UPDATED: Mistrial declared in Holy Land Foundation case

by PegNews wire

DALLAS — After a rare four-day delay, verdicts were finally read in the Holy Land Foundation trial around 10 a.m. today. The group and its chairman and director of endowments, Mohammad El-Mezain, were found not guilty of supporting terrorism. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on three of the six defendants, while two of the defendants, El-Mezain and Abdulrahman Odeh, were acquitted on most of the charges against them. The jury found Mufid Abdulqader, a top Holy Land fundraiser and former Dallas public works supervisor, not guilty on all counts against him.

U.S. District Judge Joe Fish ordered the jury to return to deliberations to see if they could reach a unanimous decision on the remaining counts/defendants. If not, he will likely declare a hung jury on those points. The jury was asked to make 197 decisions this morning on defendants' guilt or innocence.

UPDATE: After the jury was unable to reach a decision on several counts in the Holy Land case, Judge Fish declared a mistrial. The mistrial will not affect any of the acquittal verdicts, but the Justice Department does plan to retry the case on on the charges where no verdict was reached.

Posted by Erin