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More allegations against juror

Foreman in Lodi terror trial accused of contacting alternate juror

By Layla Bohm
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Thursday, May 4, 2006 11:09 AM PDT

Comments (73 comment(s))

Misconduct allegations mounted Wednesday against the man who guided his fellow jurors to guilty verdicts in the terrorism trial of Lodi resident Hamid Hayat.

In a court filing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. said the foreman had contacted an alternate juror to ask her about another juror. The alternate juror then contacted Burrell's courtroom deputy this week.

Marta Watanabe, who heard all evidence in the trial but was not present during deliberations, said in her telephone message left with the court that the foreman "asked her a question about Arcelia Lopez," according to the one-page filing.

Lopez, who spent more than a week arguing that Hayat was innocent, has since signed an affidavit alleging that jury foreman Joseph Cote made racist remarks and talked about media coverage of the case.

Those alleged actions, along with discussing the case with anyone outside the jury deliberation room, are prohibited. Before trial started, Burrell instructed all jurors to avoid media coverage of the case and to not discuss it with anyone. Then, before the jury began deliberating, he again told them not to discuss the case with anyone, including alternate jurors.

"It's something we're interested in and will be looking into," defense attorney Wazhma Mojaddidi said of the filing.

Watanabe could not be reached for comment, and Cote did not return a telephone message left Wednesday.

Jurors last week convicted Hayat, 23, of all four charges against him, including providing material support to terrorists and three counts of lying to the FBI. A separate jury deadlocked on his father's case and prosecutors have not announced if they will retry him.

The verdicts came last Tuesday, the ninth day of deliberations. Shortly before jurors had adjourned for the weekend on the previous Friday, Cote had sent Burrell a note saying that a juror "does not seem to fully comprehend the deliberation process."

Jurors went home for the weekend before Burrell could respond to the note, and the next day Cote called Watanabe, according to Wednesday's filing. Burrell did not indicate what Cote asked about Lopez.

When the jury returned after the weekend, Lopez learned of Cote's note, and that it had been a reference to her. That's also when another juror read several pages she had typed over the weekend, accusing Lopez of contributing to her health problems.

Lopez ultimately changed her vote to guilty, and when the clerk polled jurors after their verdicts were read, she said "Yes," it was her verdict. In her affidavit days later, Lopez said she regretted her verdict.

Wednesday's filing, along with Lopez's affidavit and a separate motion in which Mojaddidi asked for a new trial on grounds that evidence should not have been barred, will likely postpone Hayat's sentencing.

He faces up to 39 years in prison and is currently set to be sentenced July 14. The juror allegations and motions for a new trial must be handled before sentencing.

Hayat remains in the Sacramento County Jail, where his father, Umer Hayat, had also been held until he was released Monday.

Umer Hayat, 48, was accused of lying to the FBI by denying that he knew about terror training camps in Pakistan, but Burrell declared a mistrial after jurors split on the verdicts.

Burrell then released Umer Hayat to home detention and prosecutors are expected to announce at a Friday court appearance if they will take the case back to trial.

The father and son, both U.S. residents, were arrested last June during a large-scale FBI investigation into possible terror links in Lodi. They were the only two to be charged criminally.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

First published: Thursday, May 4, 2006

Reader Feedback

Jim F wrote on May 11, 2006 9:10 AM:

" to-thoughts-to-ponder, you wrote "dam jew." Would that be a jew who owns a dam, works at a dam, or is standing on a dam? I thought part of re-education in prison was to teach spelling. Or did you spend all your time in weight room with the Aryans? "

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Allah says wrote on May 10, 2006 3:11 PM:

" if you haven't visited www.thereligionofpeace.com lately, you are missing important updates! Visit now to see Islam in action. "

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Allah says wrote on May 6, 2006 10:25 PM:

" No hate, only Islamic love. No Islamophobia, only Islamic truth. See for youself, feast your eyes at www.thereligionofpeace.com "

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Nazim wrote on May 6, 2006 11:59 AM:

" The website "islamispeace" is another anti-Muslim hate site by a supramacists. The internet has some really awful stuff in it. I MEAN REALLY awful. Peace to all. "

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Nazim wrote on May 6, 2006 11:57 AM:

" I urge everyone to read Richard MacIntyre's post. They have a little reason unlike other downright hostile, Islamophobic posts. May Allah have mercy for those who do good. Amen. "

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Nazim Haqqani wrote on May 6, 2006 11:54 AM:

" Umar Hayat was innocent and the target of hidden white racism as evident by the foreman Joseph Cote. "

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Allah says wrote on May 5, 2006 1:45 PM:

" Yes, Karen, everyone should see the all-encompassing love of Islam at www.thereligionofpeace.com "

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Karen Stapleton wrote on May 5, 2006 9:51 AM:

" Gee, that website www.thereligionofpeace.com sure opened my eyes. Islam, anybody? "

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Your Father wrote on May 4, 2006 11:36 PM:

" RICHARD IS RIGHT.......EVERYBODY ELSE IS DEAD WRONGG!! "

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To Richard wrote on May 4, 2006 10:50 PM:

" Why are you posting praises for yourself? LOSER "

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roberto wrote on May 4, 2006 10:14 PM:

" May God Or ALLah Bless you Son. You have given me a little understanding on how easily take out of context the Islam koran. Keep it up. "

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roberto wrote on May 4, 2006 10:14 PM:

" Hay rich i may not like many muzlm but you sir on my list of men WHo have some guts compared to many who never speak out on islam. "

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TO RICHARD wrote on May 4, 2006 10:08 PM:

" I know the difference between a terrorist and a religion richard. I think it is sad that you are having to defend your self to a 200 plus blog of morons and not so morons. Richard You are on to somthing smart. "

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THANKS RICHARD wrote on May 4, 2006 10:04 PM:

" makes me wonder is that part of being a true moslem being patient. I have a silly question im very interested in the reading of islam from a old moslem friend. now how do you become a moslem.IM very serious. "

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THANKS RICHARD wrote on May 4, 2006 10:01 PM:

" Richard i want to thank you, when i was a youth i never followed my religion it made no sense the trinity and as i grew older i met a moslim friend very calm and forgot about him tell i seen your blog. "

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haters wrote on May 4, 2006 9:54 PM:

" so much hate towards richard and yet he is so calm about it that just proves that because he is a muslim the rest are truly prejudice towards him. funny! "

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so over rated! wrote on May 4, 2006 8:28 PM:

" interesting! if there was no religion of any kinda what would there be to fight or have wars about? "

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Paul Alamo wrote on May 4, 2006 8:10 PM:

" accused of contacting alternate juror? no way! cant be true! "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 7:55 PM:

" The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said " Every son of Adam sins and the best of sinners are those who repent." "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 7:51 PM:

" As far as Muslims fighting one another. Just another proof of Muhammad's (pbuh) Prophethood. Muhammad (pbuh) told His followers that once Muslims begin fighting against other Muslims it will not stop until the Day of Judgement. Another prophecy fulfilled. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 7:48 PM:

" The Quran is not open to self interpretation. The correct understanding of the Quran comes to us directly from Muhammad (pbuh) and His Companions. It's really easy to find out if someone misinterpretted the Quran. We have what's called a Tafsir or commentary and explanation from the early generations. "

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Leonard wrote on May 4, 2006 5:12 PM:

" Hey: Yeah, that was my point. No matter what Holy Book you are talking about some nut job will find a way to use it to justify violence. "

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Hey Leonard wrote on May 4, 2006 4:58 PM:

" People need something to justify their wrongdoings. It could be the bible, quran, book of mormons, das kapital, mein kampf, etc. This problem exists everywhere, in the White House, Kabul, Baghdad, Tehran, Moscow, Croatia, Serbia, Beijing, Pyongyang, etc. "

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? wrote on May 4, 2006 4:39 PM:

" exactly people use a cause and justify its reasons and binladen did that bush did that and they equally lied bush did more distruction. "

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ralph wrote on May 4, 2006 4:38 PM:

" why do we have so many of the musiz i mean why is it the fastest growing relggion does everyone want to kill us. "

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Hey Leonard wrote on May 4, 2006 4:37 PM:

" I think it is worth remembering the fact that Muslim terrorists have used the quran to justify all sorts of atrocities. Just look at the guys who bombed the twin towers. "

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Alec Baldwin wrote on May 4, 2006 4:35 PM:

" Aside from Cote, Lopez should also be accused of juror misconduct. She had her chance to say no to the judge when polled. Instead, she still stupidly said yes. If she were under oath, it's perjury. "

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Leonard wrote on May 4, 2006 4:32 PM:

" I think it is worth remembering the fact that Christians terrorists have used the bible to justify all sorts of atrocities. Just look at the guy who bombed the Olympics. "

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Former Lodian wrote on May 4, 2006 3:33 PM:

" I didn't and won't label any moslem as "evil." I was just questioning why moslems don't even agree among themselves, and pointing to "private interpretation" as the culprit. Same can be said for Christians with all the denominations around. "

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to former lodian wrote on May 4, 2006 3:24 PM:

" I know you think there all the same then why do they fight each other becuase they are also sin ful just becuase there muslim does not make them evil there HUMAN "

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to former lodian wrote on May 4, 2006 3:23 PM:

" ok you just named a few muslim countrys out of houndred plus. That means the average out of a billion of them. They are doing good job compared to what it could be 1 billion bombs "

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Thoughts to ponder wrote on May 4, 2006 3:18 PM:

" I'm not a jew. "

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Thoughts to ponder wrote on May 4, 2006 3:01 PM:

" Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "

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to "thoughts to ponder" wrote on May 4, 2006 2:59 PM:

" shut up you dam jew... "

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Former Lodian wrote on May 4, 2006 2:56 PM:

" Should we kill those who disagree with our interpretation of the Quran? He who has no sin cast the first stone. "

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Former Lodian wrote on May 4, 2006 2:55 PM:

" Richard's interpretation of the Quran may not agree with the Taliban's, Sunnis, Shiites, the Saudis, Palestine's Hamas or Fatah. Now who's interpreting it correctly? "

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To "Allah says" wrote on May 4, 2006 2:51 PM:

" All sins are acts of disobedience against God. God is holy while sins are filthy. Remember Keyser Soze? He says, "the biggest lie of the devil is that he (the devil) doesn't exist." "

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Thoughts to ponder wrote on May 4, 2006 2:49 PM:

" We're only humans and we can't judge who's the infidel among us. Why did moslem Iran war for 8yrs against moslem Iraq? Why did moslem Saddam Hussein invade moslem Kuwait? The Quran is being subjected to private interpretation by different imams. "

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Thoughts to ponder wrote on May 4, 2006 2:38 PM:

" Since we are ALL sinners, we have lost every right to judge, much less, condemn, another person. Only God is holy and good. "

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Allah says wrote on May 4, 2006 2:37 PM:

" there is no filthy sin. Learn the Truth. www.thereligionofpeace.com "

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Thoughts to ponder wrote on May 4, 2006 2:35 PM:

" Let him who is WITHOUT SIN cast the first stone. That's how Christ revolutionized the idea of punishment, from "an eye for an eye" to "turn the other cheek." We are all filthy sinners. "

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To Ricard wrote on May 4, 2006 2:33 PM:

" Stop spouting your same ole crap. Muslims WILL kill you if you do not believe the way they do. "

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To Ricard wrote on May 4, 2006 2:31 PM:

" Does "killing" also apply to those that were Iraq that were there to help Iraq. I don't think the apply to your Quran. "

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Allah says wrote on May 4, 2006 1:58 PM:

" See the love www.thereligionofpeace.com "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:53 PM:

" In the year 1066 A.D. the Normans successfully invaded the Saxons and replaced their language with the Anglican (English) language. Before that the word "god" didn't even exist. The word Allah has been used a lot longer and by more people when referring to God than the word "god". "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:49 PM:

" Capitol punishment was prescribed in the Bible as well as the Quran to ward off such evils from society such as adultery. Allah gave us permission to carry out such sentences. Without permission it would be a violation of the Law. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:46 PM:

" Skilos- Do you understand why Allah chose to grant Prophethood to Jesus at the age of 30? Allah is the Almighty, He does what He wills. Allah is the Law-Maker. We don't question what Allah does rather we will be questioned for what we do. "

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Allah says wrote on May 4, 2006 1:38 PM:

" www.thereligionofpeace.com "

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Skilos wrote on May 4, 2006 1:30 PM:

" To Richard; Then why not let Allah to the punishing? Do you really believe that any Diety is without respect for life and that they really want their followers to kill people who are innocent. "

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Skilos wrote on May 4, 2006 1:23 PM:

" To Richard; Islamic law seems to be without mercy, unjust and very scary! "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:22 PM:

" False beliefs and teachings will do nothing except attract the Punishment of Allah. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:21 PM:

" Ask a Christian what happens when someone decides to apostate from the true teachings of Jesus. The name Joseph Smith comes to mind. Most true Christians say he should've been killed. False teachings and beliefs will arise out of these apostates. The society needs to remain pure. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:15 PM:

" As for an apostate, Islamic Law requires he be killed. Some time is given for him to repent and turn back. Some may ask why. Others humble themselves and surrender to Allah's orders whether or not they can understand them. "

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Hal Kaydah wrote on May 4, 2006 1:11 PM:

" Dee, I think you are Richard. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:11 PM:

" The same people coming in here and using my name are the same people who probably don't understand their own religion yet they seem to understand a religion they're not even a part of. Figure out the mysterious trinity before you learn about other religions. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:05 PM:

" Quran 2:191 "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out." This verse allows Muslims to defend themselves against the aggressors. Jews and Christians aren't even mentioned. The Muslims were fighting against the pagans of Makkah. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:02 PM:

" Muslims are allowed to kill only those soldiers on the battlefield. It is forbidden to kill women, children, the elderly, invalids, animals and even destroy crops. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 1:00 PM:

" Islam is all about rights and limitations. Quran 2:190 "And fight in the Way of Allâh those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allâh likes not the transgressors." Muslims cannot initiate a wars. We are only allowed to defend oursleves against the aggressors. "

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Dee wrote on May 4, 2006 12:59 PM:

" Hal, I think your an idiot. "

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Hal Kaydah wrote on May 4, 2006 12:09 PM:

" there are 3 kinds of muslims: 1-murdering, blood dripping terrorists 2-those who actively support terrorists 3-those who tacitly support terrorists I have never met any others "

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to me wrote on May 4, 2006 11:44 AM:

" you really cannot point your finger and say guilty until he has had a fair trial and been fairly found guily. & hopefully u wont be called for the re-trial b/c u obviously can not be impartial "

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benjie wrote on May 4, 2006 11:40 AM:

" hey richard, i am sure if you were living under hitler, you would have believed mein kauf. Unfortunatly, people like these are gullabale and hatemongers are taking advantage of it. "

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to richard wrote on May 4, 2006 11:00 AM:

" it's not islam it's how they interpret it. I guarantee you if you went to afghanistan the taliban would call you an infidel and kill you in the name of allah!!! Do you really think they will give a damn if you tell them your muslim. "

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DB wrote on May 4, 2006 10:30 AM:

" Okay I will have to check it out! "

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DB wrote on May 4, 2006 10:19 AM:

" No hate? Really? What about all the comments people make towards you and your religion? I've lived here my whole life, and would love to say there is no hate in this town. "

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DB wrote on May 4, 2006 10:02 AM:

" Why can't we just all get along, so much hate in this town, SAD!!!!! "

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Dan wrote on May 4, 2006 9:22 AM:

" How does that part in the Koran go? Something about Muslims must kill infidels wherever they find them? "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 8:43 AM:

" I was just like the jury foremen before becoming Muslim. I thank Allah for having guided me to the Truth. "

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Richard McIntyre wrote on May 4, 2006 8:40 AM:

" Quran 10:36 And most of them follow nothing but conjecture (guesses). Certainly, conjecture (guesses) can be of no avail against the truth. Surely, Allâh is All-Aware of what they do. "

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wtf wrote on May 4, 2006 8:30 AM:

" Interesting slip there, "...and persecutors are expected to announce..." "Persecutors" rather than "prosecutors" "

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ME wrote on May 4, 2006 7:43 AM:

" He is GULITY!!! "

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restore faith wrote on May 4, 2006 7:27 AM:

" If the judge grants a new trial I will regain some faith in the system. "

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Curtis wrote on May 4, 2006 6:51 AM:

" re-trial ! btw, the existence of terror training camps in Pakistan has yet to have been proven. "

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