Christmas plane attack case will test defense

Christmas plane attack case will test defense
By ED WHITE
Associated Press Writer
Jan 8, 4:32 AM EST

DETROIT (AP) -- Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was tackled by a passenger on board a packed U.S. jetliner on Christmas as flames shot from his clothes. President Barack Obama calls him a "suspected terrorist." And an al-Qaida branch has taken responsibility.

The young Nigerian man is due in federal court Friday for his arraignment on charges that he failed to detonate a chemical-laden explosive on the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight. But with so much evidence stacked against him, experts say his defense team is left with few options as the case moves forward.

Attorneys outside the case say the 23-year-old's lawyers can challenge incriminating statements to the FBI, seek a mental-health exam for Abdulmutallab - and seriously consider a plea deal.

"This is not a case of mistaken identity or a whodunit. For the defense, it's damage control," said Joseph Niskar, a defense lawyer who was involved in a 2001 terrorism case in Detroit that fell apart for the government.

A federal grand jury indicted Abdulmutallab this week on six charges, including one that could put him away for life: the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. That weapon, according to the government, was an explosive hidden under his clothing. The FBI says Abdulmutallab tried to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals.


Rest of Stripes article at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRLINE_ATTACK?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-01-08-04-32-28