Second Mistrial Declared in Sears Tower Terror Case

'Enough is enough,' says defense attorney
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 16, 2008 4:11 PM CDT
Second Mistrial Declared in Sears Tower Terror Case
Six of the seven co-defendants that were arrested in June, 2006 in an undercover FBI sting.   (AP Photo/Shirley Henderson, File)

A federal judge called a second mistrial today in the case of six men who allegedly conspired with al-Qaeda to blow up the Sears Tower. After 13 days of deliberation, the jury was finally released, unconvinced the defendants were serious about terrorism. “Enough is enough,” said the defense lawyer. “It's time to bring this case to a close.”

The defense team had sought to show the six men were only trying to scam money out of a government informant, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. When charges were first brought in 2006, the FBI deemed the accused “more aspirational than operational.” There’s no word yet on whether the case will be tried a third time. (More terrorism stories.)

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