.C.
§ 2339B is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. [FN3] Sattar and
Stewart also argue that these counts should be dismissed because the
designation of IG as an FTO was unconstitutional and provides no way for a
criminal defendant to challenge that designation. Stewart moves to dismiss all
counts against her on the ground that the Government lacks authority to enforce
the SAMs underlying her prosecution. Sattar moves to dismiss Count Three for
failure to allege the essential elements of the offense charged with sufficient
factual detail. Stewart moves to dismiss Count Five of the Indictment because
she contends that the May Affirmation is an insufficient basis for a
false-statement prosecution pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Stewart and
Sattar both seek severance and bills of particulars. Stewart moves to dismiss
Counts One, [*356] Two, and Four as duplicitous. And finally, Stewart seeks an
evidentiary hearing to determine whether the Government entered into a
non-prosecution agreement that would preclude her prosecution under the
Indictment. FN2. The defendants motions with
regard to the suppression of evidence obtained through the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., will be addressed in a
subsequent opinion. FN3. Yousry specifically joins in
Sattars motion on this ground and joins in Stewarts motions
to the extent they are applicable while reserving his right to move for
severance pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14 at a later time. II. Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339B provides, in relevant
part: Whoever, within the United States or subject
to the jurisdiction of the United States, knowingly provides material support
or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to
do so, shall be [guilty of a crime]. 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1). At all relevant times,
material support or resources was defined as: currency or other financial securities,
financial services, lodging, training, safehouses, false documentation or
identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal
substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets,
except medicine or religious materials. 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339A(b) & 2339B(g)(4). [FN4] FN4. Pub.L. No. 107-56, § 805(a)(2),
Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 377, 380, 381, modified the definition of
material support or resources to include monetary
instruments and expert advice or assistance. The parties agree that the
modified definition of material support or resources does
not apply retroactively to the conduct charged in the Indictment. A foreign terrorist organization is defined as
an organization designated under 8 U.S.C. § 1189
as a foreign terrorist organization. 18 U.S.C. §
2339B(g)(6). Section 2339B, which is alleged to have been violated in this
case, requires only that a person knowingly
provides material support or resources
to a foreign terrorist organization. Section 2339A
criminalizes the provision of material support or resources
knowing or intending that they are used in preparation for, or in
carrying out, a violation of various criminal statutes. No such
specific criminal intent provision is included in § 2339B. Section
2339A defines material support or resources as indicated
above. That definition includes no amount or other measure of magnitude and is
carried over into § 2339B. The Indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to provide
and provided communications equipment, personnel, currency, financial
securities and financial services (currency, financial securities, and
financial services hereinafter currency), and
transportation to IG. (Ind.¶¶ 20(a)-(d), 23.) A. The defendants argue that 18 U.S.C. § 2339B is unconstitutionally
vague specifically with regard to the statutes prohibition on
providing material support or resources in the form of
communications equipment and personnel.
With respect to communications equipment, the Indictment alleges, among other
things, that the defendants and the unindicted co-conspirators
provided communications equipment and other physical assets, including
telephones, computers and telefax machines, owned, operated and possessed by themselves
and others, to IG, in order to transmit, pass and disseminate messages,
communications and information between and among IG leaders and members in the
United States and elsewhere around the world
.
(Ind.¶ 20(a).) The Government has argued that the defendants provided
a communications pipeline by which they transmitted messages from Sheikh Abdel
Rahman in prison to IG leaders and members throughout the world. Among the
specific instances of the use of communications equipment, the Indictment
points to the fact that Sattar had telephone conversations [*357] with IG leaders
in which he related Sheikh Abdel Rahmans instructions to IG leaders
and Stewart released Sheikh Abdel Rahmans statement to the press in
which Sheikh Abdel Rahman withdrew his support from the then-existing
cease-fire. (Ind.¶¶ 21(j)-(k).) With respect to the provision
of personnel, the Indictment alleges that the defendants and the
unindicted co-conspirators provided personnel, including themselves, to IG, in
order to assist IG leaders and members in the United States and elsewhere
around the world, in communicating with each other
.
(Ind.¶ 20(b).) The defendants argue that the statute fails to provide
fair notice of what acts are prohibited by the prohibition against the
provision of communications equipment and
personnel. A criminal statute implicating First Amendment rights
must define the criminal offense with sufficient
definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and
in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory
enforcement. United States v. Rahman, 189 F.3d
88, 116 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103
S.Ct. 1855, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983)). In short, the statute must give
notice of the forbidden conduct and set boundaries to prosecutorial
discretion. United States v. Handakas, 286 F.3d 92, 101 (2d
Cir.2002). When analyzing a vagueness challenge, [a] court must first
determine whether the statute gives the person of ordinary intelligence a
reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited and then consider whether the
law provides explicit standards for those who apply it. Chatin v.
Coombe,
186 F.3d 82, 87 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting United States v. Strauss, 999 F.2d 692, 697
(2d Cir.1993)); see also Handakas, 286 F.3d at 111 (The principle
that a statute must provide both notice and
Ɵexplicit standards to survive an
as-appliedƠ constitutional challenge based on vagueness is
well established.). A void for vagueness
challenge does not necessarily mean that the statute could not be applied in
some cases but rather that, as applied to the conduct at issue in the criminal
case, a reasonable person would not have notice that the conduct was unlawful
and there are no explicit standards to determine that the specific conduct was
unlawful. See Handakas, 286 F.3d at 111-12; Chatin, 186 F.3d at 87. First, with regard to the provision of
communications equipment, Sattar and Stewart argue that the
Indictment charges them with merely talking and that the acts alleged in the
Indictment constitute nothing more than using communications equipment rather
than providing such equipment to IG. For example, the Indictment charges Sattar
with participating in and arranging numerous telephone calls between IG leaders
in which IG business was discussed, including the need for a second
Luxor. (Ind.¶ 21(w).) The Indictment describes numerous
other telephone calls in which Sattar participated. (See, e.g., Ind.
¶¶ 21(cc)-(gg).) Stewart is charged with, among other things,
providing communications equipment to IG by announcing Sheikh Abdel
Rahmans withdrawal of support for the cease-fire in Egypt and thereby
making the statements of the otherwise isolated leader available to the media.
(Ind.¶ 21(k).) The defendants look to the legislative history of the statute as
evidence that Congress did not intend § 2339B to criminalize the mere
use of communications equipment, rather than the actual giving of such
equipment to IG. The legislative history states: The ban does not restrict an
organizations or an individuals ability to freely express a
particular ideology or political philosophy. Those inside the United States
will continue to be free to advocate, [*358] think and profess the attitudes and
philosophies of the foreign organizations. They are simply not allowed to send
material support or resources to those groups, or their subsidiary groups,
overseas. H.R. Rep. 104-383 at 45 (emphasis added). Thus, the defendants
argue, simply making a phone call or similarly communicating ones
thoughts does not fall within the ambit of § 2339B. The defendants are correct and by criminalizing the mere use of
phones and other means of communication the statute provides neither notice nor
standards for its application such that it is unconstitutionally vague as
applied. The Government argued in its brief that the defendants are charged not
merely with using their own phones or other communications equipment but with
actively making such equipment available to IG and thus
providing IG with communications resources that would
otherwise be unavailable to the FTO. That argument, however, simply ignores the
reality of the facts charged in the Indictment in which various defendants are
accused of having participated in the use of communications equipment. The
Government subsequently changed course and stated at oral argument that the
mere use of ones telephone constitutes criminal behavior under the
statute and that, in fact, use equals provision.
(Transcript of Oral Argument dated June 13, 2002 (Hearing
Tr.) at 53, 65.) The Government also argued that using the conference
call feature on a persons phone in furtherance of an FTO was prohibited.
(Id.
at 65.) Such changes in the Governments interpretation of
§ 2339B demonstrate why the provision of communications equipment as
charged in the Indictment is unconstitutionally vague: a criminal defendant
simply could not be expected to know that the conduct alleged was prohibited by
the statute. See Handakas, 286 F.3d at 104 (a penal statute must
speak for itself so that a lay person can understand the
prohibition). The defendants were not put on notice that merely using
communications equipment in furtherance of an FTOs goals constituted
criminal conduct. Moreover, the Governments evolving definition of
what it means to provide communications equipment to an FTO in violation of
§ 2339B reveals a lack of prosecutorial standards that would
permit a standardless sweep [that] allows policemen,
prosecutors, and juries to pursue their personal
predilections. Kolender, 461 U.S. at 358, 103
S.Ct. 1855(quoting Smith v. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 575, 94
S.Ct. 1242, 39 L.Ed.2d 605 (1974)); accord Handakas, 286 F.3d at 107. For these
reasons, § 2339B is void for vagueness as applied to the allegations
in the Indictment. Second, the defendants argue, § 2339B is
unconstitutionally vague as applied to the allegations in the Indictment
relating to the provision of personnel.
The defendants urge the Court to follow the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals decision in Humanitarian Law Project v. Reno, 205 F.3d 1130, 1137
(9th Cir.2000), which found that [i]t is easy to see how someone
could be unsure about what [§ 2339B] prohibits with the use of the
term personnel, as it blurs the line between protected
expression and unprotected conduct. The Court of Appeals thus
affirmed the district courts finding that the use of the term
personnel in § 2339B was unconstitutionally vague. The Government relies on United States v. Lindh, 212 F.Supp.2d 541,
574 (E.D.Va.2002), which rejected Humanitarian Law Project and found that the
alleged plain meaning of personnelan employment or
employment-like relationship between the persons in question and the terrorist
organization gave fair notice of what conduct [*359] is prohibited
under the statute and thus was not unconstitutionally vague. In that case, the
court rejected a vagueness challenge in the context of a person who joined
certain foreign terrorist organizations in combat against American forces. In
defining the reach of the term personnel, the court found that it was not vague
because it applied to employees or employee-like
operatives or quasi-employees who work under the
direction and control of the FTO. Lindh, 212 F.Supp.2d at
572-73. Whatever the merits of Lindh as applied to a person who provides
himself or herself as a soldier in the army of an FTO, the standards set out
there are not found in the statute, do not respond to the concerns of the Court
of Appeals in Humanitarian Law Project, and do not provide standards to save
the provision of personnel from being
unconstitutionally vague as applied to the facts alleged in the Indictment. The
fact that the hard core conduct in Lindh fell within the
plain meaning of providing personnel yields no standards that can be applied to
the conduct by alleged quasi-employees in this case. Cf. Broadrick
v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601,
608, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973) (
even if the
outermost boundaries of [the statute] may be imprecise, any such uncertainty
has little relevance here, where appellants conduct falls squarely
within the hard core of the statutes
proscriptions
.) It is not clear from § 2339B what behavior constitutes an
impermissible provision of personnel to an FTO. Indeed, as the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals stated in Humanitarian Law Project, Someone who
advocates the cause of the [FTO] could be seen as supplying them with
personnel. Humanitarian Law Project, 205 F.3d at 1137. The Government
accuses Stewart of providing personnel, including herself, to IG. In so doing,
however, the Government fails to explain how a lawyer, acting as an agent of
her client, an alleged leader of an FTO, could avoid being subject to criminal
prosecution as a quasi-employee allegedly covered by the
statute. At the argument on the motions, the Government expressed some
uncertainty as to whether a lawyer for an FTO would be providing personnel to
the FTO before the Government suggested that the answer may depend on whether
the lawyer was house counsel or an independent
counseldistinctions not found in the statute. (Hearing Tr. at 61-62.) The Government concedes that the statute does not prohibit mere membership
in an FTO, and indeed mere membership could not constitutionally be prohibited
without a requirement that the Government prove the defendants
specific intent to further the FTOs unlawful ends. See NAACP v.
Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U.S.
886, 920, 102 S.Ct. 3409, 73 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1982) (For liability
to be imposed by reason of association alone, it is necessary to establish that
the group itself possessed unlawful goals and that the individual held a
specific intent to further those illegal aims.); see also Boim v.
Quranic Literacy Inst. and Holy Land Fnd. for Relief and Dev., 291 F.3d 1000,
1021-24 (7th Cir.2002). The Government attempts to distinguish the provision of
personnel by arguing that it applies only to providing
employees or quasi-employees and those
acting under the direction and control of the FTO. But the
terms quasi-employee or employee-like
operative or acting at the direction and control of the
organization are terms that are nowhere found in the statute or
reasonably inferable from it. Moreover, these terms and concepts applied to the prohibited
provision of personnel provide no notice to persons of ordinary intelligence
and leave the standards for enforcement to be developed by the Government. When
asked at oral argument [*360] how to distinguish being a member of an
organization from being a quasi-employee, the Government initially responded
You know it when you see it. (Hearing Tr. at 58.) While
such a standard was once an acceptable way for a Supreme Court Justice to
identify obscenity, see Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197, 84
S.Ct. 1676, 12 L.Ed.2d 793 (1964) (Stewart, J. concurring), it is an
insufficient guide by which a person can predict the legality of that
persons conduct. See Handakas, 286 F.3d at 104 (It is not
enough to say that judges can intuit the scope of the prohibition if [the
defendants] could not.) Moreover, the Government continued to provide an evolving
definition of personnel to the Court following oral
argument on this motion. Added now are those acting as full-time or
part-time employees or otherwise taking orders from the entity who
are therefore under the FTOs direction or
control. (Gov. Letter dated June 27, 2003 at 2 n. 1 (Gov.
June 27 Letter) (quoting the United States Attorneys Manual
definition of personnel).) [5] Link to KeyCite Notes The Government argues, moreover, that
the Court should construe the statute to avoid constitutional questions.
However, the Court is not authorized to rewrite the law so it will
pass constitutional muster. Humanitarian Law Project, 205 F.3d at
1137-38 (rejecting Governments suggestion to construe
personnel as used in § 2339B as under
the direction or control of an FTO). The Government also suggested at
oral argument that perhaps a heightened scienter standard should be read into
the statute, in some circumstances, in defining the provision of personnel.
(Hearing Tr. at 62-64.) But that specific intent is not contained in the
statute and thus could not give notice to persons about their allegedly
prohibited conduct. Moreover, the Government subsequently withdrew its
suggestion after oral argument. (Gov. June 27 Letter at 3 n. 3.) The
statutes vagueness as applied to the allegations in the Indictment
concerning the provision of personnel is a fatal flaw that the Court cannot
cure by reading into the statute a stricter definition of the material support
provision than the statute itself provides. See Handakas, 286 F.3d at 109-110
(If the words of a criminal statute insufficiently define the
offense, it is no part of deference to Congress for us to intuit or invent the
crime.). The Government now contends that if the Court finds that the terms
provision of communications equipment
or provision of personnel are
unconstitutionally vague as applied to the defendants, the Court need not
dismiss Counts One and Two of the Indictment. The Government argues that
because the Grand Jury used the conjunctive form in charging the defendants
with conspiring to provide and providing material support or resources in the
form of communications equipment, personnel, currency and transportation, the
necessary implication is that the Grand Jury would have returned the Indictment
had the charges relating to personnel and communications equipment not been
included. The Government relies on cases such as United States v. Mastelotto, 717 F.2d 1238, 1249
n. 10 (9th Cir.1983), in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals explained:
the failure of the jury instruction to require the jury to
find the existence of a particular allegation of the indictment did not
prejudice the defendant, since it was certain that, even without the deleted
allegation, the grand jury would have indicted on the charge at
issue. See also United States v. Hobson, 519 F.2d 765, 774
(9th Cir.1975). More recently, the Supreme Court made it clear that
[a]s long as the crime and the elements of the offense that sustain
the conviction [*361] are fully and clearly set out in the indictment, the right
to a grand jury is not normally violated by the fact that the indictment
alleges more crimes or other means of committing the same crime. United
States v. Miller, 471 U.S. 130,
136, 105 S.Ct. 1811, 85 L.Ed.2d 99 (1985). In Miller, the Supreme Court
found that it was error to reverse a conviction where the trial court had
dismissed one of three counts and the defendant was convicted of the remaining
two counts even though the trial proof supported only a significantly narrower
and more limited, though included, fraudulent scheme. In this case, however, there is no reasonable way to redact the
first two counts of the Indictment to excise the allegations relating to the
conspiracy and related substantive offense of providing communications
equipment and personnel to an FTO which are unconstitutionally vague as applied
to the circumstances of this case. The Government has consistently presented
its theory of the case in such a way that the allegations regarding the
provision of personnel and communications equipment are not only central to the
charges in Counts One and Two but also dwarf the allegations with respect to
the provision of transportation and currency. The Government has painted a
picture in the Indictment, at oral argument, and in its briefs, which the
Government has said can be taken as a bill of particulars, of a communications
pipeline staffed by the defendants that enabled Sheikh Abdel Rahman and other
IG leaders around the world to communicate with one another. Allegations about
the provision of currency and transportation play only a minuscule role in that
plot. The number of overt acts relating to the provision of travel or currency
is relatively small and none of them explicitly refer to Stewart or Yousry.
Further, although Stewart and Yousry are charged in Count Two with substantive
violations of § 2339B, and aiding and abetting, that Count provides no
details but refers to the allegations in Count One, and there are no
allegations in Count One that Stewart or Yousry provided currency or
transportation to an FTO or aided and abetted such provision. In this case, there is no reasonable way to redact the Indictment
and charge only a conspiracy to provide currency and transportation or the
related substantive offense. This is simply not a case where the elimination of
counts or paragraphs can be done in such a way as to leave Counts One and Two
of the Indictment as returned by the Grand Jury fundamentally intact. Cf. Miller, 471 U.S. at 145, 105
S.Ct. 1811 (one count struck from indictment did not broaden the indictment or
violate defendants right to be tried pursuant to indictment returned
by grand jury); United States v. Morrow, 177 F.3d 272, 297 (5th Cir.1999)
(deletion of alleged act did not modify essential elements of charged offense
or broaden indictment and therefore amendment did not
subject defendant to trial on charges not brought in indictment or change
factual basis of indictment). For the reasons explained, Counts One and Two are
therefore dismissed. [FN5] FN5. It should also be noted that, as
discussed below, the Government concedes that certain other technical aspects
of the Indictment will require that the Grand Jury be asked to return a
superseding indictment. The Grand Jury should not be asked to return a
superseding indictment that includes charges that are in part unconstitutional. B. The defendants also argue that § 2339B is
unconstitutionally overbroad and therefore Counts One and Two should be
dismissed on that ground as well. However, § 2339Bs
prohibitions are content-neutral and its purpose of deterring [*362] and punishing
the provision of material support or resources to foreign terrorist
organizationsa purpose aimed not at speech but at
conductis, of course, legitimate. The Supreme Court has instructed
that: facial overbreadth adjudication is an
exception to our traditional rules of practice and [ ] its function, a limited
one at the outset, attenuates as the otherwise unprotected behavior that it
forbids the State to sanction moves from pure speech toward
conduct and that conducteven if expressivefalls within the
scope of otherwise valid criminal laws that reflect legitimate state interest
in maintaining comprehensive controls over harmful, constitutionally
unprotected conduct. Broadrick, 413 U.S. at 615, 93 S.Ct. 2908. Therefore,
particularly where conduct and not merely speech is involved, we
believe that the overbreadth of a statute must not only be real, but
substantial as well, judged in relation to the statutes plainly
legitimate sweep. Id. The Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed
this principle and explained that because there are substantial
social costs created by the overbreadth doctrine when it blocks application of
a law to constitutionally unprotected speech, or especially to constitutionally
unprotected conduct
. we have insisted that a laws
application to protected speech be substantial, not only in
an absolute sense, but also relative to the scope of the laws plainly
legitimate applications. Virginia v. Hicks, 539 U.S. 113,
, 123 S.Ct. 2191, 2197, 156 L.Ed.2d 148,
(2003) (emphasis in original) (quoting Broadrick, 413 U.S. at 615, 93
S.Ct. 2908). Therefore, § 2339B is not violative of the overbreadth
doctrine unless the law, taken as a whole, is substantially overbroad
judged in relation to its plainly legitimate sweep. Id. at 2198 (emphasis in
original). Section 2339B prohibits the provision of material support or
resources to an FTO in many forms, including currency, safehouses, false
documentation or identification, weapons, lethal substances, explosives and
other physical assets. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339A(b) & 2339B(g)(4).
Prohibiting the supply of such tangible forms of material support is clearly a
legitimate exercise of Congress power. Indeed, the legislative
history reflects a concentration on prohibiting terrorist fundraising
in the United States, H.R. Rep. 104-383 at 43, an aspect of the
statute that has not been challenged on the present motions and which has
appropriately been upheld against First Amendment challenges. See Humanitarian
Law Project, 205 F.3d at 1133-35; see also Boim, 291 F.3d at 1026. Judged in comparison to the laws plainly legitimate
applications, the defendants have failed to meet their burden of demonstrating
from the text of [the law] and from actual fact that substantial
overbreadth exists. Hicks, 539 U.S. at , 123
S.Ct. at 2198 (internal quotation marks and punctuation omitted) (alteration in
original). The defendants point to the possible application of the potentially
broad definition of the provision of personnel and communications
equipment. But theses applications of the statute have not been shown
to be a substantial part of the plainly legitimate scope of the statute. The
motion to dismiss on overbreadth grounds is therefore denied. C. The defendants also seek dismissal of Counts One and Two by making
various challenges to the designation of IG as an FTO pursuant to 8 U.S.C.
§ 1189 as it affects their prosecution under § 2339B,
particularly the provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1189(a)(8) that provides that
a defendant in a criminal action
shall not be [*363] permitted to
raise any question concerning the validity of the issuance of such designation
or redesignation as a defense or an objection at any trial or
hearing. Title 8, United States Code, Section 1189 authorizes the Secretary
of State to designate an organization as an FTO if the Secretary finds that (1)
the organization is a foreign organization; (2) that engages in terrorist
activity or retains the capability or intent to engage in terrorist activity or
terrorism; and (3) the organizations terrorist activity or terrorism
threatens the security of United States nationals or the national security of
the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1189(a)(1)(A)-(C). In so doing, the Secretary
must provide notice to Congressional leaders and publish the designation in the
Federal Register seven days thereafter. 8 U.S.C. §
1189(a)(2)(A)(i)-(ii). In making a designation, the Secretary must create an
administrative record and may consider classified information. 8 U.S.C.
§ 1189(a)(3)(A)-(B). A designation as an FTO is effective for a period
of two years and the Secretary may redesignate a foreign organization as an FTO
for additional two-year periods. 8 U.S.C. § 1189(a)(4)(A)-(B). An organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of
the designation in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit no later than 30 days after publication of the designation in
the Federal Register. 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b)(1). Review is based solely on
the administrative record, although the Government may submit classified
information used in making the designation for ex parte and in camera review. 8
U.S.C. § 1189(b)(2). The reviewing court shall hold unlawful and set
aside a designation that the court finds to be (1) arbitrary, capricious, an
abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law; (2) contrary
to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; (3) in excess of
statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitation, or short of statutory right;
(4) lacking substantial support in the administrative record taken as a whole
or in classified information submitted to the court; or (5) not in accord with
the procedures required by law. 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b)(3)(A)-(E). However,
a defendant in a criminal action
shall not be permitted to
raise any question concerning the validity of the issuance of such designation
or redesignation as a defense or an objection at any trial or hearing.
8 U.S.C. § 1189(a)(8). In a prosecution under § 2339B the
Government must prove that the defendant provided material support to an FTO,
which is defined as a organization that has been so designated. 18 U.S.C.
§ 2339B(g)(5). The defendants raise several objections to this statutory scheme.
However, the defendants have not argued that delegation of the right to
designate IG as an FTO to the Secretary of State violates the principles of
separation of powers. This argument has been raised in other cases and
correctly rejected by other courts. See, e.g., Humanitarian Law Project, 205 F.3d at 1137;
see also Touby v. United States, 500 U.S. 160, 164-68, 111
S.Ct. 1752, 114 L.Ed.2d 219 (1991) (no violation of nondelegation doctrine when
Congress delegated authority to Attorney General to designate drug as
controlled substance); United States v. Bozarov, 974 F.2d 1037,
1041-45 (9th Cir.1992) (no violation of the nondelegation doctrine when
Congress delegated listing on the Commodity Control List to Secretary of
Commerce under the Export Administration Act). The defendants urge the Court to follow United States v.
Rahmani,
209 F.Supp.2d 1045 (C.D.Ca.2002), and dismiss Counts One and Two on the ground
that the Indictment relies on a designation obtained in violation of due
process. In Rahmani, [*364] the court found that although the question of
whether an organization was an FTO was an unreviewable political question, once
the decision to designate had been made a court could scrutinize the
designation procedure for conformance with the Constitution. Id. at 1051-52. The
court then found that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was not
the sole venue for judicial review of a § 1189 designation. Id. at 1053-54. Having so
determined, the court found that Section 1189 violates the
defendants due process rights because defendants, upon a successful
Section [2339B] prosecution, are deprived of their liberty based on an
unconstitutional designation they could never challenge. Accordingly, I believe
defendants may raise the constitutionality of Section 1189 as a
defense
. Id. at 1054-55. Upon review of the statute, the
court concluded that the pertinent provisions of § 1189 admit of no other interpretation but that the
organization to be designated is precluded from challenging the facts contained
in the administrative record or presenting evidence to rebut the proposition
that it is a terrorist organization. Such provisions are unconstitutional as
violative of due process and render Section 1189 facially invalid. Id. at 1058. Therefore, the court found,
it follows that a designation pursuant to Section 1189 is a nullity
since it is the product of an unconstitutional statute. Id. Rahmani is not binding on this Court and is unpersuasive. First,
the statute clearly provides a procedure by which IG can challenge its
designation in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. See 8 U.S.C.
§ 1189(b). Organizations designated as FTOs have availed themselves of
this process. See, e.g., Peoples Mojahedin Org. of Iran v. Dept.
of State, 327 F.3d 1238, 1241-44 (D.C.Cir.2003) (hereinafter PMOI ) (no
due process violation by Secretary of State when designating defendant as an
FTO); National Council of Resistance of Iran v. Dept. of State, 251 F.3d 192, 209
(D.C.Cir.2001) (Secretary must afford the limited due process
available to putative foreign terrorist organization prior to the deprivation
worked by designating that entity as such with its attendant consequences,
unless he can make a showing of particularized need); Peoples
Mojahedin Org. of Iran v. United States Dept. of State, 182 F.3d 17, 21-25
(D.C.Cir.1999) (allowing judicial review of determination under § 1189
that organization is foreign and engages in terrorist activity but finding
determination that such activity threatens the security of the United States
under § 1189(a)(1)(C) a non-justiciable political question). The
statute is equally explicit that a defendant in a criminal action may not raise
any question of the validity of the designation as a defense or objection at
any trial or hearing. See 8. U.S.C. § 1189(a)(8). Moreover, the Government argues correctly that it is for IG, not
the defendants, to raise IGs due process concerns before a court as
provided for under the statute. Litigants, including the defendants,
never have standing to challenge a statute solely on the ground that
it failed to provide due process to third parties not before the
court. Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush, 304 F.3d 183, 196
(2d Cir.2002) (quoting Haitian Refugee Ctr. v. Gracey, 809 F.2d 794, 809
(D.C.Cir.1987)). The designation of IG as an FTO had no effect on the
defendants. While the defendants can challenge the allegation that they
violated § 2339B by providing material support to an FTO or could
contest that IG was, in fact, designated as an FTO, they cannot assert the due
process claims of the FTO and challenge the underlying designation. The element
at issue in this case is simply whether IG was designated as an FTO, and the
defendants thereafter knowingly [*365] provided, or conspired to provide,
material support or assistance to it, not whether the Secretary of State
correctly designated IG as an FTO. The defendants argue that 8 U.S.C. § 1189 is
unconstitutional because it does not allow criminal defendants to challenge the
designation of IG as an FTO pursuant to § 1189(a)(8). Thus, the
defendants contend, the statutory structure deprives them of their right to
prove that IG was improperly designated as an FTO. Instead, the defendants
claim, they are entitled to the evidence that the Secretary used in making the
designation and should be able to litigate the validity of the designation in
this Court. Stewart argues that she should be entitled to review the entire
administrative record of the designation of IG as an FTO. The Government
argues, however, that under § 2339B, it must prove at trial only that
the defendants provided material support or resources to an organization
designated as an FTO and not that the FTO designation was valid. Stewart relies on Dickinson v. United States, 346 U.S. 389, 74 S.Ct.
152, 98 L.Ed. 132 (1953), and United States v. Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. 828, 107
S.Ct. 2148, 95 L.Ed.2d 772 (1987), in which the defendants were allowed to
challenge the administrative orders that formed the basis for their prosecution
although the relevant statutes did not provide for judicial review. In
Dickinson, the defendant, a selective service registrant, was convicted for
refusing to submit to induction into the armed services after his claim of
eligibility for a ministerial exemption under § 6(b) of the Universal
Military Training and Service Act, which exempts regular and duly ordained
ministers of religion from military training and service but not from
registration, was denied. Id. at 390-91, 74 S.Ct. 152. The Act did not
provide direct judicial review of selective service classification orders. Id. at 394, 74 S.Ct. 152.
The Supreme Court noted, however, that a court could determine whether the
local draft board acted without jurisdiction because there was no basis in fact
for the classification and further found that Dickinson had shown that he was
eligible for the exemption pursuant to the statute. Id. at 394- 95, 74 S.Ct.
152. The Court explained, [t]he task of the courts in cases such as
this is to search the record for some affirmative evidence to support the local
boards overt or implicit finding that a registrant has not painted a
complete or accurate picture of his activities. We have found none here.
Id.
at 396, 74 S.Ct. 152. The Supreme Court thus reversed the registrants
conviction. Similarly, in Mendoza-Lopez, two Mexican nationals prosecuted
under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for illegal re-entry following deportation were
allowed to argue the invalidity of the underlying deportation order as a
defense to the criminal proceeding. The respondents argued that they were
denied fundamentally fair deportation hearings because the Immigration Law
Judge inadequately informed them of their right to counsel and accepted their
unknowing waivers of their right to apply for suspension of deportation. Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. at 831, 107
S.Ct. 2148. The Court concluded that there was no congressional intent to allow
defendants to challenge deportation orders in § 1326 proceedings. Id. at 834-37, 107 S.Ct.
2148. However, the Court found: Our cases establish that where a determination
made in an administrative proceeding is to play a critical role in the
subsequent imposition of a criminal sanction, there must be some meaningful
review of the administrative proceeding. This principle means at the very least
that where the defects in an administrative proceeding foreclose judicial
review of that proceeding, an alternative means of obtaining review must be made
available before the administrative order [*366] may be used to establish
conclusively an element of a criminal offense
. Depriving an alien of
the right to have the disposition in a deportation hearing reviewed in a
judicial forum requires, at a minimum, that review be made available in any
subsequent proceeding in which the result of the deportation proceeding is used
to establish an element of a criminal offense. Id. at 837-838, 107 S.Ct. 2148 (internal citations and footnotes
omitted) (emphasis in original). Dickinson and Mendoza-Lopez differ from the case before this
Court, however, because under the facts of those cases the defendants were the
sole parties who could challenge the validity of the administrative
determination underlying their prosecutions. Moreover, it was the defendants in
the criminal cases who had been subject to the prior judicial proceedings, the
draft board proceeding in Dickinson and the deportation proceeding in
Mendoza-Lopez. Raising the defense in the criminal cases provided those
defendants the only meaningful review of the administrative proceeding
affecting them. In this case, it is clear that Congress provided IG with
judicial review of its own designation. The administrative determination of the
designation of an FTO is potentially subject to extensive judicial review but
that review is not to occur as a defense in a criminal proceeding. See 8 U.S.C.
§ 1189(a)(8). The defendants also rely on Touby v. United States, 500 U.S. 160, 111 S.Ct.
1752, 114 L.Ed.2d 219 (1991). In Touby, the Supreme Court held that it was not
an unconstitutional delegation of powers for the Controlled Substances Act to
authorize the Attorney General to schedule controlled substances on an
expedited and temporary basis, even though the temporary scheduling order was
not subject to judicial review. The Attorney General in turn delegated his
temporary scheduling authority to the Drug Enforcement Administration. In the
context of a criminal prosecution for manufacturing and conspiring to
manufacture a drug temporarily designated as a controlled substance, the
Supreme Court rejected the argument that the statutory provision that a
temporary scheduling order is not subject to judicial review violated the
nondelegation doctrine. Touby, 500 U.S. at 168, 111 S.Ct. 1752. The Court
did so because another section of the Act plainly authorizes judicial
review of a permanent scheduling order
. Thus, the effect of [the
preclusion of judicial review of temporary scheduling orders] is merely to
postpone legal challenges to a scheduling order for up to 18 months, until the
administrative process has run its course. Id. The Court also noted
that the Government did not dispute that an individual facing criminal charges
could bring a challenge to a temporary scheduling order as a defense to
prosecution and [t]his is sufficient to permit a court to ascertain
whether the will of Congress has been obeyed. Id. at 168-69, 111 S.Ct.
1752 (internal quotation marks omitted). Touby does not support the defendants arguments. First, the
issue in Touby was whether there was sufficient judicial review to comply with
the nondelegation doctrine such that Congressional standards were followed. The
defendants here have not relied on any argument based on an impermissible
delegation of powers. Second, the Supreme Court noted the existence of judicial
review for permanent scheduling orders as sufficient after the temporary
scheduling orders had run their course. See id. at 168, 111 S.Ct.
1752. The judicial review procedure cited by the Court provides for review in
the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia or the Court of
Appeals for the circuit in which an aggrieved persons principal place
of business is located. See 21 U.S.C. § 877. There is no suggestion
[*367] that the
judicial review for a permanent scheduling order was permitted as a defense in
a criminal prosecution, and the challenge to a temporary scheduling order in a
criminal prosecution was the only place where a challenge could occur. In this
case, like the challenge to a permanent scheduling order, Congress has provided
an explicit place for judicial reviewin the Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia. The statutory language of 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b) makes clear
that Congress intended for judicial review of FTO designations to occur solely
within the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia within 30 days of
publication of the designation in the Federal Register. See Humanitarian Law
Project,
205 F.3d at 1137 (challenge to designation must be raised in an appeal from a
decision to designate a particular organization). Centralized review under the
statute is important because FTO designations have significant foreign
relations implications that Congress could reasonably conclude should be
resolved by a court that is able to develop a unified body of relevant law. The inability to raise as a defense in this case the correctness of
the Secretarys determination that IG is an FTO is not itself a
violation of the defendants rights to due process. The element of the
offense is the designation of IG as an FTO, not the correctness of the
determination, and the Government would be required to prove at trial that IG
was in fact designated as an FTO. In Bozarov, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals denied a defendants claim that a statute rendering a criminal
defendant unable to challenge the Secretary of Commerces export
controls implemented through a Commodity Control List (CCL)
violated his due process rights. In that case, the defendant was indicted under
the Export Administration Act, 50 U.S.C. § 2401 et seq., for
conspiring to export computer equipment without a license that the Secretary
had placed on the CCL. Under the statute, all functions exercised
under the Act are explicitly excluded from judicial review
.
Bozarov, 974 F.2d at 1039. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that
the lack of judicial review did not violate the defendants due
process rights. Id. at 1045-46. In so doing, the Court of Appeals relied on United
States v. Spawr Optical Research Inc., 864 F.2d 1467, 1473 (9th Cir.1988), and
United States v. Mandel, 914 F.2d 1215, 1221 (9th Cir.1990), in which the court
found no due process violations from the lack of judicial review because the
Secretarys decision whether or not to list a product was not an
element of the criminal offense charged. Bozarov, 974 F.2d at 1045-
46. [FN6] The court noted that the decision to control a commodity
does not involve [*368] the defendants individual
rights and is not an element of the criminal offense in the pending
case. Id. at 1046 (internal quotation omitted). [FN7] In this case, the
Government need prove only that the defendants conspired to provide or provided
material support or resources to an organization designated as an FTO. The
correctness of the designation itself is not an element of the offense and
therefore the defendants right to due process is not violated by
their inability to challenge the factual correctness of that determination. FN6. In another section of the Bozarov
opinion, the Court of Appeals also rejected a contention that the EAA was an
unconstitutional violation of the nondelegation doctrine because it allegedly
involved the delegation of legislative power to the Executive that was
statutorily exempt from judicial review. The Court of Appeals rejected that
argument in part on the principle, first, that colorable constitutional claims
may be reviewed by the courts even when a statute otherwise precludes judicial
review, and, second, that claims that the Secretary acted in excess of his
delegated authority under the EAA are also reviewable. Bozarov, 974 F.2d at 1044-45.
These principles do not help the defendants. This Court has in fact considered
all of the alleged constitutional claims raised by the defendants against the
statute and has decided them. With respect to the second issue, the statutory
structure cannot reasonably be viewed as a violation of the nondelegation
principle, see Humanitarian Law Project, 205 F.3d at 1137, and, in any event,
judicial review sufficient to assure that Congressional standards are adhered
to and that the Secretary acts in accordance with statutory authority is
specifically provided in the statute in the Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia. See 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b)(3)(A)-(E). FN7. The Court of Appeals specifically distinguished
Mendoza-Lopez precisely because the administrative determination discussed in
Bozarov, unlike the determination in Mendoza-Lopez, did not involve the
defendants individual rights. See Bozarov, 974 F.2d at 1046. Stewart makes an additional argument that IGs
designation violates her First Amendment associational rights. However, it is
clear that what the statute prohibits is the act of giving material
support, and there is no constitutional right to facilitate terrorism by giving
terrorists the weapons and explosives with which to carry out their grisly
missions. Nor, of course, is there a right to provide resources with which
terrorists can buy weapons and explosives. Humanitarian Law
Project,
205 F.3d at 1133; accord PMOI, 327 F.3d at 1244-45. The statute does not
interfere with Stewarts First Amendment rights because the material
support restriction is not aimed at interfering with the expressive
component of [Stewarts] conduct but at stopping aid to terrorist
groups. Humanitarian Law Project, 205 F.3d at 1135; accord PMOI, 327 F.3d at 1244. III. Stewart seeks to dismiss the Indictment based on the alleged
invalidity of the SAMs imposed on Sheik Abdel Rahman as they apply to the
charges against her. Stewart also argues that the Governments attempt
to force her to comply with the SAMs violates her First Amendment free speech
rights and her right to practice her profession. In addition, she claims that
the Government has no authority to enforce the attorney affirmation that she
signed in which she agreed to abide by the SAMs. The SAMs in question were authorized pursuant to 28 C.F.R.
§ 501.3 which, at all relevant times, provided: Upon direction of the Attorney General, the
Director, Bureau of Prisons, may authorize the Warden to implement special
administrative measures that are reasonably necessary to protect persons
against the risk of death or serious bodily injury. These procedures may be
implemented upon written notification to the Director, Bureau of Prisons, by
the Attorney General
that there is a substantial risk that a
prisoners communications or contacts with persons could result in
death or serious bodily injury to persons, or substantial damage to property
that would entail the risk of death or serious bodily injury to persons. These
special administrative measures ordinarily may include housing the inmate in
administrative detention and/or limiting certain privileges, including, but not
limited to, correspondence, visiting, interviews with representatives of the
news media, and use of the telephone, as is reasonably necessary to protect
persons against the risk of acts of violence or terrorism
. 28 C.F.R. 501.3(a) (June 20, 1997). [FN8] FN8. Between May 17, 1996 and June 20, 1997
the interim version of 28 C.F.R. § 501.3(a) was identical to the
quoted passage except that the word procedures was
substituted for the word measures in the first sentence. 62
Fed.Reg. 33730, 33732 (June 20, 1997); 61 Fed.Reg. 25120, 25120 (May 17, 1996).
Section 501.3 was amended on October 31, 2001, to, among other things, extend
from 120 days to up to one year, the period of time for which SAMs may be
imposed; modify the standard for approving extensions; and authorize the Bureau
of Prisons, under certain circumstances, to monitor the mail or communications
between an inmate and his attorneys. 66 Fed.Reg. 55062, 55063-64 (Oct. 31,
2001). There is no allegation that the amended § 501.3 applies to the
allegations in the Indictment. Beginning in 1997, the Bureau of Prisons imposed SAMs upon Sheikh
Abdel [*369] Rahman that, among other things, limited his access to the
mail, media, telephone and visitors for the purpose of protecting
persons against the risk of death or serious bodily injury that might otherwise
result. (Ind. ¶ 6 (internal quotation marks omitted).) As of
April 7, 1997, the SAMs provided that Sheikh Abdel Rahman will not be
permitted to talk with, meet with, correspond with, or otherwise communicate
with any member, or representative, of the news media, in person, by telephone,
by furnishing a recorded message, through the mails, through his attorney(s),
or otherwise. (Ind.¶ 6.) The Second Circuit Court of Appeals
has said that the use of similar SAMs does not violate a prisoners
right to due process. See United States v. El-Hage, 213 F.3d 74, 76, 78,
81 (2d Cir.2000) (per curiam). On May 16, 2000 Stewart signed an affirmation pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1746 in which she acknowledged having read the
Notification of Special Administrative Measures for Omar
Abdel Rahman dated December 10, 2000 and consisting of eight (8)
pages. [FN9] (Affirmation of Lynne Stewart dated May 16, 2000
(Stewart Aff. or May Affirmation)
attached as Ex. A to Stewart Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss.) She
agreed to abide by its terms and (a) not patch any calls by
Sheikh Abdel Rahman through to third parties or otherwise transfer such calls;
(b) not leave a translator alone with Sheikh Abdel Rahman and only be
accompanied by translators for the purpose of communicating with her client
concerning legal matters; and (c) not forward mail from her client to third parties
or use meetings, correspondence, or phone calls with Sheikh Abdel Rahman to
pass messages between third parties (including, but not limited to, the media)
and her client. (May Affirmation.) She affirmed that she understood
that the Bureau of Prisons is relying upon my sworn representations
as a member of the bar in this affidavit in affording inmate Abdel Rahman the
opportunity to meet and/or speak and/or correspond with me and my office and
that any violation of these understandings could, among other things, result in
further limitation (or even elimination) of inmate Abdel Rahmans
ability to contact me or my office. (May Affirmation.) FN9. Stewart argues later in her motion to
dismiss that the Indictment alleges an impossibility by charging her with
promising to obey a SAM that did not even exist at the time that she signed the
affidavit on May 16, 2000. The Government argues that the date is a plain
clerical error (apparently for December 10, 1999) and the eight page SAM referred
to in the affirmation is unmistakable. At trial, the Government will be
required to prove that the statement was a knowingly false statement and
Stewart can argue that the statement was not knowingly false because the
statement was so incredible. This is not a case where the defendant argues that
the statement cannot be the subject of a prosecution because it was literally
true. It plainly was not so literally true that it could be dismissed. The Indictment charges that Stewart violated the SAMs by facilitating
and concealing communications from Sheikh Abdel Rahman in jail to IG leaders
throughout the world, including on or about May 19 and 20, 2000 when she
visited Sheikh Abdel Rahman in prison accompanied by [*370] Yousry.
(Ind.¶¶ 16, 21(h)-(i).) Stewart allegedly allowed Yousry to
converse with Sheikh Abdel Rahman about strategic matters, including whether IG
should continue to comply with the cease-fire in Egypt.
(Ind.¶¶ 21(h)-(i).) The Indictment charges that Stewart helped
conceal the conversations, which she knew to be in violation of the SAMs, in
part by making extraneous comments in English to mask the conversation in
Arabic between Yousry and Sheikh Abdel Rahman. (Ind.¶¶ 21(h)-
(i).) In further violation of the SAMs, Stewart then released her
clients statement to the press on or about June 14, 2000
withdrawing his support for the cease-fire that currently
exists. (Ind.¶ 21(k).) Stewart claims that she is entitled to the dismissal of the charges
against her based on the illegality or unconstitutionality of the SAMS or the
attorney affirmation requirement. Counts One and Two have already been
dismissed. However, the SAMs or the attorney affirmation are irrelevant to
those counts and could not form a basis for their dismissal. The violation of
the SAMs are not an element of those counts and, in any event, as explained
below, Stewarts challenge to the SAMs is no defense to any of the
counts. Count Four charges that from in or about 1999 Stewart, Sattar, Yousry
and others conspired to defraud the United States and an agency thereof, to
wit, to hamper, hinder, impede, and obstruct by trickery, deceit and dishonest
means, the lawful and legitimate function of the United States Department of
Justice and its agency, the Bureau of Prisons, in the administration of SAMs
for inmate Sheikh Abdel Rahman. (Ind.¶¶ 26-28.) Count Five
charges Stewart with making false statements and making and using a false
writing and document when she submitted the May Affirmation.
(Ind.¶¶ 29-30.) Stewarts argument for dismissal is
without merit. The Government argues correctly that Stewart cannot defeat the
charges against her by attacking the legality or constitutionality of the
statute or requirement that prompted her alleged deceit. The Government relies
on Dennis v. United States, 384 U.S. 855, 86 S.Ct.
1840, 16 L.Ed.2d 973 (1966), in which the petitioners had been convicted of
conspiring to obtain fraudulently the services of the National Labor Relations
Board by filing false so-called non-Communist affidavits in purported
satisfaction of § 9(h) of the Taft-Hartley Act. Id. at 857-58, 86 S.Ct.
1840. The petitioners argued that their convictions should be set aside on the
ground that § 9(h) was unconstitutional. Id. at 864, 86 S.Ct.
1840. The Supreme Court declined to decide the constitutionality of §
9(h), stating: We need not reach this question, for
petitioners are in no position to attack the constitutionality of §
9(h). They were indicted for an alleged conspiracy, cynical and fraudulent, to
circumvent the statute. Whatever might be the result where the
constitutionality of the statute is challenged by those who of necessity
violate its provisions and seek relief in the courts is not relevant here. This
is not such a case. The indictment here alleges an effort to circumvent the law
and not to challenge ita purported compliance with the statute
designed to avoid the courts, not to invoke their jurisdiction. Id. at 865, 86 S.Ct. 1840. The Supreme Courts conclusion is clear: It is no defense to a charge based upon this
sort of enterprise that the statutory scheme sought to be evaded is somehow
defective. Ample opportunities exist in this country to seek and obtain
judicial protection. There is no reason for this Court to consider the
constitutionality of a statute at the behest [*371] of petitioners
who have been indicted for conspiracy by means of falsehood and deceit to
circumvent the law which they now seek to challenge. This is the teaching of
the cases. Id. at 866, 86 S.Ct. 1840 (internal footnote omitted). As in Dennis, Stewart now attacks the SAMs that she
allegedly sought to evade and concerning which she allegedly submitted a false
affirmation. But such a claim will not be heard to excuse a
voluntary, deliberate and calculated course of fraud and deceit. One who elects
such a course as a means of self-help may not escape the consequences by urging
that his conduct be excused because the statute which he sought to evade is
unconstitutional. Id. at 867, 86 S.Ct. 1840. The Supreme Court has
repeatedly refused to hear attacks on statutes from those accused of
deliberately violating the statutes by fraud and deceit. See, e.g., Bryson
v. United States, 396 U.S. 64,
68, 90 S.Ct. 355, 24 L.Ed.2d 264 (1969) (Guided by Dennis v. United
States, we hold that the question of whether § 9(h) was constitutional
or not is legally irrelevant to the validity of the petitioners
conviction under § 1001, the general criminal provision punishing the
making of fraudulent statements to the Government.) (internal
citation omitted); see also United States v. Knox, 396 U.S. 77, 79, 90 S.Ct.
363, 24 L.Ed.2d 275 (1969) (one who furnishes false information to
the Government in feigned compliance with a statutory requirement cannot defend
against prosecution for his fraud by [challenging] the validity of the
requirement itself). As the Supreme Court instructed: it cannot be thought that as a general principle of our law a
citizen has a privilege to answer fraudulently a question that the Government
should not have asked. Our legal system provides methods for challenging the
Governments right to ask questionslying is not one of them.
A citizen may decline to answer the question, or answer it honestly, but he
cannot with impunity knowingly and willfully answer with a falsehood. Bryson, 396 U.S. at 72, 90
S.Ct. 355. Prior to Dennis, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recognized a
narrow exception to these fundamental principles where there is no colorable authority
for the Governments action. In United States v. Barra, 149 F.2d 489, 490
(2d Cir.1945), the appellant had been convicted of violating 18 U.S.C.
§ 80 for failing to disclose his membership in the Nazi party in an
application for a certificate of identification as an alien enemy. The
appellant argued that because the statute authorizing the President to restrain
alien enemies provided no penalty for failure or refusal of an alien to
register, neither the President nor the Attorney General could make it a crime
to make a false statement in connection with such registration. Id. The Second Circuit
Court of Appeals found, however, that once it appears that the
department Ɵhas colorable authority to do what it is doing,Ơ
an accused under this statute cannot justify his falsehood by a collateral
attack upon the authority and rejected the petitioners
challenge. Id. The Court of Appeals determined that the President had statutory
authority to restrain alien enemies in the United States and that the statute
also confers upon him the further authority to establish
any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the
public safety. Id. See also United
States v. Holroyd, 732 F.2d 1122, 1126-27 (2d Cir.1984) (upholding Government
prosecution for perjury although no statute or regulation explicitly authorized
the use of the IRS forms that were fraudulently filed in the case). The Department of Justice had the colorable authority to implement
the SAMs [*372] relating to Sheikh Abdel Rahman and it also had the
colorable authority to seek affirmations from those visiting Sheikh Abdel
Rahman as a means to assure that the SAMs were complied with and were not
circumvented. 28 C.F.R. § 501.3 clearly authorized the Attorney
General and the Bureau of Prisons to implement SAMs. Indeed, the validity of
restrictive SAMs has been upheld as lawful not simply within the colorable
authority of the Department of Justice. See, e.g., Yousef v. Reno, 254 F.3d 1214, 1220
(10th Cir.2001); El-Hage, 213 F.3d at 81; see also United States v. Felipe, 148 F.3d 101, 110
(2d Cir.1998). Requiring affirmations from visitors, including attorneys, was
reasonably within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice as a measure
for effectuating the SAMs relating to Sheikh Abdel Rahman. See United States
v. Davis, 8 F.3d 923, 929 (2d Cir.1993) (false statements made by inmate
defendant to officials at state correctional facility were within the
jurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons and Marshal Service sufficient for a
conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1001); United States v. Salman, 189 F.Supp.2d 360,
364-66 (E.D.Va.2002) (false statements by visitor to local official responsible
for housing federal prisoners was within jurisdiction of Marshal Service
sufficient for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001). Therefore, Stewart
cannot challenge the legitimacy of the SAMs or the Governments action
requiring the May Affirmation in which she agreed to abide by them as a defense
to conspiring to defraud the Government or to make a false statement in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. [FN10] The regulation made it plain
that SAMs on an inmate can affect third parties because they could regulate
visits and telephone calls. The SAMs would be ineffective if those restrictions
could be circumvented. FN10. The Government concedes that one of the
elements for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 that it must prove at
trial is that the allegedly false statement was made in a matter
within the jurisdiction of the executive
branch of the Government of
the United States
. 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a). Furthermore, it is clear that Stewart had avenues of redress
within the legal system through which she could challenge the SAMs or the
Governments authority to obtain the May Affirmation. See, e.g., United
States v. Reid, 214
F.Supp.2d 84, 91 (D.Mass.2002) (based in part on application by defense
counsel, court refused to require defense counsel to sign affirmation
acknowledging receipt of SAM restrictions but placed court-ordered restrictions
on the dissemination of information by defense counsel); United States v.
Hale,
No. 03 Cr. 11, 2003 WL 1989620 (N.D.Ill. Apr. 28, 2003) (on application of
defense counsel, refusing to require attorney to pledge to obey a SAM relating
to the attorneys client, but noting the fact that the
Government may not require an attorney to pledge that he or she will abide by
the Special Administrative Measures placed on an inmate does not mean that,
should an attorney choose to engage in acts which result in the inmate evading
those Measures, the attorney may not be found to be in violation of some criminal
laws) (Hale Tr. at 11-12 attached as Ex. 1 to Stewart Reply). Stewart made the decision not to challenge the validity of the
SAMs imposed on Sheikh Abdel Rahman nor to refuse to sign the May Affirmation
and to challenge the Governments authority to request the affirmation
as other attorneys have done. Instead, she is alleged to have signed the
document knowing it to be false and now seeks to attack collaterally the
Governments authority to have required the May Affirmation. This strategy
is foreclosed by the teaching of Dennis and the cases [*373] that have
followed it. For these reasons, Stewarts motion to dismiss the
Indictment on the ground that she cannot be held liable for conspiring to
defraud the United States in connection with the SAMs relating to her client or
for submitting an allegedly false affirmation in connection with her compliance
with those SAMs is denied. IV. Sattar moves to dismiss Count Three of the Indictment on the
ground that the Indictment fails to allege the essential element of a crime of
violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373 with sufficient factual
detail. The Government argues that Count Three satisfies the pleading
requirements of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c)(1) and that the details
alleged in the overt acts charged in Count One provide sufficient details of
the crime charged in Count Three. [FN11] Should the Grand Jury return a
superseding indictment incorporating the allegations in Paragraph 21 of the
Indictment into Paragraph 24, as the Government represents it will seek, the
motion is denied for the reasons explained below. FN11. Paragraph 24 of the Indictment currently
incorporates into Count Three the allegations made in Paragraphs 1-14. The
Government represents that it will ask the Grand Jury to return a superseding
indictment that incorporates Paragraph 21, which includes all the overt acts
alleged in Count One, into Paragraph 24. The parties agreed at oral argument
that the Court should decide the motion on the assumption that the Government
will seek such a superseding indictment and that such a superseding indictment
will be returned by the Grand Jury so that the Court can efficiently resolve
the issues in the motions to dismiss the Indictment currently before the Court.
Consistent with the parties agreement, although the Court has
dismissed Counts One and Two, to avoid repetitive motions, the Court will
decide the current motions on the assumption that the overt acts in Paragraph
21 will be incorporated or included in Count Three. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c)(1) provides that an
Indictment shall be a plain, concise and definite statement of the
essential facts constituting the offense charged. [FN12] An
indictment is sufficient when it charges a crime with sufficient precision to
inform the defendant of the charges he must meet and with enough detail that he
may plead double jeopardy in a future prosecution based on the same set of
facts. United States v. Stavroulakis, 952 F.2d 686, 693
(2d Cir.1992) (citing Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 763-64, 82
S.Ct. 1038, 8 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962)). Moreover, an
indictment need do little more than track the language of the statute charged
and state the time and place (in approximate terms) of the alleged
crime. Id. (quoting United States v. Tramunti, 513 F.2d 1087, 1113
(2d Cir.1975)). The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has also noted that
[a]n indictment must be read to include facts
which are necessarily implied by the specific allegations
made. Id. (quoting United States v.
Silverman, 430 F.2d 106, 111 (2d Cir.1970)). FN12. The December, 2002 Amendments to the
Criminal Rules did not change this language. Count Three tracks the language of 18 U.S.C.
§ 373 which makes it unlawful to: with intent that another person engage in
conduct constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or
threatened use of physical force against property or against the person of
another in violation of the laws of the United States, and under circumstances
strongly corroborative of that intent, solicit[ ], command[ ], induce[ ], or
otherwise endeavor[ ] to persuade such other person to engage in such
conduct
. 18 U.S.C. § 373(a). Count Three satisfies the
well-established pleading requirements [*374] in this Circuit. It lists the
specific crimes of violence allegedly solicited, namely violations of 18 U.S.C.
§ 956 (conspiring to kill a person in a foreign country), 18 U.S.C.
§ 2332 (killing a national of the United States while the national is
outside the United States), and 18 U.S.C. § 2332b (committing acts of
terrorism transcending national boundaries). It is pleaded in the language of
the statute and provides sufficient particulars to give notice to the
defendants of the charges against them and to permit the defendants to plead
double jeopardy if necessary. Sattar argues that the Indictment fails to allege conduct
sufficient to establish a basis for the charge in Count Three. In particular he
argues that the Indictment fails to specify the circumstances strongly
corroborative of the required intent. However, the overt acts in Count One that
the Government intends to incorporate are sufficient. The Indictment charges
that Sattar, among other things, participated in drafting and disseminating a
fatwah to be issued under Sheik Abdel Rahmans name that was entitled
Fatwah Mandating the Bloodshed of Israelis Everywhere and
that called on brother scholars everywhere in the Muslim world to do
their part and issue a unanimous fatwah that urges the Muslim nation to fight
the Jews and to kill them wherever they are.
(Ind.¶¶ 21(p)-(q).) With the incorporation of Paragraph 21,
Count Three will also allege that Sattar aided in issuing a statement from
Sheikh Abdel Rahman renouncing the cease-fire between IG and the Egyptian government.
(Ind.¶¶ 21(d)-(f), (k)-(n).) These specific acts are
sufficient to support the allegation that Sattar solicited crimes of violence
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373. Moreover, such acts and statements
that instruct, solicit, or persuade others to commit crimes of
violence are not protected by the First Amendment and may be
prosecuted. Rahman, 189 F.3d at 117. The defendants argument that the allegations are
insufficient in that they fail to show that Sattar was serious about the crimes
of violence being carried out is also without merit. The allegations that
Sattar participated in drafting and distributing the fatwah and disseminating
Sheik Abdel Rahmans renunciation of IGs cease-fire are far
more specific as to his intent than the example posed by the defendant of
someone who shouts kill the umpire. Sattar argues, in the alternative, that he is entitled to a bill
of particulars pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(f) regarding
the allegations in Count Three. Sattars requests include (1) the
names and identities of the individuals who were the objects of
Sattars alleged felonious conduct or the victims of such conduct; (2)
the names and identities of persons against whose property Sattar allegedly
used, attempted to use, and threatened to use force in violation of the statute
and the location of the property Sattar allegedly used in so doing; (3) the
dates and locations on or in which the defendant allegedly used, threatened to
use, or attempted to use physical force against property or against persons;
and (4) the names and identities of individuals who Sattar allegedly induced or
otherwise attempted to persuade to engage in violent terrorist operations to
achieve IGs objectives and the dates on which the defendant allegedly
did so. The decision whether to grant a bill of particulars pursuant to
Rule 7(f) rests with the sound discretion of the district court. See United
States v. Cephas, 937 F.2d 816, 823 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Panza, 750 F.2d 1141 (2d
Cir.1984); United States v. Strawberry, 892 F.Supp. 519, 526 (S.D.N.Y.1995).
The purpose of a bill of particulars is to enable a defendant to
prepare for trial, to prevent surprise, and to interpose a plea of double [*375] jeopardy should
he be prosecuted a second time for the same offense. United States
v. Bortnovsky, 820 F.2d 572, 574 (2d Cir.1987). A bill of particulars is
required only when the charges of the indictment are so general that
they do not advise the defendant of the specific acts of which he is
accused. United States v. Torres, 901 F.2d 205, 234 (2d Cir.1990)
(citation omitted); see also Cephas, 937 F.2d at 823; Panza, 750 F.2d at 1148.
The Government may not be compelled to provide a bill of particulars disclosing
the manner in which it will attempt to prove the charges, the precise manner in
which the defendants committed the crimes charged, or a preview of the
Governments evidence or legal theories. See United States v. Mitlof, 165 F.Supp.2d 558,
569 (S.D.N.Y.2001) (collecting cases); see also United States v. Szur, 97 Cr. 108, 1998 WL
132942, at *11 (S.D.N.Y. March 20, 1998), affd, 289 F.3d 200 (2d
Cir.2002). Generally, if the information sought by the defendant is
provided in the indictment or in some acceptable alternate form, no bill of
particulars is required. Bortnovsky, 820 F.2d at 574; see
United States v. Barnes, 158 F.3d 662, 665 (2d Cir.1998). In a case such as this, where the Indictment charges a violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 373 with sufficient particularity and discovery has
been extensive, there is no cause for a bill of particulars. Such requests are
merely an impermissible attempt to compel the Government to provide
the evidentiary details of its case. United States v. Biaggi, 675
F.Supp. 790, 810 (S.D.N.Y.1987). Moreover, this is not a case such as United
States v. Bin Laden, 92
F.Supp.2d 225 (S.D.N.Y.2000), in which the Government alleged 267 discrete
criminal offenses, including 229 counts of murder and six conspiracies and in
which the indictment included 144 overt acts charged in such general
terms as to require seemingly unlimited research and investigation by the
Defendants in an attempt to answer those charges. Id. at 237. Instead
the type of conduct [charged in the Indictment] is sufficiently
concrete and particular as to permit a reasonably focused
investigation. Id. at 239 n. 24 (rejecting bill of particulars
requested for certain charged overt acts including issuing fatwahs). The motion
for a bill of particulars as to Count Three is denied. V. Stewart argues that Count Five of the Indictment which charges
Stewart with making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001
should be dismissed because the May Affirmation that provides the basis for the
charge is merely a promise of future conduct and not a factual statement.
Therefore, Stewart argues, the May Affirmation cannot support a false-statement
charge and allowing prosecution under the statute would in effect criminalize
every broken contract with the Government. [FN13] FN13. Stewarts motion touches on
this issue only briefly. However, the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers (NACDL) has submitted two amicus briefs advocating
this position which Stewart adopts. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 provides, in relevant
part: whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction
of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the
United States, knowingly and willfully- (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any
trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, ficticious, or
fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or
document knowing the same to contain any materially false, ficticious, or
fraudulent [*376] statement or entry; shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned
. 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1)-(3). By the terms of the May Affirmation described above, Stewart
agreed to abide by the SAMs governing Sheikh Abdel Rahmans
confinement. In so doing, Stewart specifically agreed that neither she nor any
member of her staff would use her visits with Sheikh Abdel Rahman to pass
messages between her client and third parties, including the media. (May
Affirmation ¶ 4.) Stewart signed the May Affirmation on May 16, 2000.
(May Affirmation.) The Indictment alleges that only a few days later, on May 19
or 20, 2000, Stewart visited Sheikh Abdel Rahman in prison and violated the
SAMs when she allowed Sheikh Abdel Rahman to dictate letters to Yousry about
Sheikh Abdel Rahmans decision to withdraw his support for the
cease-fire. (Ind.¶¶ 21(h)-(i), 30.) The Government alleges
that Stewart then submitted the May Affirmation to the Government on or about
May 26, 2000 and thereafter communicated Sheikh Abdel Rahmans message
to the media that he was renouncing his support for the cease-fire. The
Government contends both that Stewart violated § 1001 at the time of
the May Affirmations making because she did not intend to abide by
the terms of the agreement, and that she had clearly violated the agreement by
the time she submitted the May Affirmation to the Government on May 26, 2000
following her visit to Sheikh Abdel Rahman. The Government argues that the Court should follow United
States v. Shah, 44 F.3d 285 (5th Cir.1995), and find that a promise that a
promisor has no intention of keeping when made can form the basis of a
§ 1001 violation. In Shah, the defendant was convicted of violating
§ 1001 in connection with a statement made in a General Services
Administration (GSA) bid solicitation. The statement read,
in part, The prices in this offer have not been and will not be
knowingly disclosed by the offeror
to any other offeror or
competitor before
contract award. Id. at 289 (ellipses in
original). The Government argued that the defendant had contacted another
competitor after receiving the solicitation from the GSA but before submitting
the form and suggested that they exchange bids. Id. at 287. The next day
the defendant allegedly signed and mailed the solicitation to the GSA in which
he certified that the prices listed in the bid have not been and will
not be disclosed. Id. at 287-88. The competitor thereafter
contacted the GSA and agreed to record a conversation under the supervision of
an investigator in which the defendant agreed to swap bids with the informant. Id. at 288. The parties
subsequently exchanged such information. Id. In affirming the defendants conviction, the Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected the defendants argument, also
made here, that a promise of future performance cannot, as a matter
of law, constitute a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Id. at 288. The Court of
Appeals found instead that a promise to perform is not only a
prediction, but is generally also a representation of present intent. Promises
and representations are simply not mutually exclusive. The plain terms of the
statute can therefore be said to cover representations of present
intent. Id. at 293. [FN14] FN14. NACDL also argues that because the text
of § 1001 does not use the word promise while
other statutes criminalizing false promises also criminalize false or
fraudulent representations, in order to conclude that false or fraudulent
representations include false promises the Court would have to also conclude
that Congress used unnecessary and redundant words in such statutes. Moreover,
NACDL argues, the absence of the word promise from
§ 1001 as compared to its presence in the mail, wire, and bank fraud
statutes indicates Congress intent not to penalize false promises in
§ 1001. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected similar
arguments in Shah, 44 F.3d at 293-94. [*377] Contrary to the defendants argument that holding Stewart
liable under § 1001 would criminalize the breaking of any promise made
to the Government, Shah made clear that a broken promise is not alone
a basis for criminal liability under section 1001. Id. at 289.
Instead, the Government must prove, among other things, that the allegedly
false statement was false when made because [i]t is not the breaking
of the promise that exposes a defendant to criminal liability, but making a
promise with the intent to break it. Id. at 289-90, 291
(emphasis in original). NACDL argues that Shah is wrong and that the Court should instead
look to Williams v. United States, 458 U.S. 279, 102 S.Ct.
3088, 73 L.Ed.2d 767 (1982), which found that a check even though written
without sufficient funds is merely a promise to pay a sum certain and not a
statement that could form the basis of a false-statement prosecution under 18
U.S.C. § 1014 relating to false statements in loan and credit applications.
[FN15] Id. at 280- 87, 102 S.Ct. 3088. Under Williams, NACDL argues, the
May Affirmation is not a factual assertion at all, and therefore
cannot be characterized as true or
false. Id. at 284, 102 S.Ct. 3088. However, the
holding and reasoned analysis in Shah is on point and persuasive. Shah
considered Williams and rejected the argument that Williams should change the
result in that case. Shah, 44 F.3d. at 291. Williams contained no
discussion of whether a knowingly false statement of present intent could be a
false statement particularly for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Its
discussion was centered on the legal effect of a check. FN15. NACDL also argues that under United
States v. Diogo, 320 F.2d 898 (2d Cir.1963), a statement or representation that
is literally true, in that case that the defendants were married to citizens,
cannot be the basis for criminal prosecution under § 1001. However, Diogo does not help
Stewart. At trial, the Government will be required to prove that the statement
was in fact knowingly false when made. Even Stewarts argument that
the affirmation executed in May 2000 incorrectly referred to non-existent
December 10, 2000 SAMs is not an argument that the affirmation was literally
true. See supra note 10. More on point is the decision by the Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit in United States v. Uram, 148 F.2d 187 (2d Cir.1945). In that
case, the Court of Appeals found that the appellant was properly convicted of a
charge of causing a loan to be made based on the false representation of what
the loan proceeds were to be used for. The Court of Appeals explicitly rejected
the argument made by Stewart in this case: Count one is not invalid for statement merely
of a possible future occurrence. It is an allegation of a present statement and
the assertion of existing intent, and promise, to use money for the specific
purpose [specified], and for no other purpose whereas in fact the intent was to
divert [some of the money] to other uses entirely and to spend but a fraction
of the remaining sum on the project stated, upon which representation the loan
was procured. Id. at 189-90 (internal quotation marks omitted). See also United
States v. Mandanici, 729 F.2d 914 (2d Cir.1984) (upholding sufficiency of the
evidence to sustain a conviction for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001
based on a false representation of present intentions to spend $88,000 on
rehabilitation work with a federal agency). For the reasons explained at length in Shah, which are consistent
with Uram and Mandanici, a knowingly false promise, [*378] which is a
knowingly false statement of present intent, can be a false statement within
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Finally, the Government contends that even if the Court were to
reject the argument that Stewart can be prosecuted under § 1001 for
false representations about her intent to perform future acts, the May
Affirmation was in fact false when submitted to the Government. This theory is
also sufficient to support the charge in Count Five. Therefore, the May
Affirmation is a proper basis for a § 1001 prosecution and the motion
to dismiss Count Five is denied. VI. Stewart and Sattar both move for severance. Stewart alleges that
she should not face trial with the other defendants and is thus entitled to
severance under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(b), and severance should
also be granted pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 14 and Bruton
v. United States, 391 U.S. 123,
88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968). Sattar argues that he is entitled to
severance because Yousry implicated Sattar in post-arrest statements that the
Government may offer in its case-in-chief against Yousry at trial. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(b) provides: The indictment or information may charge 2 or
more defendants if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or
transaction, or in the same series of acts or transactions, constituting an
offense or offenses. The defendants may be charged in one or more counts
together or separately. All defendants need not be charged in each count.
[FN16] FN16. The language of Rule 8 was amended,
effective December 1, 2002 as part of the general restyling of the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure to make them more easily understood and to make
style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. The changes were
intended to be stylistic only. See Adv. Comm. Notes to 2002 Amendments. Therefore,
the cases interpreting Rule 8 prior to the amendment can be used to interpret
the amended Rule. In a case such as this, where multiple defendants are charged in
the same Indictment, Rule 8(b) governs any motion for severance. See United
States v. Turoff, 853 F.2d 1037, 1043 (2d Cir.1988). Thus, multiple
defendants may be charged and tried for multiple offenses only if the offenses
are related pursuant to the test set forth in Rule 8(b), that is, only if the
charged acts are part of a series of acts or transactions
constituting
offenses. Id. For joinder under
Rule 8(b) to be permissible, the acts in which the defendants are alleged to
have participated must be unified by some substantial identity of
facts or participants or arise out of a common plan or scheme. United
States v. Attanasio, 870 F.2d 809, 815 (2d Cir.1989) (internal quotation marks and
citations omitted); see also United States v. Reinhold, 994 F.Supp. 194, 197
(S.D.N.Y.1998); United States v. Lech, 161 F.R.D. 255, 256 (S.D.N.Y.1995). However,
two separate transactions do not constitute a series within
the meaning of Rule 8(b) merely because they are of a similar
character or involve one or more common participants. Lech, 161 F.R.D. at 256
(internal citation omitted); see also United States v. Rittweger, 259 F.Supp.2d 275,
283 (S.D.N.Y.2003). The Courts of Appeals disagree over whether Rule 8(b) severance
motions should be decided solely on the basis of the allegations in the
Indictment or instead may be decided on the basis of pretrial representations
made by the Government. See [*379] United States v. Gallo, 98 Cr. 338, 1999 WL
9848, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 11, 1999) (collecting cases). In the context of a
motion for severance under Rule 8(a), the Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit has approved a trial courts reliance in part on the
Governments representation. See United States v. Ajlouny, 629 F.2d 830, 842
(2d Cir.1980). However, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has not
ruled on this issue in the context of joinder under Rule 8(b), and Rule 8(b),
unlike Rule 8(a), specifically turns on what is alleged
against the defendants. In any event, on the face of the Indictment, in this
case, the allegations are properly joined because there is both
substantial identity of facts or participants and the
allegations in the Indictment arise out of a common plan or
scheme. Attanasio, 870 F.2d at 815; see also Rittweger, 259 F.Supp.2d at
284. [FN17] FN17. The discussion below focuses on Counts
Three through Five of the Indictment because the Court has dismissed Counts One
and Two. However, most of Count One is realleged in Count Two, and substantial
parts of Count One, including the overt acts, are realleged in Counts Three,
Four, and Five or the Government has indicated its intention to seek a
superseding indictment, particularly realleging the overt acts from Count One
in Count Three. See supra note 11. The Government has also indicated
its intent to seek a superseding indictment to make it clear that the Overt
Acts realleged in Count Four are in fact certain overt acts charged in
paragraph 21, and not paragraph 20 as currently alleged. See infra note 20. Given
the interrelationship of the allegations in Counts One and Two and those in
Counts Three, Four, and Five, including the substantial identity of facts and
participants and the fact that all of the counts arise out of a common scheme
or plan, the decision on the severance motions would be no different if Counts
One and Two were still included. The Government is correct and joinder is proper in this case.
There is a substantial identity of participants in each of the remaining Counts
of the Indictment. Sattar is charged in Count Three with soliciting crimes of
violence. Stewart, Sattar, and Yousry are charged in Count Four with conspiring
to defraud the United States by obstructing the administration of the SAMs, and
Stewart alone is charged in Count Five with making false statements when
agreeing to comply by the SAMs. The actions alleged in the Indictment demonstrate a substantial
identity of facts and clearly arise out of a common plan or scheme. The
substantive solicitation charge in Count Three which is alleged against Sattar
includes acts of solicitation of violence including the issuance of the fatwah
attributed to Sheikh Abdel Rahman Mandating the Bloodshed of Israelis
Everywhere and the issuance of the statement from Sheikh Abdel Rahman
renouncing the cease-fire between IG and the Egyptian government. The
conspiracy alleged in Count Four against Sattar, Stewart, and Yousry charges a
conspiracy to defraud the United States, to wit, to hamper, impede, and
obstruct the lawful functions of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of
Prisons in the administration of the SAMs for Sheikh Abdel Rahman. The overt
acts in furtherance of this conspiracy include overt acts relating to alleged
efforts by Sattar, Yousry, and Stewart to facilitate the issuance of the same
statements attributed to Sheikh Abdel Rahman from prison. Count Five charges
Stewart with making a false statement by submitting an affirmation that she
agreed to abide by the same SAMs applicable to Sheikh Abdel Rahman. All of
these allegations are inextricably interrelated. Nor is there a basis to grant a severance pursuant to Rule 14 of
the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 14 provides, in relevant part,
that [i]f the joinder of offenses or defendants in an indictment, an information,
or a consolidation for trial appears to prejudice a defendant or the
government, the court may [*380] order separate trials of counts, sever the
defendants trials, or provide any other relief that justice
requires. [FN18] The Supreme Court teaches that a district
court should grant a severance under Rule 14 only if there is a serious risk
that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right of one of the
defendants, or prevent the jury from making a reliable judgment about guilt or
innocence. Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 539, 113
S.Ct. 933, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993). There is a preference for joint trials in
the federal system for defendants who are indicted together. Joint trials
promote efficiency and promote the interests of justice, by, among other means,
avoiding inconsistent verdicts. Id. at 537, 113 S.Ct. 933. Thus, a defendant
seeking such a severance must show that he [will be] so severely
prejudiced by the joinder as to [be] denied a fair trial, not that he might
have [ ] a better chance for acquittal at a separate trial. United
States v. Torres, 901 F.2d 205, 230 (2d Cir.1990) (citations and internal
quotation marks omitted). FN18. Rule 14 was amended effective December
1, 2002 as part of the general restyling of the Criminal Rules. It was not
intended to effect any substantive change and therefore cases interpreting the
prior Rule remain instructive. See Adv. Comm. Notes to 2002 Amendments; see
also supra note 16. A danger of prejudicial spillover, where
evidence which would be inadmissible against one defendant if tried
individually could be introduced in a joint trial, could provide a basis for a
severance. Hence, a severance could be warranted where evidence of a
codefendants wrongdoing in some circumstances erroneously could lead
a jury to conclude that defendant was guilty. Zafiro, 506 U.S. at 539, 113
S.Ct. 933 (citing Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 774-775, 66
S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)). However, claims of prejudicial spillover
rarely succeed, particularly in the context of conspiracy cases because the
evidence could be admitted in the separate trials. See United States v.
Muyet,
945 F.Supp. 586, 596 (S.D.N.Y.1996); see also United States v. Haynes, 16 F.3d 29, 32 (2d
Cir.1994); United States v. Szur, 1998 WL 132942, at *12-13. Stewart argues that she would be unfairly prejudiced by a joint
trial because she is charged with acts that differ from those of her
co-defendants. Specifically, Stewart claims that she should not be linked to
the acts of violence associated with charges that she contends have no
connection to her role as Sheikh Abdel Rahmans legal counsel.
However, [t]his case simply is not one where the risk that
the jury will not, or cannot, follow instructions is so great
that
the practical and human limitations of the jury system cannot be
ignored. United States v. Cardascia, 951 F.2d 474, 484
(2d Cir.1991) (quoting Bruton, 391 U.S. at 135, 88 S.Ct. 1620). There is no
reason to believe that the jury cannot judge those acts and defendants charged
in Count Three independently of the allegations that they will consider in
connection with Stewart. See, e.g., United States v. Bin Laden, 109 F.Supp.2d 211, 219
(S.D.N.Y.2000) (Federal courts, quite routinely, have found juries
able to follow and abide by appropriate cautionary instructions.). Moreover, Stewarts argument that she stands before the
jury differently because jurors would not understand the intricacies of her
role as defense counsel when judging her case as compared with the other
defendants is wholly without merit. Not only would a jury be perfectly capable
of evaluating Stewarts actions regardless of her qualifications as a
lawyer, but the Government argues persuasively that Stewart cannot so easily
distance herself from charges involving violent conduct contained [*371] in the
Indictment. For example, several of the overt acts to be realleged in Count
Three against Sattar also include Stewart and relate to alleged efforts to
facilitate the issuance of the fatwah Mandating the Bloodshed of
Israelis Everywhere and the statement from Sheikh Abdel Rahman
renouncing the cease-fire. (See Ind. ¶¶ 21(h), (i), (n).)
These same overt acts are alleged in furtherance of the conspiracy charged in
Count Four. There is no reason to sever the claims against Stewart on this
basis. See Bin Laden, 109 F.Supp.2d at 216-219. Stewart and Sattar also argue for severance based on the
anticipated admission of co-defendant statements, specifically, certain
post-arrest statements given by Yousry that may incriminate them. The
Government represents, however, that if it seeks to introduce such statements
at trial the statements will be properly redacted to comply with Bruton and its
progeny. This representation is sufficient and there is no reason to grant a
severance on this basis. VII. The defendants make several other arguments. [FN19] FN19. The Court has considered all of the
arguments raised including those directed at Counts One and Two, even though
the Court has dismissed those counts. This is to avoid multiple motions,
particularly in view of the January 12, 2004 trial date. Stewart claims that Counts One and Four should be dismissed as
duplicitous because both counts allege multiple conspiracies. An
indictment is impermissibly duplicitous where: (1) it combines two or more
distinct crimes into one count in contravention of Fed.R.Crim.P.
8(a)s requirement that there be a separate count for each offense,
and (2) the defendant is prejudiced thereby. United States v.
Sturdivant, 244 F.3d 71, 75 (2d Cir.2001) (internal citation omitted); see
also United States v. Margiotta, 646 F.2d 729, 733 (2d Cir.1981). Count One
charges that all four defendants together with others known and unknown
combined, conspired, confederated and agreed together and with each
other to knowingly provide material support and resources to an FTO.
(Ind.¶ 19.) Count One therefore alleges a single conspiracy among all
participants. Count Four charges that Stewart, Sattar, and Yousry combined, conspired, confederated and agreed
together and with each other to defraud the United States and an agency
thereof, to wit, to hamper, impede, and obstruct by trickery, deceit and dishonest
means, the lawful and legitimate functions of the United States Department of
Justice and its agency, the Bureau of Prisons, in the administration and
enforcement of Special Administrative Measures for inmate Sheik Abdel Rahman. (Ind.¶ 27.) Count Four similarly alleges a single
conspiracy. [FN20] Moreover, [w]hether [*382] the Government
has proven the existence of the conspiracy charged in the indictment and each
defendants membership in it, or instead, has proven several independent
conspiracies is a question for a properly instructed jury. United
States v. Trippe, 171 F.Supp.2d 230, 238 (S.D.N.Y.2001) (quoting United States
v. Johansen, 56 F.3d 347, 350 (2d Cir.1995)). The motion to dismiss Counts
One and Four as duplicitous is therefore denied. FN20. Stewart makes an additional argument as
to the failure of Count Four to allege any overt acts. Paragraph 28(a) of Count
Four states: The allegations contained in Overt Acts (b) through (n),
(r) and (s), in Paragraph 20 of Count One of this Indictment are realleged and
incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. However,
¶ 20 includes only subparagraphs (a)(d) and refers to the
Means and Methods of the conspiracy and not the Overt Acts. The Government
represented at argument, (Hearing Tr. at 92), that this was an obvious
typographical error and that it will ask the Grand Jury to return a superseding
indictment realleging the overt acts that are in fact alleged in ¶ 21
of Count One rather than ¶ 20. As with the Governments
representation to seek a superseding indictment to reallege the overt acts from
Count One in Count Three, to avoid multiple motions, this motion is being
decided on the basis that the Government will seek such a superseding
indictment to correct the obvious typographical error. Stewart also contends that Count Two should be dismissed as
duplicitous because the Government charges multiple acts of providing material
support in violation of § 2339B in that count. The Second Circuit
Court of Appeals has made clear that a single count of an indictment
should not be found impermissibly duplicitous whenever it contains several
allegations that could have been stated as separate offenses but only when the
failure to do so risks unfairness to the defendant. Margiotta, 646
F.2d at 733. Therefore, the Court of Appeals in Margiotta reversed the district
courts finding that a mail-fraud indictment that alleged multiple
mailings in a single count was duplicitous when the indictment alleged a single
scheme to defraud. Id. at 733-34. The Government argues persuasively that the
acts alleged in Count Two are part of a continuous course of conduct and that
combining these acts into one count is not unfair to Stewart because the
Indictment provides adequate notice of the conduct at issue. Therefore, the
motion to dismiss Count Two as duplicitous is also denied. Stewart and Sattar seek additional bills of particulars. Stewart
seeks particulars including: (1) the date on which Stewart became a member of
the conspiracy alleged in Count One, the names of her alleged co-conspirators,
and the date and location of each act that she allegedly performed in
furtherance of the conspiracy; (2) the date and place of each act of provision
of material support and resources alleged in Count Two, the person or persons
who directly committed each such act and the type of material support or
resources allegedly provided; (3) the date and location of each act allegedly
performed by Stewart in furtherance of the conspiracy alleged in Count Four;
and (4) the date of each alleged false, ficticious, and fraudulent statement
and representation and of each false writing and document related to Count
Five. Sattar seeks particulars, in addition to those already discussed in Part
IV, including: (1) the nature and recipient of the material support and
resources, and the dates, times and places of such provision, alleged in Count
One; (2) the manner and means by which specified messages were allegedly passed
from Sheikh Abdel Rahman to others; and (3) the names of the unidentified
co-conspirators. As the Court has already explained, the purpose of a bill of
particulars is to enable a defendant to prepare for trial, to prevent
surprise, and to interpose a plea of double jeopardy should he be prosecuted a
second time for the same offense. Bortnovsky, 820 F.2d at 574. The
Court will require a bill of particulars only when an indictment is so general
that it fails to advise a defendant of the specific acts of which he or she is
accused. See Torres, 901 F.2d at 234. The Indictment in this case provides Stewart and Sattar with
adequate notice of the charges against them so that they can prepare for trial
and could interpose a plea of double jeopardy should they face prosecution for
a second time for the crimes charged in the Indictment. See United States v.
Viertel,
No. S2 01 Cr. 571, 2002 WL 1560805, at *12 (S.D.N.Y. July 15, 2002). The
particulars sought in these requests are merely an attempt to preview the
Governments evidence or legal theories, a ground on which the Court
will not [*383] grant a bill of particulars. See Mitlof, 165 F.Supp.2d at
569. Moreover, demands for particular information with
respect to where, when, and with whom the Government will charge the defendant
with conspiring are routinely denied. United States v. Trippe, 171 F.Supp.2d 230,
240 (S.D.N.Y.2001) (collecting cases). To the extent that the requests for the
identities of unnamed co-conspirators is really a request for a list of the
witnesses that the Government intends to call at trial, the defendants are not
entitled to such a list because they have not made the necessary specific
showing of need. See United States v. Jones, No. 00 Cr. 182, 2000
WL 1448640, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2000) (collecting cases). In this case, the detailed Indictment and extensive other
materials provided to the defendants adequately apprise the defendants of the
charges against them. The Court has worked with the parties to set a trial date
in January 2004, which gives the parties ample time to produce and review
discovery in a timely manner. The motions for bills of particulars are
therefore denied. VIII. Finally, Stewart seeks an evidentiary hearing on the question of
whether the Government, in roughly 2000-01, negotiated an oral agreement with
her former counsel in which the Government allegedly agreed to forgo any
SAM-related prosecution of Stewart in exchange for her agreement to certain
restrictions on her visits with Sheikh Abdel Rahman. Stanley Cohen, who
represented Stewart at the time, has submitted a declaration adopting the
affidavit of Stewarts current counsel which states that Cohen had a
good faith reasonable belief that he had foreclosed a criminal
prosecution of his client Lynne Stewart while protecting her ability to serve
her client. (Affidavit of Michael E. Tigar dated Jan. 10, 2003
¶ 24; Declaration of Stanley Cohen dated Apr. 22, 2003
(Cohen Aff.).) The Government argues that there was no such agreement and, if
there was, Stewart failed to live up to her end of the bargain. However, the
Government has not submitted a sworn statement from any party with knowledge of
the alleged negotiations. The Court is aware that a district court
need not conduct a hearing every time a defendant summarily accuses the
government of failing to live up to an alleged bargain
. United
States v. Aleman, 286 F.3d 86, 91 (2d Cir.2002). However, in this case, Stewart
has submitted a sworn statement from an attorney with knowledge of the alleged
oral agreement and the government made a strategic decision to submit
no factual evidence. Id. Under these circumstances, Aleman teaches
that the Court should hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether an
agreement existed, what its terms were, and whether there was compliance with
those terms. Id. at 91. The Court will hold an evidentiary hearing on August 26,
2003 at 9:30 a.m. [FN21] FN21. Stewart also seeks the right to issue
subpoenas for witnesses and documents in connection with the evidentiary
hearing, including for the former lawyer who submitted an affidavit for the
defendant. The Government did not specifically respond to the request. The
defendant does, of course, have the right to issue subpoenas in connection with
the hearing and the recipients will have the right to make any appropriate
motions to quash. CONCLUSION The motions to dismiss Counts One and Two as void for vagueness
are granted. The motions to dismiss those Counts on all other grounds are
denied. The motions to dismiss Counts Three, Four, and Five are [*384] denied. The
motions for severance are denied. The motion to dismiss Counts One, Two and
Four as duplicitous is denied. The motions for bills of particulars are denied.
The motion for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the Government
entered into a non-prosecution agreement with Stewart is granted as explained
above. The Court has considered all of the arguments raised by the parties. To
the extent not specifically discussed above, the arguments are either moot or
without merit. SO ORDERED. |