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Battle Over Evidence Continues At Megahed Explosives Trial

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 18, 2009

TAMPA - What deputies thought were pipe bombs and prosecutors describe as dangerous explosives were actually harmless, homemade model rockets, a defense lawyer told jurors as the trial of Youssef Megahed opened this morning.

Moreover, Megahed didn't know his college buddy, Ahmed Mohamed, had packed the "sugar rockets" in the trunk of Megahed's brother's car, which the pair had borrowed for a low-budget road trip to see beaches of the Southeast, Assistant Federal Public Defender Adam Allen said in his opening statement.

Flashing the word "justice" on a large screen, Allen implored jurors not to judge his client, a Muslim who came to this country from Egypt with his family when he was 11, by the color of his skin or his national origin, but rather decide the case based on what Megahed did or did not do.

Megahed, a former University of South Florida student, is charged with transporting explosives and possessing a destructive device. He could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted as charged.

Out of view of the jurors, the defense and prosecution are fighting a pitched battle over the prosecution's efforts to bring the idea of terrorism into the trial. Megahed is not charged with terrorism, but Mohamed is serving 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to help terrorists by posting a video on YouTube in which he shows how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.

U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has blocked the prosecution on several fronts. He barred them from showing videos of Mideast violence that were found on the Megahed family computer. He also said the prosecution could not show the YouTube video.

This morning, Merryday handed the prosecution a small victory; he denied a defense motion seeking to prevent an FBI agent from testifying that he serves on a terrorism task force.

"Possession of explosives or destructive devices, I would argue, by its nature, is terrorist or terrorism-related," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer told the judge. People don't possess such things "for a day in the park."

But the judge suggested he was inclined to grant another defense motion to bar the prosecution from introducing evidence of a video of rockets being fired in the Mideast. Although Merryday did not rule, he advised Hoffer not to mention the video in his opening statement.

Hoffer said the evidence would show that Megahed, who was the passenger, viewed the videos immediately before the pair was pulled over in South Carolina on Aug. 4, 2007. That would help establish Megahed's knowledge of the devices in the trunk and perhaps the intent to modify them to make them dangerous, Hoffer told the judge outside the jury's presence.

Hoffer said the propellant inside the 4-inch sections of PVC pipe found in the trunk, potassium nitrate, is the same propellant used in the rockets depicted on the video.

Hoffer also wants to tell jurors that during the road trip Megahed made a 3 a.m. visit to a Wal-Mart in Ocala where he asked about buying a high-powered hunting rifle. Hoffer maintains that shows the pair was "up to no good" and wanted to use the rifle to guard their activities.

The judge said he found Megahed's alleged inquiry "strange" but said he didn't see the connection to the items in the trunk. There was no other evidence, Merryday said, that the two men planned to be in a position to use a rifle.

Allen told jurors there was no evidence linking Megahed to the PVC pipes and their ingredients. DNA tests on a hair found inside one of them, for example, ruled out Megahed but could not eliminate Mohamed as a source.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.

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