United States of America v. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
| Court |
United States District Court, S.D. New York, United States |
| Case number |
S10 98 Crim. 1023 (LAK) |
| Decision title |
Opinion |
| Decision date |
12 July 2010 |
| Parties |
- United States of America
- Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
|
| Categories |
Conspiracy, Terrorism, War crimes |
| Keywords |
conspiracy, Kenya, motion to dismiss, right to speedy trial, Sixth Amendment, Tanzania, Terrorism |
| Links |
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| Other countries involved |
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back to topSummary
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in July 2004 in Pakistan and transferred to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) in September 2006. He was charged with terrorism and war crimes (among other) in connection with the 1998 attacks on the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. In June 2009, Ghailani became the first prisoner of Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to the United States for prosecution.
In November 2009, Ghailani’s lawyers filed a motion for dismissal of the case of his case arguing that the nearly five years that Ghailani spent in secret CIA prisons and at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment.
In July 2010, the District Court found that Ghailani’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was not violated becase, considering all circumstances, the delay did not infringe upon any interest protected by this constitutional right.
back to topProcedural history
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004 and transferred to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) in September 2006. Ghailani was charged in 2008 by the US Office of Military Commissions with ten counts of terrorism and war crimes.
In 1998, Ghailani, together with twenty-one other accused, was also indicted by a federal grand jury of the Southern District of New York. See United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,Superseding Indictment, 12 March 2001 (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).
On 16 November 2009, Ghailani’s lawyers filed a motion for dismissal of his case on grounds of violation of his due process and speedy trial rights for Ghailani’s detention for nearly five years in secret CIA prisons and later at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba).
back to topRelated developments
On 30 September 2010, Ghailani’s trial began. Opening statements were delivered on 12 October 2010. See also A. Bottorff, 'Federal Court Hears Opening Statements in Ex-Guantanamo Detainee’s Civilian Trial', Jurist, 13 October 2010.
On 17 November 2010, Ghailani was acquitted of all but one of the more than 280 charges against him.
See also US Federal Bureau of Investigation, 'Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani Found Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of Conspiring in the 1998 Destruction of United States Embassies in East Africa Resulting in Death', 17 November 2010; B. Weiser, 'Detainee Acquitted on Most Counts in ’98 Bombings', The New York Times, 17 November 2010; and J. Carmella, 'Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Acquitted on All but One Charge', Jurist, 18 November 2010.
On 21 January 2011, the District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Ghailani’s request to throw out the conviction on grounds that it was inconsistent.
On 25 January 2011, Ghailani was sentenced to life imprisonment.
See B. Weiser, 'Ex-Detainee Gets Life Sentence in Embassy Blasts', The New York Times, 25 January 2011; and BBC, 'Ahmed Ghailani Sentence: The Future of Guantanamo', BBC News ,25 January 2011.
Ghailani appealed his sentence on grounds that he was denied his right to a speedy trial. See Reuters, 'Jailed Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Appeals Life Sentence', 1 June 2012.
back to topLegally relevant facts
In 2008, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was charged by the US Office of Military Commissions with ten counts of terrorism and war crimes including murder and attacking civilians related to the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in July 2004 and in 2006, he was transferred to the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba). Upon his arrest, Pakistani officials said his apprehension was one of the most significant since the detention of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003 (pp. 5-6).
In addition to the charges related to the embassy bombings, Ghailani was indicted by a federal grand jury of the Southern District of New York in 1998 alongside twenty-one other accused in United States v. Usama bin Laden et al.. According to that Indictment, Ghailani faced 286 separate counts, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden to kill Americans anywhere in the world (pp. 5-17).
In November 2009, Ghailani moved to dismiss the indictment arguing that the nearly five-year delay in his process violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial (pp. 16-17).
back to topCore legal questions
- Can the District Court grant the motion to dismiss on the grounds of violations of Ghailani’s right to a speedy trial?
back to topSpecific legal rules and provisions
- Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.
back to topCourt's holding and analysis
The District Court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that the right to a speedy trial, embodied under the Sixth Amendment, was not violated. The District Court ruled that “[c]onsidering all of the circumstances, particularly the lack of significant prejudice of the sort that the Speedy Trial Clause was intended to prevent, the delay in this case did not materially infringe upon any interest protected by the right to a speedy trial. The Court therefore holds that Ghailani’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has not been violated” (p. 44).
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