Opinion ID: 781722
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Liberation Army Letter

Text: 207 Even assuming that the defense had expressly objected to admission of the letter, we cannot say that the District Court abused its discretion in admitting the Liberation Army letter. First, the probative value of the letter was high. It supported an inference that the defendants intended to commit imminent attacks on United States targets and made clear that the strike was motivated by America's support of Israel. 54 208 Second, the risks entailed by admission of the letter did not substantially outweigh its probative value. Although the letter contained threats against a number of other countries, these threats comprised a relatively small portion of the letter and were far less likely to influence the jury than were the threats against the United States, which were highly probative of the defendants' motives. 209 Moreover, we upheld the admission of similar evidence in Salameh I. In that case, we sustained the District Court's admission into evidence of materials — similar to the letter in the instant case — that detailed the motives of some of Yousef's co-conspirators for attacking the World Trade Center. Id. at 111. Those materials, including a document urging terrorist attacks on all alleged enemies of Islam, while potentially inflammatory, evidenced the conspiracy's motive and intent to bomb targets in the United States. Id. Likewise, in the instant case, the Liberation Army letter suggested a motive and intent to kill Americans in the very near future. Accordingly, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the letter.