A lawyer who is under federal indictment in Syracuse and under federal
investigation in Manhattan will be able to represent a high-profile
defendant in a terrorism case, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
The defendant, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, is Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, and
when he was first arraigned in Manhattan in March, on a charge of
conspiring to kill Americans, the federal public defender’s office was
appointed to represent him.
But he later told the judge that he wanted to retain a private lawyer, Stanley L. Cohen.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan recently wrote to the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan
of Federal District Court, citing the potential ethical conflicts that
such a decision could pose. They noted that Mr. Cohen is charged in
Syracuse with obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and that their
own office was conducting a “criminal tax investigation” of Mr. Cohen.
In court, the judge took Mr. Abu Ghaith through a series of questions to
make sure he understood those potential conflicts and risks. For
example, he noted, Mr. Cohen might conduct his defense in a way that
might lead prosecutors in his own case to go easy on him. Mr. Abu Ghaith
said that he understood the issues, and still wanted Mr. Cohen as his
lawyer.
In his order, Judge Kaplan said he had found “that potential conflicts”
of retaining Mr. Cohen “have been knowingly and voluntarily waived,” and
he was relieving the public defenders. That office, as well as
prosecutors, declined to comment.
Mr. Cohen said: “A large population in the world does not believe that
in this day and age Abu Ghaith can ever receive justice in a courtroom
in New York City. Granting his request to proceed to trial with counsel
of his choice is the first step.”