Bin Laden’s driver is on trial. It sounds as if he may have been more than a bodyguard.
What concerns me, though, is the jury members:
“You must make your determination whether or not he is guilty based solely on the evidence presented here in court and the instructions I will give you.
“You must impartially hear the evidence.”
The trial jury is being selected from a pool of 13 US military officers and must comprise at least five members.
The verdict will require a two-thirds majority.
I can’t imagine any US military officer finding bin Laden’s driver not guilty? I think it would be akin to having the police department be the jury for criminal proceedings. They’d be insane to find you innocent, no matter what the charges are.
I agree that having military officers as the jury SUCKS… but seriously… they’re going to have some guy that Bin Laden took off the streets and gave him a job be guilty of high crimes for trying to make a few dollars so that his family could stop living in the gutters? This is so far against free market economies, and pierces so many employer/employee rights that it hurts!
It does sound as if the driver might have been more than a driver. But it’s hard to be sure, especially since I don’t know if the trial will be open to the media.
The thing is, they could easily select a better jury? In a lot of civil cases, you’ll see them being paranoid not to compromise the trial so that the guy doesn’t get off on an appeal.