Posada trial
Jurors acquit Cuban militant Posada after 3 hours
A Texas jury deliberated for three hours before acquitting Luis Posada
Carriles on all 11 perjury counts.
By ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@ElNuevoHerald.com
EL PASO, Texas -- After deliberating for about three hours, a jury of
seven women and five men acquitted Luis Posada Carriles on Friday on all
11 charges in an indictment that accused him of lying about his alleged
role in bombings in Cuba in 1997 and about how he sneaked into the
country in 2005.
As soon as U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone read the unanimous
verdict, Posada and his three lawyers merged into a tight embrace that
lasted several seconds as the federal prosecutors sat without showing
emotion.
The verdict was a surprise to many observers who had expected the jurors
to deliberate for a few days before reaching a decision. The observers
also expected the jurors to find Posada guilty on at least some counts.
No one had predicted an acquittal across the board on all perjury and
fraud charges.
Acquittal caps a slow-moving trial that lasted 13 weeks and featured 33
witnesses from the prosecution and the defense.
Jurors began their deliberations Friday morning at around 9 a.m. El Paso
time and by 11:57 a.m. had sent a note to Judge Cardone saying they had
reached a verdict in the perjury trial against Posada, a former CIA
operative charged with lying to U.S. immigration officials about his
alleged role in the Cuba bombings and how he entered the country in 2005.
Had the jurors found Posada guilty on all charges, he might have faced
eight years in the federal penitentiary. Despite the acquittal, Posada
may not walk a totally free man. A pending deportation order against him
may prompt federal immigration authorities to require that he report
regularly to an immigration office, as if he were on permanent
supervised release.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/08/2157558/jurors-acquit-cuban-militant-posada.html
No comments:
Post a Comment