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Megahed Calls Arrest Racial, Asks Judge To Drop Case

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2007

Related: Motion To Suppress Evidence (pdf)

TAMPA - One of two University of South Florida students accused of transporting explosives has asked the courts to throw out the evidence against him because the search was racially motivated and illegal.

The students Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed - were arrested Aug. 4 after deputies in South Carolina found explosive materials in the trunk of their car, authorities said. Both remain in federal custody awaiting trial.

In a court document filed today, Assistant Federal Public Defender James W. Smith wrote that the South Carolina deputy used racial slurs, did not believe reasonable stories provided by the two students and searched their car with no probable cause.

In Berkeley County, S.C., Megahed and Mohamed were pulled over for speeding, Smith wrote. While sheriff's deputy Lamar Blakely radioed a dispatcher to look up Mohamed's driver's license and registration information, he had a conversation with his partner, the court document states.

On videotape, Blakely tells his partner that Mohamed and Megahed are "graduates of suicide bomber school" and members of the "Taliban." He also jokes that they have a copy of the Quran with them. At one point, the court document states, Blakely becomes concerned that the remarks are being taped.

Even though the driver's license and registration come back clean and neither man had an outstanding warrant, Blakely told his partner that he is going to search the car, the document states.

Blakely, the document states, asked Mohamed why the two are in the area. Mohamed says they are driving from Tampa to North Carolina and are visiting beaches along the way. This does not seem to satisfy Blakely, who begins to question Megahed.

When he returned to Mohamed, he asked, "You don't mind if I search the car, do you?" the document states.

After finding a box of ammunition, Blakely handcuffs the two men and searches the trunk. Authorities have said explosives were in the trunk. Mohamed has told investigators that the devices were "sugar rockets," or fireworks that would just travel a few feet in the air and smoke, according to court documents.

Megahed's public defender writes that the car was not speeding and, therefore, was stopped illegally. Smith also writes that the deputy illegally detained the car for longer than it would have taken to write a citation.

Smith argues that the deputy was on a "fishing expedition" and stopped the car on the deputy's "hunch" that criminal activity was taking place. The hunch, Smith wrote, was based on Blakely's "inappropriate stereotypes" and was a case of racial profiling.

He has asked the court to throw out all the evidence found during the traffic stop.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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