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Objects Harmless, Defense Says

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI

esilvestrini@tampatrib.com

Published: March 19, 2009

TAMPA - What prosecutors describe as dangerous explosives were actually harmless, homemade model rockets, a defense attorney told jurors as the trial of former University of South Florida student Youssef Megahed opened Wednesday.

And Megahed didn't know that his college buddy, Ahmed Mohamed, had packed the "sugar rockets" in the trunk of the car of Megahed's brother, 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 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 over the prosecution's efforts to bring the factor 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.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer said the evidence would show that Megahed, who was the passenger, viewed the videos immediately before the pair were 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 with the jury not present. 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.

The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

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