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Negative Comments On TBO Cited To Prove Likely Jury Bias

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

TAMPA - One TBO.com reader called him a "fricken' terrorist."

That person and another said they wanted to be on his jury so they could hang him.

Now Youssef Megahed's attorney is citing the TBO comments as a reason potential jurors need to be carefully screened before Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, another former University of South Florida student, go on trial on a charge of illegally transporting explosives.

Mohamed also is charged with trying to help terrorists by posting on the Internet a video in which he shows how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.

The pair are scheduled to go on trial in March. Megahed's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Adam B. Allen, has asked that potential jurors be given written questionnaires similar to those distributed in the trial of Sami Al-Arian. Allen wrote in his earlier motion that he fears his client will not be able to get a fair trial in Tampa. Today Allen filed a supplemental motion citing the TBO comments and submitting his proposed questions for jurors.

"These readers' responses justify the need for a jury questionnaire in the present case because they show that strong opinions have already been formed by potential members of the jury pool as to the guilt or innocence of the defendants," Allen wrote.

"Additionally," he wrote, "these responses show that potential jury pool members are likely to be more candid in their opinions when given the opportunity to express those opinions anonymously and in writing."

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