Juror in NY Trial of Guantanamo Detainee Asks to be Removed

The jury considering charges against the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court has reached an impasse.

After three days of deliberations in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, one member of the panel told the judge Monday that she felt she is being “attacked” by other jurors for her conclusion about the verdict, and she asked to be removed.

Her request raises the possibility of a hung jury, a deadlock that would keep the jury from reaching a verdict. The verdict must be unanimous.

Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected a defense motion for a mistrial and called for deliberations to continue. He also denied the juror’s request to be excused, saying no jury member had been physically harmed or yelled at.

Ghailani is accused of conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and his native Tanzania that killed 224 people.

He faces a total of 285 charges.

The prosecution says Ghailani brought the truck and the components for the explosives used in the Tanzania bombing. His lawyers say he was tricked by senior al-Qaida operatives into involvement in the plot.

If found guilty, the 36-year-old Ghailani faces life in prison.

Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004, then held by the CIA for two years before being transferred to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Last year, the decision was made to bring him to New York City to be tried.

His lawyers allege he was tortured while in CIA custody.

Some information in this story was provided by AP and Reuters.