Posted on 03/27/2007 9:27:06 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
A jury of eight women and four men was selected Tuesday for the federal trial of a Chinese-American engineer accused of stealing military secrets and conspiring to send them to China.
The panel and four alternates, who will hear opening statements on Wednesday, were chosen after the judge and attorneys quizzed prospective jurors on a range of issues including views on Chinese immigrants, China's role in the world, the U.S. Navy, protection of military technology and occupations.
Among jurors were a woman whose husband works with the Navy and government agencies, a man who loads trucks for a container company, an immigrant who works in special education, workers for a media company with 25 publications and a mortgage company, and a computer programmer.
U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney asked an elderly Asian woman if she would have difficulty being impartial.
"I'm from Taiwan so China is ... against us," said the woman, who also referred to China as "my enemy."
The judge dismissed her.
"Do you have a sense about the immigration of Chinese people into Southern California?" defense attorney Ronald Kaye asked a woman who was among about 75 prospects brought to court for questioning.
"I work with Asians so I feel that they are hardworking people," said the woman, who appeared to be of Southeast Asian descent. She was kept on the jury.
The Chinese-born defendant, Chi Mak, 66, a U.S. citizen since 1985, is accused of conspiracy to export U.S. defense secrets to China, possession of property in aid of a foreign government and failure to register as a foreign agent. He could get more than 50 years in prison if convicted.
Kaye asked several prospective jurors about their opinions on the Chinese economy, military and history including Mao Zedong.
"They're going to be stronger and stronger as time goes by. ... Obviously that could be a problem in the future," said man who identified himself as a supermarket employee. He was dismissed.
The defense also excused a woman whose father served in the Korean War, a woman who remarked about China's "huge market" for goods, an infrastructure technology construction worker who expressed concern about China's use of resources, and an insurance underwriter who said he believed in a strong defense.
Among those excused by the prosecution were a Los Angeles port engineer who reads Janes Defense Weekly and journals related to the Navy, and a retired systems engineer who worked with defense contractors.
Mak was an engineer at Power Paragon, an Anaheim-based subsidiary of L-3 Communications, the nation's sixth-largest defense company. The government says he took documents from Power Paragon, copied them to computer disks and encrypted them with the help of relatives before trying to pass them to a Chinese contact.
Prosecutors allege he had worked for China from 1983 until his arrest two years ago, using his position to steal naval technology including silent-running propulsion systems that can make submarines virtually undetectable.
During a search of Mak's home, investigators found restricted documents on the DDX Destroyer, an advanced technology warship, and lists in Chinese asking him for information about torpedoes, electromagnetic artillery systems and technology used to detect incoming missiles, court documents state.
So in other words, the jury selection process has rejected anyone with an IQ higher than two digits, anyone with a molecule of patriotism in them, and anyone who reads the newspaper.
Mak is lucky I didn't get on that jury. Boys.... Git a rope!
Ultimately, what does it matter? China obtains yet another tranche of hard-won or hard-developed secrets, some schmuck takes the rap, and that's that. China wins.
Now if only life was like a Tom Clancy novel. The secrets would prove to be disinformation planted by the CIA, and everything would be well once more.
Too bad it isn't.
If you want on or off to the list, go to the link and follow the instructions.
""[Another prospective juror] work[s] with Asians so [apj] feel[s] that they are hardworking people," said the woman, who appeared to be of Southeast Asian descent."
Let's see... Chinese people like this guy and Wen Ho Lee are stealing our military secrets and spying for China. Perhaps we don't want to hire any more Chinese to work in our defense facilities? Any nation with common sense would do that. Ah, but racial profiling is worse than having LA nuked. OF COURSE!
And unfortunately I suspect that the nuke, or at least components thereof, are already in place.
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