Activist’s case goes back to U.S. District Court
Niraj Warikoo
Lansing State Journal
In a case closely watched by supporters and opponents of Israel, a federal appeals court panel ruled Thursday that a judge in Detroit improperly excluded testimony about the psychological trauma that former Jackson resident Rasmieh Odeh said she suffered in Israeli prisons.
The three-judge panel with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the case of Odeh, 68, of Chicago, be sent back to U.S. District Court, where Odeh had been found guilty and sentenced last year by Judge Gershwin Drain of lying to immigration authorities about whether she had ever been convicted.
Odeh was convicted and imprisoned in Israel in 1969-70 for playing a role in the bombing of an Israeli supermarket that killed two civilians and an attempted attack on the British Consulate. Odeh denies she was guilty in both acts, but confessed after being tortured by Israeli officials. Odeh was not charged with terrorism in U.S. courts but with immigration fraud in filling out forms.
The decision to remand the case back to U.S. District Court might lead to a new trial, but first, the judge has to decide on whether to consider the testimony of the psychologist. The federal appeals panel criticized the judge for his legal reasoning on excluding the testimony.
Odeh’s attorney, Michael Deutsch, said the judge could come up with another legal reason for excluding the testimony or he could decide to consider the testimony and order a new trial, which is what Odeh’s supporters are hoping for.
“We’re very, very happy,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, an activist with the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, who has taken part in rallies in Detroit for Odeh. “All of her supporters are very happy. We hope the judge changes his mind. This is a step in that direction.”
A spokeswoman for Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said: “We respect the 6th Circuit’s opinion and will argue our position at the time of the evidentiary hearing, which will be set by Judge Drain.”
In November 2014, Odeh was found guilty by a jury of answering “No” when asked on immigration and naturalization forms in 1994 and 2004 about whether she had ever been convicted.
Odeh’s defense attorneys argued that the PTSD that Odeh suffered while in Israeli custody affected her ability to recall the Israeli conviction.
Because of “the trauma she experienced in Israel, she blocked it” from her memory, Deutsch said.
The testimony of the psychologist was heard by the judge before trial but not included during the jury trial.
In their ruling, the appeals panel said “our reversal is based on the categorical exclusion of PTSD-related evidence.”
“The district court must reconsider the admissibility of the testimony,” the judges wrote.
The panel stopped short of deciding “whether a new trial would be required once the evidentiary determination has been made.”
The panel also dismissed other appeals made by the defense, such as the reasonableness of the sentence she received and other evidentiary rulings.
Prosecutors have sought to portray Odeh as a terrorist and liar.
Odeh is an “icon in the terrorist world,” Jonathan Tukel, assistant U.S. attorney who’s chief of national security in the U.S. Attorney’s Detroit office, said to the judge before her sentencing last year.
Tukel said that the Black September Organization, a Palestinian group labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, has a branch known as Task Force Rasmieh Odeh.
But to her supporters, which included several civil rights and Arab-American organizations, Odeh is a community activist dedicated to peace, justice and helping others. Her case drew national attention and the support of activists such as Angela Davis.
Organizers with the Rasmea Defense Committee said in a statement Thursday that they “are pleased with the result.”
“This isn’t a full victory yet, of course,” said Nesreen Hasan, a Chicago activist with the committee. “But it really is what we were hoping for and anticipating at this stage. The conviction wasn’t overturned altogether, but at least Judge Drain will be forced to rethink his decision on the torture evidence.”
Drain told Odeh during her sentencing last year: “You lied under oath.”
She used to live in Michigan and now lives in Illinois, where she has worked for years with the Arab American Action Network.
Source: www.lansingstatejournal.com