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Jurors sequestered in CIA shooting case
Shielded from news of Pakistan slayings
November 12, 1997
Web posted at: 10:54 p.m. EST (0354 GMT)FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) -- The jury deciding the fate of a Pakistani national convicted of murdering two people outside of CIA headquarters in 1993 was ordered sequestered Wednesday, in the wake of the murders of four Americans in Pakistan.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge J. Howe Brown took the action in the case of Mir Aimal Kasi to shield jurors from news coverage of the murders in Karachi. However, he refused defense requests to declare a mistrial because of the possible effect of the murders on the jury.
A L S O :
4 U.S. workers slain in Pakistan
Kasi, 33, was convicted Monday of ambushing drivers during rush hour traffic outside CIA headquarters in suburban Washington. Two people were killed and three injured.
Testimony continued Wednesday in the penalty phase of the trial, during which jurors will decide whether to sentence Kasi to death.
Four Americans who work for a Texas oil company were ambushed and murdered in downtown Karachi Wednesday morning. The U.S. embassy received a call claiming that the murders were in retaliation for the jury's conviction of Kasi, a Pakistani national. But U.S. officials say they have been unable to substantiate that claim.
Defense attorney Richard Goemann asked Brown to question jurors individually about whether they had heard about the attack. The judge refused, but he asked the jurors collectively if any of them had seen or heard anything about the case. No one responded.
During his arguments to the judge, Goemann revealed that jurors had sent a note to the judge Monday -- before the murders in Pakistan -- expressing fears for their safety. The contents of the note were not disclosed.
Goemann said he feared that the deliberations on Kasi's fate by the six-man, six-woman jury might be prejudiced by reports of a possible link between their guilty verdicts and the Karachi killings.
"Clearly, these jurors have already indicated that they have some concern for their own safety," Goemann said. "If I heard anything like this, I would be scared to death."
No direct threats have been received against the jury, said Jim Vickery, chief deputy sheriff for Fairfax County.
On Tuesday, Brown issued an order which will keep the identities of the jurors secret even after the trial. Customarily in U.S. courts, the media and public have access to the names of jurors after a trial.
Security remained tight at the Fairfax County court complex. Sharpshooters were perched on the roofs of buildings, and bomb sniffing dogs were on patrol. The county spent more than $1 million on security measures at the courthouse for this trial.
On Wednesday, the defense presented mitigating evidence in an attempt to get the jury to spare Kasi's life.
Dr. Richard Restak, a neurologist, testified that Kasi was missing tissue from his frontal lobes of his brain, a congenital condition that made it hard for him to judge the consequences of his actions. Another defense psychologist who tested Kasi backed up that claim.
Restak said Kasi -- who prosecutors say went on his shooting rampage to protest what he saw as American mistreatment of Muslims -- might have acted without being able to fully weigh the consequences of the shooting.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- CNN - Pakistan killings raised in CIA shooting trial - November 12, 1997
- Family says gunman at CIA 'loved America' - November 11, 1997
- CIA shooting trial goes to jury - November 10, 1997
- Prosecutor: U.S. Mideast policy motivated CIA shooting - November 5, 1997
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