Opinion ID: 781722
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Arrests of Shah, Yousef, and Murad

Text: 28 On January 11, 1995, several days after their search of the Manila apartment, Manila police arrested Shah. Police apprehended Shah after they determined that a pager called by Yousef following Murad's arrest was registered in the name of Shah's girlfriend. Shah escaped from custody one week later, only to be recaptured on December 11, 1995 in Malaysia by Malaysian police. Shah was then delivered to the custody of the United States, where he agreed to speak to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents after he signed a written waiver of his Miranda rights. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 479, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). 29 In early February 1995, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan received a tip that Yousef was somewhere in Islamabad. On February 7, 1995, Pakistani officials, together with a special agent from the United States Department of State, arrested Yousef at a guest house in Islamabad. The next day, agents from the FBI and the United States Secret Service arrived from the United States, took Yousef into custody, and transported him back to the United States. On the plane, Yousef was informed of the charges against him pertaining to the World Trade Center bombing and advised of his rights. Without the use or need of an interpreter, he waived his Miranda rights and made an extensive confession about the World Trade Center bombing plot. 6 30 Philippine authorities turned Murad over to FBI agents in Manila on April 12, 1995. During the plane ride to the United States, Murad was read his Miranda rights twice and given written copies of the waiver in both English and Arabic. Murad indicated that he understood his rights and waived them in writing. He then agreed to speak to the FBI agents on the airplane without an interpreter. Murad told the agents that his part in the aircraft bombing scheme was to board a United Airlines flight in Singapore with its first stop in Hong Kong and to plant a bomb onboard the plane. After arriving in Hong Kong, Murad was to take a different flight back to Singapore, planting a bomb aboard that plane as well. Murad told the agents that he expected the resulting explosion to tear a hole in the aircraft, causing it to crash in the Pacific Ocean. He also asserted his belief that co-conspirators would bomb other flights. Murad stated that the goal of the attacks was to make the American people and the American government suffer for their support of Israel. Direct Testimony of Francis J. Pellegrino, Aug. 5, 1996, Airline Bombing Trial Transcript (ATr.), at 3501. 31 Murad described the explosive device components of the bombs, which matched items seized at the Manila apartment he shared with Yousef. Murad stated that he had been told that the Philippine Airlines bombing of December 11, 1994 was a testrun to ensure that the chemicals and timing device worked correctly. 32 On February 21, 1996, a grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted Yousef, Murad, and Shah for various crimes relating to their conspiracy to bomb United States airliners in Southeast Asia in 1994 and 1995. Counts Twelve through Twenty of the original indictment (S12 93 Cr. 180(KTD)) were renumbered from One to Nine for use in the airline bombing trial. 33 In Count Twelve, the defendants were indicted for violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 7 by conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(1) by destroying aircraft in the special administrative jurisdiction of the United States and civil aircraft operated in foreign air commerce; and by conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(2) by placing bombs on board such aircraft, thereby endangering the aircraft's safety. 8 34 Count Thirteen charged the defendants with violating 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(1) and (7) by attempting to destroy an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States and civil aircraft operated in foreign air commerce. 9 Count Fourteen charged the defendants with violating 18 U.S.C. § 32(a)(2) and (7) by attempting to place a bomb on such aircraft and endangering the safety of such aircraft. 35 In Count Fifteen, the defendants were charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 2332(b) and (d) by conspiring to kill United States nationals while they were located outside of the United States. 10 In Count Sixteen, the defendants were charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 2332a by conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States against United States nationals. 11 36 The defendants were charged in Counts Seventeen and Eighteen with violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c) and 2 by using and carrying a destructive device during and in connection with a violent crime. 12 The violent crime underlying Count Seventeen was the conspiracy to bomb aircraft charged in Count Twelve. In Count Eighteen, the underlying violent crime was the conspiracy to kill United States nationals charged in Count Fifteen. 37 Yousef alone was charged in Count Nineteen with violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 32(b)(3), 34, and 2 for placing a bomb on a civil aircraft registered in a foreign country while that aircraft was in service, to wit, Yousef's bombing of the Philippine airlines flight that killed one passenger. 13 38 Shah alone was charged in Count Twenty with violating 18 U.S.C. § 751(a) by attempting to escape from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York on February 6, 1996. 14 39 Prior to trial, the defendants moved to suppress their confessions, but the District Court denied those motions. 40 The trial of Yousef, Murad, and Shah on the airline bombing charges began on May 29, 1996 and ended on September 5, 1996, when the jury found all three defendants guilty on all counts. The District Court sentenced Yousef principally to a term of life imprisonment on all eight counts. The District Court sentenced Murad principally to life imprisonment on Counts Twelve through Sixteen, plus two 30-year sentences for Counts Seventeen and Eighteen, all to be served consecutively. 41 On appeal, defendants-appellants Yousef and Murad attack their convictions and sentences, raising a number of issues. 15