NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) — A federal judge in New York City Monday rejected a lawyer’s request for a Jew-free jury to decide the fate of his client, an accused terrorist.
Frederick Cohn, who is representing Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, told ABC News U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano “denied my application.”
Jury selection is expected to being this week for Shehadeh’s trial on charges he lied about his plans to kill Americans in Afghanistan.
The New York Post first reported Cohn had informed Vitaliano of his desire for an absence of Jewish people on the jury last month.
“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,” Cohn said at the time.
Prosecutors pointed out that by law people cannot be excluded from a jury based on race, gender or religion.
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