HUNG JURY-2ND RETRIAL

June 27, 2001

In the case of United States vs. Mohanad Maali, Ronald Richards was able to obtain a hung jury for the second time, a rare event in the Central District. After the second mistrial was declared, the government offered the defendant a time served offer in lieu of ten years in prison. It was a well tried case by both the government and the defense.

The charge in the case was possession of pseudoephedrine, a listed chemical, with the intent or reasonable cause to believe the pseudoephedrine would be used to manufacture methamphetamine. The government was unsuccessful in convincing the jury that the defendant's signed confession and the packaging of the pills showed beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant believed that there the pills would be used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The defense contended the defendant merely adopted the statement the agent wrote out for him in order to get out of jail.

The court released the defendant from custody on a signature bond pending resolution. -----------------------------7d72bf44168e Content-Disposition: form-data; name="section" Articles