Convicted Saudi student seeks new bomb plot trial


July 26, 2012 at 1:51p.m.

Convicted Saudi student seeks new bomb plot trial

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A former Texas Tech University student from Saudi Arabia convicted in a failed bomb plot has asked for a new trial.

Attorneys for Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari filed the request Wednesday in federal court in Lubbock.

Jurors convicted Aldawsari last month of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say Aldawsari, who was arrested in 2011, had researched possible targets, including power plants and the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

His lawyers are challenging prosecution statements that the 22-year-old Aldawsari plotted an attack since he was a child. Attorneys for Aldawsari also say there is no evidence that he possessed a weapon of mass destruction.

Sentencing is Oct. 9. Aldawsari faces up to life in prison.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined comment today.