Closings Arguments Underway In Trial Of Woman Accused Of Shooting At Soldiers
By Chad Bray, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A Pakistani woman saw an opportunity to kill Americans and took it when she grabbed a U.S. Army soldier's rifle in July 2008 and tried to shoot a group of soldiers and FBI agents at an Afghan police compound, a U.S. prosecutor said Monday.
In his closing statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher La Vigne said Aafia Siddiqui, who was trained as a scientist in the U.S., had been arrested by Afghan police in July 2008 with documents that "were a roadmap to destruction" and included references to a "mass casualty attack" in the U.S.
When she saw an opportunity, she grabbed an M-4 assault rifle belonging to a U.S. soldier who was part of a team that had traveled to Ghazni, Afghanistan, to interview her about the documents and "tried to kill every person in that room," La Vigne said.
However, Linda Moreno, Siddiqui's lawyer, said there's no physical evidence that her client handled the rifle or fired it.
"We're here, folks, because the defendant committed attempted murder," La Vigne said. "She had the motive to do it. She had the know-how to do it."
Siddiqui, 37 years old, is on trial on U.S. District Court in Manhattan on a seven-count indictment that includes charges of attempted murder, armed assault on U.S. officers and employees and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. She faces as many as 20 years in prison on the attempted murder charges and life in prison on the firearms charge.
Prosecutors have alleged that Siddiqui, who had been taken into custody by authorities in Afghanistan in July 2008, took an Army soldier's rifle, which he had placed on the floor of a second-floor office at an Afghan police compound; burst from behind a curtain in the office; and attempted to shoot the assembled agents and soldiers.
She was shot in the abdomen by a soldier who returned fire with his sidearm, prosecutors said.
Last week, Siddiqui took the stand and denied grabbing the weapon or having any familiarity with firearms. She said was concerned about being transferred to a "secret" prison by the Americans and was trying to slip out of the room when she was shot.
"I'm telling you what I know," Siddiqui said last week in response to a prosecutor's question. "I walked toward the curtain. I was shot and I was shot again. I fainted."
Siddiqui, who received graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University in biology and neuroscience while living in the U.S. between 1991 and June 2002, wasn't in the courtroom as closing statements unfolded Monday.
La Vigne, the prosecutor, said Siddiqui lied in her testimony and only wanted to answer questions on her own terms. He called her story "incredible" and "ridiculous."
"What possible reason did they have to shoot an unarmed 100-pound woman," La Vigne said.
La Vigne also tried to answer the defense's assertion that there was no physical evidence, saying it took the FBI six days to return and examine the crime scene, which was unsecured.
In her closing statement, Moreno, Siddiqui's lawyer, said the soldiers and the FBI agents in the room contradicted each other in their testimony and their own statements given to the FBI following the incident.
Moreno also said there were no M-4 bullets, no bullet debris from the M-4 rifle and no bullet holes from the rifle in the room.
"The indisputable fact is there is no physical evidence that an M-4 rifle was touched by Dr. Siddiqui or fired by her," Moreno said.
She described the 300-square foot room where the alleged shooting took place as a "sort of a Bermuda Triangle of a room" if you believe the government's theory in the case.
"According to the government, the laws of science don't exist in that small room in Ghazni, Afghanistan," Moreno said. "The laws of physics don't apply."
Moreno said the "science" supports Siddqui's testimony that she didn't touch the weapon or fire it.
Closings Arguments Underway In Trial Of Woman Accused Of Shooting At Soldiers - WSJ.com
