Judge: Evidence collected properly against lawyer
September 16, 2003 cnn.com
NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge has ruled that the government properly gathered evidence against a lawyer accused of conspiring to defraud the United States while she represented a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in a terrorism case.
Federal Judge John G. Koeltl rejected arguments that the government violated the constitutional rights of civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart as it built a terrorism case against her and others.
The decision left intact charges that Stewart conspired to defraud the United States and made false statements.
Stewart had no immediate comment on the Monday ruling, an aide said.
The judge said the government properly conducted its surveillance, and that it did not need to publicly disclose the evidence it used to win approval of electronic surveillance.
He cited an affidavit from Attorney General John Ashcroft saying "it would damage the security interests of the United States to further reveal the sources and methods this nation is using to conduct such investigations."
The ruling came just weeks after the judge dismissed the most serious charges against Stewart, saying the government had misused an anti-terrorism law when it accused her of providing support to a terrorism organization.
Prosecutors had said she helped deliver messages from her client, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is serving a life sentence for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks and assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The government said Stewart and two co-defendants helped relay messages from the cleric to a terrorist group based in Egypt. All three pleaded innocent.
Prosecutors charged the three after saying they violated measures restricting the sheik's access to mail, the telephone and visitors and prohibiting him from speaking with the media.
The fraud charge remaining against the three accuses them of trying to circumvent those measures
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