Jury deadlocks in (Simon Trinidad's drug trafficking) trial

I really have no idea whether he actually has anything to do with the drug trade at all (which doesn't suddenly make him a "good guy" or a "hero", rest assured, if we were to discuss what his "political reasons" are), but it's good to know that the jurors didn't dispute FARC's participation per se, only Mr. Palmera's.

All in all, a very sloppy but ultimately mixed picture.
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Jury deadlocks in Colombian rebel trial

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer 58 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A federal judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the cocaine trafficking trial of the most senior commander of Latin America's largest rebel group to be captured.

The U.S. hoped a conviction would support its stand that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is both a terrorist organization and a violent drug cartel.

But jurors said they could not reach a verdict against Ricardo Palmera, the latest stalemate in the government's case. Prosecutors indicated they would seek a retrial of Palmera, also known by his nom de guerre, Simon Trinidad. The Justice Department did not comment on the mistrial.

Jurors, whose names were kept secret under a court order, said they were deadlocked at 7-5 in favor of acquittal. Jurors did not dispute that the group, known as FARC, its Spanish initials, was in the cocaine business. But most agreed that the government could not prove Palmera was part of that enterprise.

One juror told reporters that the Justice Department never disproved Palmera's defense that "he was a political adviser for the FARC and that his duties and responsibilities were primarily for political reasons."

The rebel group has fought the Colombian government for 40 years. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars in recent years to combat the insurgency and the Colombian cocaine industry.

Palmera was convicted in July of hostage-taking conspiracy. Though he faces decades in prison on that charge, this is not the outcome officials hoped for when Palmera was captured in 2004 and extradited to the United States.

The Justice Department's terrorism case fell apart when, after two trials, jurors could not agree whether Palmera had supported terrorists. Now, after a monthlong drug trial, prosecutors must decide whether to bring this case again.

Prosecutors successfully prosecuted a FARC commander on drug charges this summer. Anayibe Rojas Valderama, or "Sonia," was convicted of exporting cocaine to the U.S. to finance the rebels.

(This version CORRECTS that Palmera was not captured by Colombian authorities.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071004/ap_on_go_ot/colombia_rebel_trial_6

By juancegomez on Oct 4, 2007, 15:33 in Politics & the war.

cali373 says on Oct 5, 2007, 16:06:

LOL!!! ,LOL!!! ,LOL!!! ,LOL!!! ,LOL!!!

Maybe this country´s justice system is not goig to the shitter.

Smile if you are a thinker!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

juancegomez says on Oct 5, 2007, 18:24:

jim_bridger: I don't immediately see where "freedom" factors into any of this (or Nazism, for that matter), but well...

cali373: Consider though he's already sentenced for something that's a bit questionable (hostage taking conspiracy, which seems far-fetched ), and not for what would seem logical (how can this man NOT be guilty of supporting terrorism, when he's a member of a terrorist organization? Whatever way you want to put, that has to be a pretty shitty reasoning on the part of the jurors). He's not exactly a free man, but he's going to spend time in jail for one of the, on the surface, weaker charges available.

0 funny, 0 helpful.