Twelve of the 224 victims were Americans. Mohamed's lawyer, David Ruhnke, wrote to U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand Wednesday seeking the jury's dismissal before his client's sentencing hearing. Before reaching guilty verdicts against Al-'Owhali, Mohamed and two other men, the jury heard evidence from more than two dozen bombing survivors and relatives of victims. Al-'Owhali and Mohamed both could be sentenced to death because the jury concluded they directly caused deaths in the bombings. The other two men face up to life in prison for conspiracy and will be sentenced by the judge.
Federal law requires a jury to decide on imposing the death penalty for federal capital crimes.
Sand, in refusing to dismiss the jury, said seating a new panel would require a virtual rehearing of the case. He also said it would be obvious to the jury that there was a numerical difference between the 213 people killed in Kenya and the 11 killed in Tanzania. All Rights Reserved.