February 14, 2020
Lodi terror case of Hamid Hayat closed
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Six months after a federal judge vacated the 2006 terrorism conviction against Hamid Hayat, prosecutors said Friday they will not pursue another trial against the Lodi resident.
“Due to the passage of time, the government now moves this court to dismiss, in the interest of justice, the indictments in this case,” federal prosecutors said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court, in Sacramento.
The decision brings to a close the controversial prosecution of Hayat, who spent 14 years of a 24-year sentence in custody until U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell found last year that his trial lawyer had provided ineffective counsel and he should be released pending a decision by the government on whether to retry him, according to Sacramento Bee.
Hayat’s high profile case drew national media attention, while concerns were raised about the role that emotions and prejudice may have played during a period of heightened tensions.
After being locked up for more than 13 years in a Phoenix, Ariz., prison, Hayat was released in August 2019 after an order was filed by Senior United States District Judge Garland Burrell Jr. on July 30, 2019, to vacate Hayat’s conviction.
Judge Burrell was the original trial judge in the widely-criticized case that was recently highlighted in an episode of “Confession Tapes” on Netflix.
Statement of Hayat’s legal team, led by Riordan & Horgan
“Hamid Hayat, his family and his counsel appreciate the decision of the federal government today to dismiss the charges against him rather than seeking a retrial. That decision was obviously correct. Two federal judges have concluded that Hamid would not have been found guilty had the powerful evidence of his innocence that won his freedom in 2019 been presented to his jury in 2006.
“While we are grateful for the dismissal, the fourteen years Hamid spent behind bars on charges of which he was innocent remain a grave miscarriage of justice. They serve as a stark example of how, in the post 9/11 era, the government’s effort to protect the public from terrorism could and did in this case go terribly wrong. Hamid’s exoneration is a cause for celebration, but the story of his case is tragedy that must not be repeated.”
Statement of CAIR-SV Executive Director Basim Elkarra
“There aren’t words to express how relieved we are that Hamid is finally going to be truly free. An innocent man spent nearly 14 years in prison, a family was torn apart and an entire community was left traumatized due to prosecution taking advantage of anti-Muslim, post-9/11 hysteria. We will be here to support Hamid and his family as they work to heal after this egregious injustice.”
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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