Terrorists Seek Cases Tossed Due to NSA Spying

You had to know this was coming. The lawyer for Iyman Faris, convicted of plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, asked a federal judge today to throw out the case because the National Security Agency illegally spied on him.

From the AP:

Iyman Faris' challenge is among the first to seek evidence of warrantless electronic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, a practice that began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Government officials have reportedly credited the practice with uncovering Faris' terrorist plot and several others.

A motion filed by Faris' attorney David Smith in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., argues that investigators improperly obtained evidence against Faris and that his trial lawyer was ineffective.

Given the likelihood that Faris' phone conversations or e-mails had been electronically monitored, Faris' trial lawyer, Frederick Sinclair, should have asked for evidence of such surveillance, Smith said in the motion.

Interestingly, Faris, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aiding and abetting terrorism. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Subsequently, he tried to take back his guilty plea, saying everything is his agreement was false.

And, there are others looking to get their terror-related convictions overturned.

A lawyer for Ali al-Timimi, an Islamic scholar in northern Virginia serving a life sentence for exhorting followers to fight U.S. troops, has said he plans to challenge his case based on NSA involvement. So has an attorney for Adham Amin Hassoun, a Lebanese-born Palestinian living in Florida who is charged with being part of a cell dedicated to supporting violent Muslim extremists.

Obviously, the issue of the NSA eavesdropping will have to be decided in the courts. I hope that the judges ruling on the issue keep in mind that it involves protecting the United States from foreign attack. It would be imprudent to allow Faris and his terrorist buddies to get off.