US responds to motions in piracy case

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - There is no evidence Somali nationals accused of attacks on two U.S. Navy ships can't receive a fair jury trial on piracy charges in a Virginia city that is home to the world's largest naval base, the government contends.

In electronic filings posted Tuesday, U.S. attorneys argued against a bid to move the trial out of Norfolk and responded to several other defense motions.

The other filings are aimed at motions to dismiss the piracy charges based on defense claims the defendants did not seize or rob the Navy ship they are accused of attacking; and destruction of evidence -- the skiff the men used to allegedly attack the ship.

The exchange of motions involve the six defendants accused in the April 10 attack on the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's pirate-infested coast. Five other Somali men are being prosecuted separately in Norfolk on charges related to a March 31 attack on the frigate USS Nicholas west of the Seychelles.

Each man is charged with piracy, attacks to plunder a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon and other weapons counts. Piracy carries a mandatory life sentence. All 11 have pleaded not guilty.

The Ashland and Nicholas, both based in Virginia within 20 miles of the courthouse, were part of an international flotilla protecting shipping in the region.

An attorney for Mohammed Jamah, one of the Ashland defendants, filed the request for a change of venue, arguing a trial within miles of Naval Station Norfolk "precludes the selection of a fair and impartial jury."

In response, prosecutors note that no other defendant has raised the fair trial issue and that jury prospects can be questioned about any possible biases before they are seated.

"Rather than rely upon evidence, defendant Jamah relies on a bald assertion of alleged pervasive community prejudice against pirates and in favor of the U.S. Navy," the government wrote.

In seeking dismissal of the piracy charges, attorneys for the Ashland defendants cited an 1820 court case that defines piracy as the seizing and robbing of a vessel at sea. They argued the men did neither.

The government countered that the defendants' actions certainly fell within internationally recognized definitions of piracy.

The six men approached the Ashland in their skiff and fired upon the amphibious dock landing ship as their vessel moved up the Navy ship's port side, prosecutors said.

"The type of conduct at issue here, an armed assault upon another ship pursuant to no lawful authority, has historically and consistently been understood to constitute the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations," they wrote.

A separate defense motion also seeks dismissal of the charges based on the destruction of the skiff, which lawyers said contained "serious exculpatory value." That evidence was not detailed in the filing.

The government said the skiff posed a navigational risk, and that sailors photographed its contents before sinking it. They included a ladder, hook, fuel and an AK-47.

"The items aboard the skiff ... were not the type of evidence that would have been potentially useful to the defendants, or possess any exculpatory value," the government wrote. "To the contrary, these items were tools used in the piracy trade."

The six accused in the Ashland attack are scheduled to be tried Oct. 19. The trial of the accused Nicholas pirates is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, also in Norfolk.

The defendants are being held in a regional jail outside Norfolk.