Professors Comment on Successful Prosecution of Terrorism Case
UC Davis law professors Kevin Johnson and Donna Shestowsky commented in The Sacramento Bee on the successful prosecution of a Lodi man on terrorism charges. "This will have limited impact in terms of terrorism," said Johnson, an associate dean and expert in international law.
Hamid Hayat, 23, was convicted of providing material support to terrorism by spending several months at a Jihadist training camp in Pakistan. He was also found guilty of three counts of lying to the FBI about his involvement with the camp. The Lodi fruit packer faces up to 39 years in prison at his sentencing in July. In a companion trial, a second jury deadlocked Tuesday on charges that Hamid Hayat's father, Umer Hayat, lied to the FBI about having knowledge of the terrorist camps. The differing verdicts do not surprise Donna Shestowsky, a UC Davis law professor who studies juror behavior. "A lot depends on who happens to be on the jury - and it only takes one person to hang a jury," she said. "If the Umer Hayat case is retried, a whole new jury will be impaneled and you could get a completely different result."
April 27, 2006/The Sacramento Bee
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=15116
Hamid Hayat, 23, was convicted of providing material support to terrorism by spending several months at a Jihadist training camp in Pakistan. He was also found guilty of three counts of lying to the FBI about his involvement with the camp. The Lodi fruit packer faces up to 39 years in prison at his sentencing in July. In a companion trial, a second jury deadlocked Tuesday on charges that Hamid Hayat's father, Umer Hayat, lied to the FBI about having knowledge of the terrorist camps. The differing verdicts do not surprise Donna Shestowsky, a UC Davis law professor who studies juror behavior. "A lot depends on who happens to be on the jury - and it only takes one person to hang a jury," she said. "If the Umer Hayat case is retried, a whole new jury will be impaneled and you could get a completely different result."
April 27, 2006/The Sacramento Bee
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=15116