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Abdel Hameed Shehadeh Trial: Lawyer Hopes To Exclude Jews From Jury In Terrorism Trial

Lawyer In Terror Trial Hopes To Exclude Jews From Jury
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The lawyer for an accused terrorist is reportedly planning to ask a judge to exclude Jews from the jury Monday.

The New York Post reports Abdel Hameed Shehadeh's attorney, Frederick Cohn, first broached the possibility of such a request at an earlier court hearing.

"Your Honor...as you know, I’m not wild about having Jews on the jury in this case," Cohn told a judge in February. "Given that there’s going to be inflammatory testimony about Jews and Zionism, I think it would be hard for Jews to cast aside any innate antipathy. The American Jewish community is heavily aligned with Israel and Zionism. Here is a guy who is a Muslim, who is opposed to those things."

Prosecutors argued that it would be unconstitutional to bar someone from serving on a jury due to their religion.

Shehadeh is accused of lying to federal authorities about his intentions join the Taliban during a 2008 trip to Pakistan.

Shehadeh is originally from Staten Island, but later became a resident of Hawaii.

While in Staten Island, he devised a plan to enter Pakistan to join the terrorist group, according to the FBI, but was denied entry.

After his 2010 arrest, he reportedly implicated himself by saying that if he died as a martyr in Pakistan he would have received 72 virgins as a reward.

Before You Go

New York Terror Plots
Najibullah Zazi(01 of14)
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FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2009 file photo, Najibullah Zazi leaves his apartment in Aurora, Colo., for a meeting with his attorney. When New York undercover officers and informants were infiltrating a mosque in Queens in 2006, they failed to notice the increasingly radical sentiments of a young man who prayed there. Police also kept tabs on a Muslim student group at Queens College, but missed a member (credit:AP)
Four Arrested In New York City Terror Plot To Bomb Synagogue(02 of14)
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WHITE PLAINS, NY - MAY 21: Vincent Briccetti, attorney for suspect James Cromitie, speaks with the media outside the White Plains Federal Court May 21, 2009 in White Plains, New York. Four men were arrested Wednesday night in what was a plot to bomb a synagogue and Jewish center in the Bronx borough of New York City as well as shoot down military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York. Three of the suspects James Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams were being arraigned at the federal courthouse while the fourth suspect, Laguerre Payen, is scheduled for an appearance later in the day. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Jose Pimentel (03 of14)
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FILE- In this Nov. 20, 2011 file photo, Jose Pimentel is arraigned at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Pimentel, who was charged with building a pipe bomb to try to attack police, soldiers and other government targets has been indicted on terror charges, according to an indictment filed Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, in the rare state-level terror case. (AP Photo/Jefferson Siegel, Pool) (credit:AP)
(04 of14)
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A mock-up of a pipe bomb is displayed during a news conference at City Hall called by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, in New York. The mock-up represents what authorities believe a homemade bomb would've looked like if its construction had been completed. Bloomberg announced that 27-year-old Jose Pimentel, of Manhattan, a U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was arrested Saturday for allegedly plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano) (credit:AP)
(05 of14)
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A mock-up of a pipe bomb is displayed during a news conference at City Hall called by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, in New York. The mock-up represents what authorities believe a homemade bomb would've looked like if its construction had been completed. Bloomberg announced that 27-year-old Jose Pimentel, of Manhattan, a U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was arrested Saturday for allegedly plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano) (credit:AP)
(06 of14)
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Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly holds a mock up component of a bomb, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, in New York. Jose Pimentel AKA Muhammad Yusuf was arrested and charged with criminal possesion of explosive devices with the intent to use in a terrorist manner. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano) (credit:AP)
(07 of14)
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This police photo shown at a news conference in New York on Sunday, Nov. 20 2011 shows who authorities say is Jose Pimentel making a bomb. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Pimentel, of Manhattan, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic, was arrested Saturday for allegedly plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano) (credit:AP)
Ahmed Ferhani(08 of14)
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Ahmed Ferhani appears in court in New York, Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh are accused of plotting to attack synagogues. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (credit:AP)
Mohamed Mamdouh(09 of14)
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FILE - In this May 12, 2011 file photo, Mohamed Mamdouh, left, 20, appears in court for his arraignment at criminal court in New York. Mamdouh and Ahmed Ferhani pleaded not guilty Wednesday, June 15, 2011, to charges including criminal possession of a weapon as a terror crime, as the two are accused of plotting to blow up synagogues in New York City. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, File) (credit:AP)
Michael Bloomberg, Raymond Kelly, Cyrus, Vance, Ahmed Ferhani(10 of14)
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FILE - In this May 12, 2011 file photo, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, right, addresses the media during a news conference detailing the arrest of two men who were allegedly plotting a terror attack against a New York City synagogue. At left is NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is in the center. During Kelly (credit:AP)
Ashcroft Speaks at Justice Department(11 of14)
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WASHINGTON - JUNE 19: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft speaks at the U.S. Justice Department June 19, 2003 in Washington, DC. Ashcroft announced the guilty plea of Iyman Faris, a Columbus, Ohio based-truck driver who admitted to being part of an al Qaeda plot to destroy a New York bridge. Faris was charged and plead guilty on May 1, 2003, but the charges and plea were only unsealed today. (Photo by Stefan Zaklin/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
An AFP journalist checks 08 July 2006 th(12 of14)
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Beirut, LEBANON: An AFP journalist checks 08 July 2006 the 1967 MG which belongs to Assem Hammoud, the 31-year-old Lebanese economics lecturer who was arrested in Lebanon over a foiled plot to attack the transit system in New York, at a parking lot near his house in the residential neighborhood of Clemenceau in downtown Beirut. After lengthy surveillance focusing on his use of the Internet, Lebanese authorities arrested Hammoud on April 27 on charges of 'forming a gang in order to carry out terrorist acts in the United States', a Lebanese judicial source said. AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A cameraman shoots 08 July 2006 the newl(13 of14)
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Beirut, LEBANON: A cameraman shoots 08 July 2006 the newly renovated old apartment building where Assem Hammoud, the 31-year-old Lebanese economics lecturer arrested in Lebanon over a foiled plot to attack the transit system in New York, used to live on the ground floor with his mother in the residential neighborhood of Clemenceau in downtown Beirut. After lengthy surveillance focusing on his use of the Internet, Lebanese authorities arrested Hammoud on April 27 on charges of 'forming a gang in order to carry out terrorist acts in the United States', a Lebanese judicial source said. AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
(14 of14)
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Faisal Shahzad (AP Images)
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