Opinion ID: 181375
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Azzam Website Materials

Text: We reach the same conclusion with respect to the admitted Azzam website materials, which consisted of (a) excerpts from three videos purchased by Abu-Jihaad from Azzam, and (b) other materials marketed and/or posted on Azzam's websites. Abu-Jihaad concedes the relevancy of these materials to an understanding of Azzam's operations and to his own mens rea. Nevertheless, he contends that the evidence should have been excluded under Rule 403. We are not persuaded.
With respect to the videos, which we briefly describe supra at 113 & n. 12, the district court determined that the pro-jihadist contents of the videos were relevant to understanding Abu-Jihaad's motive and intent in communicating information that could have resulted in the destruction of the very ship on which he served. See United States v. Abu-Jihaad, 553 F.Supp.2d at 127-28. At the same time, the district court was conscientious in ensuring against unfair prejudice. See United States v. Salameh, 152 F.3d 88, 110 (2d Cir.1998). It reviewed the films in their entirety before approving only selected excerpts for display to the jury. Although these excerpts included depictions of violence, as was necessary not to distort the sense of the films as a whole, the depictions were limited and, as the district court accurately observed, less gruesome than many seen on nightly news dispatches from Baghdad. United States v. Abu-Jihaad, 553 F.Supp.2d at 128. [29] We identify no error, let alone arbitrary or irrational error, in the decision of admissibility under these circumstances. See United States v. Salameh, 152 F.3d at 110-11 (holding that where video depicting embassy bombing and instructions for making explosive devices was relevant to motive and nature of conspiratorial agreement, district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that probative value of evidence outweighed any unfair prejudice). Moreover, any danger of unfair prejudice was here again minimized by the district court's limiting instructions, see United States v. Bermudez, 529 F.3d 158, 163 (2d Cir.2008), which we presume the jury followed, see United States v. Downing, 297 F.3d at 59. [30] Accordingly, we conclude that the district court acted within its discretion in allowing the jury to view the challenged video evidence.
The district court also allowed the jury to view various materials, including Osama bin Laden's 1996 fatwa against the United States, that were marketed or posted on Azzam's websites in or around 2001. The government could not prove that Abu-Jihaad saw a particular posting, only that he visited the site during times when the postings were available. See United States v. Abu-Jihaad, 553 F.Supp.2d at 128-29. The court acknowledged that such materials had the potential to inflame a juror's passions. Id. at 129. Nevertheless, it concluded that the risk of such prejudice did not outweigh the probative value of the materials to the jury's assessment of Abu-Jihaad's intent and motive in communicating with Azzam. In reaching this conclusion, the court emphasized that it had gone to extraordinary lengths to select jurors who would not let passion or bias infect their consideration of evidence and who would conscientiously follow appropriate limiting instructions. Id. On this record, we identify no abuse of discretion in admission of the Azzam website materials.