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| Judge Denies Bid By Airlines To Question FBI In 9/11 Case | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 16 2009, 07:25 PM (237 Views) | |
| Comeoutofthecupboards | Jul 16 2009, 07:25 PM Post #1 |
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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A U.S. judge has denied a motion by a group of airlines to depose several Federal Bureau of Investigation agents regarding the government's probes into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. In an order Thursday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan denied a motion by the airlines to question six current and former FBI agents, a potential setback for their defense. The judge indicated the airline defendants hoped to show at trial that the government's failure to apprehend the terrorists and stop the attacks was so considerable that it mitigates and excuses any alleged faults of the airlines and the terrorists likely would have succeeded even if the defendants had exercised due care. "The government's failures to detect and abort the terrorists' plots would not affect the aviation defendants' potential liability," the judge wrote. "Moreover, efforts to prove these propositions would cause confusion and prejudice, and burden court and jury with long delays and unduly lengthy trial proceedings." The rulings relate to three wrongful death cases and 19 property-damage cases. The defendants include units of UAL Corp. (UAUA), US Airways Group Inc. (LCC), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) and AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI). A lawyer for the airlines didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday. The judge did allow some of the testimony of two of the FBI agents from the trial of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, who is serving a life sentence - namely what they learned in their investigations. "Testimony as to what their superiors did or did not do is not relevant, and is not admissible," the judge said. The judge also denied a motion to admit the 9/11 Commission report as a whole as evidence in the case, instead only admitting the chronology provided in the report. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090716-714898.html Edited by Comeoutofthecupboards, Jul 17 2009, 06:20 AM.
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| Comeoutofthecupboards | Jul 17 2009, 06:19 AM Post #2 |
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Judge Narrows Discovery for 9/11 Federal Claims Mark Hamblett New York Law Journal July 17, 2009 Defendants being sued for negligence in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist hijackings will not be able to depose six FBI agents on the government's investigation into the attacks, Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled Thursday. Airlines, airline security companies and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey asked Hellerstein to allow the depositions in the hope they might show that the government's failure to stop the terrorists was so egregious that the attacks would have happened regardless of any negligence on their part. But Hellerstein, ruling in the three remaining wrongful death cases and 19 property damage claims stemming from the attacks, said Thursday in In Re September 11 Litigation (pdf), 21 MC 101, that he would not allow the depositions for several reasons. "The issues to be tried relate to the acts and omissions of the Aviation Defendants, not the government," he said. "The government's failure to detect and abort the terrorists' plot would not affect the Aviation Defendants' potential liability." Similarly, the judge refused a defense request for admission of portions of the trial of convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, the 9/11 Commission Report and related reports and a journalist's interview with terrorist leader Ramzi Binalshibh. Hellerstein granted the defendants' motion only to the limited extent that these sources "can (1) provide information for an agreed narrative summary that explains to the jury the events of Sept. 11, 2001" and "(2) reveal the hijackers plans and preparations." The judge said the efforts of the defendants to conduct the depositions, review transcripts of the Moussaoui trial and other material "would cause confusion and prejudice, and burden the court and jury with long delays and unduly lengthy trial proceedings." The ruling came amid a broader discovery dispute between attorneys for the plaintiffs and the aviation defendants. While the plaintiffs have been trying to set trial dates quickly, the defendants, as reported by the judge, "present a long list of witnesses and issues still remaining to be discovered." The cases in this litigation are part of a subset of those people who elected to sue rather than go through the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund administered by Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg. Ninety-seven percent of people with claims, totaling 5,560 claimants, were paid a total of $7 billion from the fund. That left 95 cases to be litigated before Hellerstein, who is also presiding over 9,000 cases claiming respiratory and other illnesses caused during the emergency response at Ground Zero and its subsequent cleanup. In March, Hellerstein received a final report on the 95 cases from mediator Sheila L. Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Ms. Birnbaum said 92 of those matters had settled for a total of $500 million. Hellerstein, in his 45-page opinion Thursday, said discovery has been "extensive and difficult," and the Transportation Security Administration has acted as a "filter" to review the production of documents, regulate depositions and protect against the disclosure of sensitive information. FBI INVESTIGATORS All six of the FBI agents the defendants sought to depose investigated the 9/11 attacks and four of the six testified at the Moussaoui trial. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York denied the airlines' deposition requests in 2007 and 2008, and Hellerstein upheld that denial Thursday, saying it was reasonable for the government to contend that the depositions would interfere with its continuing investigation into the attacks. Hellerstein said the additional discovery being sought by the defendants "would add little of relevance, threaten national security, cause major digressions at trial and cause substantial unnecessary expense and delays concerning the progress of the cases before me." The parties next meet for a conference on July 28 to determine what discovery needs to be completed and to set a trial date. Plaintiffs liaison counsel Donald A. Migliori of MotleyRice could not be reached for comment. Desmond T. Barry Jr. of Condon & Forsyth, the lead lawyer for the airline defendants, could not be reached for comment. www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202432324476 www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisions/071709hellerstein.pdf |
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| Comeoutofthecupboards | Aug 4 2009, 07:06 PM Post #3 |
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Date set for first 9/11 wrongful death trials Wednesday, July 29, 2009 The first wrongful death lawsuit resulting from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will go to trial April 12, a judge said yesterday. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein set the trial date over the complaints of aviation security industry lawyers who said they needed more time to prepare. www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/date-set-for-first-911-wrongful-death-trials-420484.html |
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4:29 PM Nov 28
