9/11 Review Wiki
Judge Awards $104 Million to 9-11 Victims
Thu May 8 01:09:36 2003
208.152.73.41
Judge Awards $104 Million to 9-11 Victims
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/5-7-2003/20030507110002_06.html
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer
NEW
YORK (AP) - A federal judge Wednesday awarded nearly $104 million in
damages to the families of two victims of the September 11 attacks, finding
the plaintiffs had provided some evidence that Iraq provided support to
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
Judge Harold Baer outlined the
damages against bin Laden, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi
government in a written decision in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Baer
said he had concluded that lawyers for the two victims "have shown,
albeit barely ... that Iraq provided material support to bin Laden and
al-Qaida."
The case was being closely watched by lawyers for
plaintiffs in other lawsuits filed after the September 11 attacks against
Iraq, al-Qaida and others because it was the first to reach the damages
phase.
James E. Easley, the lawyer who brought the case, said it
was unclear how much in frozen Iraqi and al-Qaida assets could be
available to satisfy the judgment. To help pay for Iraq's revival, the
Bush administration has started to use roughly $1.7 billion Iraqi funds
frozen in 1990.
Still, Easley called the ruling a "significant victory."
The
judge heard evidence for two days in March to help him determine
damages. In January, he had issued a default order against the Taliban,
the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, Saddam
Hussein and the Republic of Iraq.
The default judgment was
granted by Baer after public announcements of the lawsuits failed to
attract a response from any of the defendants.
He said lawyers
relied heavily on "classically hearsay" evidence, including reports
that a September 11 hijacker met an Iraqi consul to Prague, Secretary of
State Colin Powell's remarks to the United Nations about connections
between Iraq and terrorism, and defectors' descriptions of the use of
an Iraq camp to train terrorists.
Baer said the opinions of the
lawyers' experts was sufficient to show that Iraq collaborated in or
support bin Laden's terrorist acts on September 11.
The judge noted that the experts provided few actual facts that Iraq
provided support to the terrorists.
But
he said the experts "provide a sufficient basis for a reasonable jury
to draw inferences which could lead to the conclusion that Iraq
provided material support to al-Qaida."
The ruling stemmed from
cases brought on behalf of the estate of George Eric Smith, 38, a
senior business analyst for SunGard Asset Management and Timothy
Soulas, a senior managing director and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald
Securities.
The lawsuits relied in part on legal principles
contained in a 1996 law that permitted lawsuits against countries
identified by the State Department as sponsors of international
terrorism.
2003-05-07 17:43:54 GMT
Copyright 2003
The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
Judge Awards $104 Million To 9-11 Victims
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/5-7-2003/20030507110002_06.html
=========================
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http://news.findlaw.com/news/s/20030507/rightsgunsdc.html
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which came in a challenge to California's sweeping assault weapons ban,
means that the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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