Judge rules out evidence in trial

The government said a Jihad manifesto proved the cleric's link to terrorism.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A terrorist group's manifesto and other items were taken in an illegal search of an Islamic cleric's home and cannot be used at his trial on accusations that he concealed ties to terrorist organizations, a judge has ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin, in a decision filed late Monday, ruled in favor of a defense motion in the Jan. 13 search of the suburban Strongsville home of Fawaz Mohammed Damra, 41.
FBI agents searched the home after the Palestinian-born imam was arrested on a warrant there. Agents seized a computer, copies of sermons and political speeches, the manifesto of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and stacks of financial records.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James V. Moroney Jr. said Tuesday the manifesto was the only item from the search that the government intended to use at the trial. No decision was made immediately on whether to appeal the judge's ruling, he said.
The government had said it wanted to use the manifesto to show the strength of Damra's ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The government suggested only a high-ranking official would have a copy, but the judge expressed skepticism in his ruling and noted that Damra might have such a document for his various teaching duties at colleges in Cleveland.
Cites 'lingering' by agents
Damra's wife, Nasreen, was instructed to go to the basement during the arrest, apparently because she was upset, and the "uninvited lingering on the premises" by the agents after the arrest meant the search was unreasonable and therefore illegal, Gwin ruled.
"The agents' plan all along was apparently to prevent Nasreen Damra from knowing whether she had the right to ask them to leave," the judge said in a 16-page ruling.
Defense attorneys said the wife consented to the FBI search but was so upset by her husband's arrest that her judgment was clouded.
Damra, leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, has pleaded innocent to a charge of obtaining U.S. citizenship in 1994 by providing false information. He is accused of having connections with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups and not revealing them when he applied for citizenship.
Damra also has been charged with tax evasion, money laundering, and mail and wire fraud.
The trial is scheduled to begin next Tuesday in Akron.
The trial originally was planned for Cleveland, and the defense had suggested it might seek to move the trial based on pretrial publicity. Moroney said the judge offered to move the trial to Akron, where Gwin also has offices, to satisfy defense concerns about getting a fair trial.
Downplays ruling
Moroney downplayed the importance of the search ruling because it affected only a single piece of intended evidence.
"It's not widespread. It's not like we have 100 trial exhibits [ruled out as evidence]," he said.
As for the manifesto's importance, Moroney said prosecutors "felt it had significance and wanted to use it."
David Forte, a professor of law at Cleveland State University, agreed with the judge's skeptical response. Without any other connection to a terrorist group, having the manifesto would not in itself be incriminating, Forte said.
The indictment against Damra said he had concealed from his citizenship application his membership or affiliation with at least three terrorist groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and advocated terrorist attacks against Jews and others.
If convicted, Damra could lose his citizenship and be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.