Hundreds of prospective jurors began filling out questionnaires yesterday in advance of trial for a man accused in the al-Qaida conspiracy to bomb two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. Southern District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan briefly addressed the first wave of potential jurors in the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantánamo Bay detainee to be transferred to a civilian court for trial. Mr. Ghailani was arrested in 2004 and his lawyers claim he was tortured by the CIA at secret prisons before his transfer to Guantánamo for trial before a military commission. But a change in policy by the Obama administration led to his transfer to New York in 2009 to face charges in a 12-year-old indictment in the twin bombings that killed 224 people.
Judge Kaplan explained that jurors who are not dismissed following a review of their questionnaires will return Sept. 29 for oral questioning, and that the final stage of jury selection is expected to take place on Oct. 4. He also said measures will be taken to protect the anonymity of the jurors during a trial that is expected to last three months. “We are going to make this as low impact on your lives” as possible, the judge promised. Judge Kaplan has not released the questionnaire that was handed out to the jury pool. — Mark Hamblett
Judge Orders Firms to Add Minorities, Women to Case
