NY Court: Long Interrogation OK Before Terror Case

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK October 24, 2013 (AP)
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

In a boost to U.S. efforts to gain intelligence from terrorism suspects before prosecuting them, a federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction of an ex-Guantanamo detainee in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani's long detention overseas by the Central Intelligence Agency violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial, concluding that he was properly convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the attacks that killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.

Ghailani's lawyer, Peter Quijano, promised a Supreme Court appeal.

The court seemed to embrace an opportunity to say that evidence necessary to prosecute in U.S. civilian courts and the legal rights of a defendant are not necessarily spoiled by efforts to obtain intelligence from terrorism suspects.

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