The Gov't is still presenting its case; one major development was the assertion by their informant that al-Qaeda's #2, al-Zawahiri, was seen numerous times at the mosque in Lodi in 1999, at which time he was wanted by the FBI for his role in Africa bombings. Local mosque leaders & terrorism experts all say that that is highly unlikely.

Two weeks ago, one of the jurors in the trial told the judge she'd forgotten that she had dated a Sheriff's deputy a decade ago. After considering the defense motion to have her excused, the judge released her from further jury duty. She spoke to the press afterwards; the defense may be wishing she was still on the jury. Her remarks confirm what press reports seem to indicate: the governemt's case is thin & not going too well.

"Beyond a reasonable doubt hasn't been proven at this point," the 39-year-old Clabaugh said in a hallway interview with reporters. "It's not very clear-cut."

Keep in mind that the gov't hasn't rested yet, so the defense has yet to even present its case. Writing about the FBI's videotaped 'confession' by the younger Hayat, I mentioned last month that "[a]ny teenager raised on US tv crime shows would see a problem in this line of questioning"

The government's case is built primarily on Hayat's videotaped admission to FBI agents that he attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and initially denied it when questioned by agents, and on secretly recorded conversations he had with an FBI informant.

"I felt like he was being badgered" by FBI agents, Clabaugh said of the confession. "I felt like he was giving them information because they refused to believe he didn't know anything.

"It seemed like the agents fed names to him. It didn't seem like he actually volunteered anything," said Clabaugh, who was free to speak about the case after she was released from jury duty.   {snip}

With respect to the Khan recordings of Hamid Hayat, Clabaugh said, "I got a picture of a young kid who wanted to impress an older man, but it doesn't mean those were things he would actually follow through on.

"She was referring to Hayat's statements in 2003 to Khan about his plan to undergo terrorist training in Pakistan and then wage jihad, or a holy war, against the enemies of Islam. At the time, Hayat was 20 and Khan was 29.

"As far as I'm concerned, at this point in time, Naseem Khan didn't help or hurt," Clabaugh said. "I think he very much wanted to provide information the FBI wanted him to provide. Whether he obtained the information legitimately, I don't know.

"As of this moment, the government has not proven its case to me," said Clabaugh, an account manager for a Sacramento structural engineering firm.

"I've seen that this young man was interested in hurting the enemies of Islam, but I haven't seen that he did some of the things they said he did," she said.

Clabaugh was asked about Khan's testimony that, while living in Lodi in the late 1990s, he encountered Osama bin Laden's top adviser at the Muslim mosque on numerous occasions.

"It seemed a bit far-fetched, but that doesn't mean it's not possible," she said. Terrorism experts have said Khan's claim is highly improbable.

"It was frightening to hear these topics discussed with Lodi being so close," Clabaugh added.

Asked about Hamid Hayat's scrapbook of widely-circulated Pakistani newspaper and magazine articles and editorials, many of which reflect virulent anti-American and pro-Taliban sentiments among Pakistan's citizens, she said:

"He lived in Pakistan a number of years and his grandfather is connected to these extremist groups, so it makes sense that he would keep a record. That doesn't necessarily mean anything to me."

Asked about a prayer found in Hayat's wallet when he was arrested that an Islamic scholar testified is persuasive evidence that Hayat sees himself as an enemy of the United States, Clabaugh said:

"It doesn't mean he did anything."   link