Former Minneapolis man did try to evade authorities but isn't a terrorist, lawyer says

Mpls (red)Star Tribune ^ | 5/21/03 | Paul Gustafson

[Valin]

DETROIT -- If Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi made a mistake after fleeing a credit-card scam charge in Minnesota in 2001, his lawyer said Tuesday, it was seeking help from a habitual liar who has falsely accused the former Minneapolis man of being a terrorist. William Swor, Elmardoudi's attorney, told a federal jury in Detroit on Tuesday that his client sought Youssef Hmimssa's help in obtaining false identification documents to evade authorities -- not to advance a terrorist plot.

[wideawake]

A day planner found in a Detroit apartment occupied by several of Elmardoudi's co-defendants in September 2001, contained sketches of the air base, the government alleges. Defense attorneys have said the planner belonged to a former mental patient who lived in the apartment, and that it was he who made sketches that prosecutors say depict the air base in Turkey and a military hospital in Amman, Jordan. The men later used the planner's pages as scratch paper, which is why it contained their fingerprints, defense attorneys said.

The defense's argument is ludicrous.

[Valin]

Well you know what they say about when life deals you a lemon.

[Portnoy]

The Detroit Terror Trial has, I believe, gone to jury. Expect a quick judgement. However, don't terrorists like causing a stir on the day verdicts are announced?

[Welsh Rabbit]

It's definately ludicrous, but it is refreshing to see a defense attorney trying denial rather than arguing the defendant was somehow justified.