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Judge rejects defense witness at Hayat trials(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 1--The judge in the terrorism trials of Hamid and Umer Hayat dealt a blow to the defense Friday, refusing to allow former FBI agent James J. Wedick to testify. Wedick, who worked some of the U.S. government's biggest undercover investigations - including Abscam and Capscam - is now chief investigator for the defense team. Wedick, a 34-year FBI veteran, was prepared to testify that the FBI bungled various aspects of the case, including its reliance on confidential informant Naseem Khan and the interrogation of the Hayats that led to their confessions. Hamid confessed he went to two terrorist training camps and his father, Umer, admitted that he knew about it and that he toured camps. U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. excluded Wedick's testimony, saying the defense has "already explored the quality of the FBI interviews." Burrell said Wedick's proposed testimony had "the potential for confusing the jury, wasting time and presenting needless cumulative evidence." Johnny Griffin III, Umer Hayat's attorney, said in court that Wedick would have testified that informants are rarely paid at all and that what Naseem Khan was paid - $217,000 over four years - "far exceeds the standard or normal amount." But, prosecutor David Deitch said, "the jury will never hear the full extent of Mr. Khan's assistance because he worked on other investigations not relevant to this case." Griffin, referring to a taped conversation where Khan threatened to grab Hamid Hayat by the throat and throw him into his grandfather's madrassah as a first stop toward terrorist training, said, "Mr. Wedick will opine that no informant should either jokingly or otherwise make threats to a potential target." Wedick, a former FBI supervisor in Sacramento, told The Bee, "You can't use the blessed Virgin Mary to catch these guys - you've got to use criminals. But, if you don't supervise these guys they'll take you to the cleaners every time." Wedick said the FBI should have pulled the plug on Khan as an informant when it could not corroborate his claim that he saw Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama Bin Laden's second-in-command, in Lodi in the late 1990s and his investigation of two imams in Lodi had fizzled. "I know a similar situation involving an informant used against organized crime in New York - the subsequent lack of supervision caused the bureau to have to pay out millions of dollars," Wedick said. In court, Griffin said Wedick would have testified the FBI agents who obtained the confessions should have told the Hayats they were free to walk away from the interrogations. They also shouldn't have invoked Umer Hayat's loyalty to his family or religion, "because it created a false sense of hope so he told agents whatever they wanted to hear," Griffin said. "Wedick says agents are trained not to talk about God, religion or family because that could lead to an invalid confession." Deitch said, "Mr. Wedick is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist" who can assess the effect on the Hayats. Griffin said Wedick could testify the FBI agents who got the confessions didn't take into account the Hayats' education, language skills and mental capacity. Wedick also questioned why the FBI didn't use agents in Pakistan to help make their case, Griffin said. Hamid Hayat, 23, is charged with supporting terrorism by undergoing jihadi training in Pakistan and returning to Lodi in May to await orders to wage violent jihad against enemies of Islam in the United States. He is also charged with initially lying to the FBI to conceal his training and intentions. His father, Umer Hayat, 48, is charged with initially lying to the FBI to cover for his son and to hide his own firsthand knowledge of terrorist training in Pakistan. The Hayats, both U.S. citizens, have pleaded not guilty. |