Jury selection begins in terrorism, kidnapping trial of four
Sep. 25—Children will be a vital part of the case against four people arrested in 2018 after law enforcement officials raided their ramshackle compound near Taos, court officials said Monday when jury selection began in a trial in the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.
Several prospective jurors reacted strongly after Chief U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson, the presiding judge, explained that a child's death will be a key element in the trial for alleged terrorism and kidnapping charges.
"Anytime a child dies, it is an unfortunate and sad circumstance," Johnson said. But would it influence jurors' ability to consider the evidence with impartiality? he asked.
"It would be difficult," one prospective juror responded. "The death of a child honestly doesn't sit well."
Several other prospective jurors expressed similar concerns.
"I probably could not sit through this process," said another, who identified herself as a foster parent.
Law enforcement officers who raided the compound near the Colorado border in August 2018 found the decomposed remains of a 4-year-old boy in an underground bunker, along with a cache of firearms and ammunition and a makeshift shooting range.
Prosecutors allege the defendants illegally transported the boy from Georgia to New Mexico and concealed his whereabouts from the boy's mother, who reported his disappearance to law enforcement, leading to the raid on the compound. Officials also found 11 malnourished children at the compound.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Brawley told jurors that some of the witnesses who will testify in the trial are children of the two men and two women charged in the case. Some are still children, and others were children at the time of the alleged crimes, she said.
The four seated at a crowded defense table Monday were Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 45; Hujrah Wahhaj, 40; Subhanah Wahhaj, 40; and Lucas Morton, 45.
The two men, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Morton, intend to represent themselves at trial. The judge appointed each a "stand-by" attorney, both of whom sat beside their clients during jury selection on Monday.
Attorneys said they expect opening statements to begin on Tuesday.
A superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in March 2019 in Albuquerque charged the defendants with providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder an officer or employee of the United States, kidnapping and several conspiracy charges.
Of the four, only Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was not charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping because he is the father of the 4-year-old, who was found dead in an underground bunker at the compound.
Prosecutors last week dropped an illegal firearms possession charge and one of the conspiracy charges.
A fifth person arrested after the compound raid has pleaded guilty to two federal charges and was not in the courtroom on Monday.
Jany Leveille, a 40-year-old Haitian national, pleaded guilty in February to federal firearms and conspiracy charges and faces up to 15 years in prison. She admitted acting with her four co-defendants to transport firearms from Georgia to New Mexico "for use in establishing a firearms and military tactics training range," according to the plea agreement.
Under the agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges against Leveille following sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
