First US Piracy Trial Held in a Century
The Seattle Times reports:
Five Somali men accused of firing assault rifles at a Navy ship off the coast of Africa are set to face the first U.S. piracy trial in more than 100 years.
The suspected pirates are accused of shooting at the USS Nicholas in an attempt to plunder what they thought was a merchant ship. Instead, they fired on a battle-tested, 453-foot ship patrolling the pirate-infested waters, which shot back, forcing the men to flee in their small skiff, prosecutors said.
The men, along with other suspected pirates, were eventually captured and brought back to the U.S. to stand trial. Yet, until now, no case has actually gone to a jury. The federal trial will begin Tuesday and is expected to last about a month.
The most infamous pirate captured in the spring was Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse. The Somali suspect who staged a brazen high-seas attack on the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama pleaded guilty in New York to charges he hijacked the ship and kidnapped its captain. He faces a minimum of 27 years in prison.
The group of men accused in the USS Nicholas attack April 1 face a much stiffer punishment if convicted of piracy, which carries a mandatory life sentence. Yet the charge may be difficult to prove for prosecutors, in part because the suspected pirates never actually boarded the vessel.
The government acknowledges the five defendants did not take control of the Navy frigate with a crew of 100 highly-trained sailors, which defense attorneys argue is necessary to prosecute the piracy count.
"They fired on a Navy ship. That's the whole case," said David Bouchard, an attorney for the Somali men. "The didn't go on the boat. They didn't shoot anybody. They didn't rob it."
In a similar, but separate case involving a group of alleged pirates who are suspected of firing at the USS Ashland on April 10, a federal judge has thrown out the piracy charge, ruling there was not enough evidence to prove the charge. Prosecutors are appealing the judge's decision.
Prosecutors say an 1820 Supreme Court decision and contemporary international law show that the alleged actions of the Somali nationals constituted piracy.
U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis has allowed the piracy charge in the USS Nicholas case to go ahead in Norfolk, home to the world's largest naval base and homeport to the Nicholas.
Ken Randall, dean of the University of Alabama School of Law and a piracy law scholar, said the two judges have different views, but he thinks the government's prosecution will ultimately prevail because U.S. vessels were involved.
