SAN FRANCISCO, March 14 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court panel upheld the conviction of a U.S.-born Pakistani who was suspected of awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the United States.
In its 2-1 ruling Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel sitting in San Francisco rejected Hamid Hayat's appeal of his 2006 convictions and 24-year prison sentence for providing material support to terrorists and lying to government officials, Courthouse News Service reported.
The court record indicated Hayat was born in the United States and lived in America until he was 7, and then lived with his relatives in Pakistan until he was 18. In 2000 he returned to his parents' house in Lodi, Calif., the site of a suspected terrorist cell.
Speaking to an FBI informant, Hayat discussed his scorn for America and his plans to attend a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, the ruling said. When Hayat tried to re-enter the United States in 2005 after a two-year trip to Pakistan with his family, his return flight was diverted to Japan because his name was on the federal "No Fly" list. FBI agents took him to Sacramento for more questioning five days after he landed.
After denying he attended a terrorist training camp, Hayat admitted he attended a camp where he was trained for jihad, among other things. After questioning, he was arrested.
In his appeal, Hayat said the jury foreman was biased against him, the defense should have been allowed to further cross-examine the informant and the trial judge was unfair in what he did or didn't allow during trial.
The appeal court's majority found "plausible," non-biased explanations for comments made by the foreman and found no abuses of discretion or "plain error" in what the trial judge allowed or omitted at trial, Courthouse News Service said.
In dissent, Judge Wallace Tashima said, "This case is a stark demonstration of the unsettling and untoward consequences of the government's use of anticipatory prosecution as a weapon in the 'war on terrorism.'"
