No Verdict Yet Holy Land Foundation Terror Trial

A jury finished its sixth full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict Friday in the case of a Muslim charity accused of financing Middle Eastern terrorists.

Deliberations were scheduled to resume Monday in federal district court.

Jurors heard two months of testimony in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and five of its former leaders. Holy Land was once the largest Muslim charity in the country.

The trial was expected to last even longer. Legal experts said prosecutors and defense attorneys appeared to cut short their cases to avoid wearing out the jury.

An Israeli agent and FBI agents testified that Holy Land funneled money to groups controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The U.S. government designated Hamas a terrorist organization, making it illegal to support it.

The former Holy Land leaders could be sentenced to life in prison if the jury finds that they helped cause deaths. Prosecutors charged that Holy Land supported the families of suicide bombers.

Defense lawyers argued that Holy Land was a legitimate charity and that none of the groups it helped were designated as terrorist organizations.

They also attacked a key prosecution witness, an Israeli official who was allowed to testify under a pseudonym, and the government’s introduction of unsigned and undated Arabic documents.

Holy Land operated from an office park in Richardson. The federal government shut it down in December 2001 and seized its assets. Holy Land fought the seizure all the way to the Supreme Court, which let stand a lower court ruling against the group.

Source – Houston Chronicle