Judge Stops Airlines Questioning FBI Over 9/11

[scienceplease 2]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090716-714898.html

[Thermate911]

What do you expect from a Zionist judge? Justice?

[kookomula]

"The government urged the judge to block the aviation companies from interviewing six current and former FBI employees who the companies say would be able to testify as to what intelligence the FBI, CIA, Federal Aviation Administration and airlines had before the attacks regarding the terrorists' plans and capabilities, as well as how the entities shared and exploited the intelligence".

"Lawyers for the victims of the attacks have said the FBI should not be forced to provide more information".

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Judge-Airlines-cant-question-apf-9372073 26.html?x=0&.v=4


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200907161459DOWJON ESDJONLINE000933_FORTUNE5.htm

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907 161459dowjonesdjonline000933&title=judge-denies-bid-by-airlines-to-que stion-fbi-in-9/11-case

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE56F6M120090716

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8611935

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-07-16-airlines-se pt11-lawsuits_N.htm

[kookomula]

Judge Narrows Discovery for 9/11 Federal Claims

Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal
July 17, 2009


Defendants being sued for negligence in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist hijackings will not be able to depose six FBI agents on the government's investigation into the attacks, Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled Thursday.

Airlines, airline security companies and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey asked Hellerstein to allow the depositions in the hope they might show that the government's failure to stop the terrorists was so egregious that the attacks would have happened regardless of any negligence on their part.

But Hellerstein, ruling in the three remaining wrongful death cases and 19 property damage claims stemming from the attacks, said Thursday in In Re September 11 Litigation (pdf), 21 MC 101, that he would not allow the depositions for several reasons.

"The issues to be tried relate to the acts and omissions of the Aviation Defendants, not the government," he said. "The government's failure to detect and abort the terrorists' plot would not affect the Aviation Defendants' potential liability."

Similarly, the judge refused a defense request for admission of portions of the trial of convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, the 9/11 Commission Report and related reports and a journalist's interview with terrorist leader Ramzi Binalshibh.

Hellerstein granted the defendants' motion only to the limited extent that these sources "can (1) provide information for an agreed narrative summary that explains to the jury the events of Sept. 11, 2001" and "(2) reveal the hijackers plans and preparations."

The judge said the efforts of the defendants to conduct the depositions, review transcripts of the Moussaoui trial and other material "would cause confusion and prejudice, and burden the court and jury with long delays and unduly lengthy trial proceedings."

The ruling came amid a broader discovery dispute between attorneys for the plaintiffs and the aviation defendants. While the plaintiffs have been trying to set trial dates quickly, the defendants, as reported by the judge, "present a long list of witnesses and issues still remaining to be discovered."

The cases in this litigation are part of a subset of those people who elected to sue rather than go through the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund administered by Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg. Ninety-seven percent of people with claims, totaling 5,560 claimants, were paid a total of $7 billion from the fund.

That left 95 cases to be litigated before Hellerstein, who is also presiding over 9,000 cases claiming respiratory and other illnesses caused during the emergency response at Ground Zero and its subsequent cleanup.

In March, Hellerstein received a final report on the 95 cases from mediator Sheila L. Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Ms. Birnbaum said 92 of those matters had settled for a total of $500 million.

Hellerstein, in his 45-page opinion Thursday, said discovery has been "extensive and difficult," and the Transportation Security Administration has acted as a "filter" to review the production of documents, regulate depositions and protect against the disclosure of sensitive information.

FBI INVESTIGATORS

All six of the FBI agents the defendants sought to depose investigated the 9/11 attacks and four of the six testified at the Moussaoui trial. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York denied the airlines' deposition requests in 2007 and 2008, and Hellerstein upheld that denial Thursday, saying it was reasonable for the government to contend that the depositions would interfere with its continuing investigation into the attacks.

Hellerstein said the additional discovery being sought by the defendants "would add little of relevance, threaten national security, cause major digressions at trial and cause substantial unnecessary expense and delays concerning the progress of the cases before me."

The parties next meet for a conference on July 28 to determine what discovery needs to be completed and to set a trial date.

Plaintiffs liaison counsel Donald A. Migliori of MotleyRice could not be reached for comment.

Desmond T. Barry Jr. of Condon & Forsyth, the lead lawyer for the airline defendants, could not be reached for comment.

www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202432324476

www.nylj.com/nylawyer/adgifs/decisions/071709hellerstein.pdf