Millennium Bomber Sentence Thrown Out
Ahmed Ressam Could End Up With Shorter Sentence
By DAVID KRAVETS
AP
SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 16) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the sentence of an Algerian man who was convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the turn of the millennium.
Ahmed Ressam was arrested near the U.S.-Canadian border in December 1999 after customs agents found 124 pounds of explosives in the trunk of his car.
Prosecutors said he was intent on bombing the airport on the eve of the millennium. The arrest raised fears of terrorism attacks and prompted the cancellation of millennium celebrations at Seattle's Space Needle.
Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted off all nine charges. On Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed his conviction on one of the charges and sent the case back to a lower court to issue a new sentence and explain the rationale behind the original 22-year term.
2007-01-16 10:03:50 · 5 answers · asked by marnefirstinfantry 5 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
exactly..reversing a sentence is not something to read into that they are letting him go...perhaps the original sentencing had no rationale behind the 22 year term...maybe he will get 22 years with a rationale...wait and see the final result before getting upset.
2007-01-16 10:12:36 · answer #1 · answered by prekinpdx 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Gee, I wonder why marne didn't post the last paragraph of the AP story he quotes? Maybe because it did not fit his preconceived ideas? The man has a place in the Bush administration for sure. Here it is:
"The decision does not necessarily mean the defendant will get a shorter term, as federal prosecutors said the original sentence was too light and judges are given wide latitude to sentence defendants as they see fit."
By the way, the opinion in this case was written by Pamela Rymer, a moderate conservative appointee of George H.W. Bush, and hardly a "neo lib."
2007-01-16 18:49:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
1 of 9 convictions was reversed. If I knew which one was reversed, then I could better answer this question. Also, a new sentence will be issued. Maybe it will be 21 years and 11 months. You don't know. But don't act like they are letting a convicted terrorist free.
Your question was the definition of spin.
It also doesn't say they reversed the conviction only to explain the sentence.
2007-01-16 18:10:27 · answer #3 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
can you be completely truthful? they overturned one charge out of nine. you are leaving out the fact that he helped catch other terrorists too. until his mind was gone from too much interrogation and solitary confinement. he will be an old man,if he ever gets out.
2007-01-16 18:14:16 · answer #4 · answered by J Q Public 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A neo-lib judge overturned the sentence because he wanted to know the rationale behind the severity of it. WTF???!!! The rationale is the guy was illegally entering the US, using a false name and carrying 124 pounds of explosives.
This is another example of neo-lib judges exceeding their authority in order to make the law review.
2007-01-16 18:10:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋