Let's start our 4th of July weekend off w/ some good news, great reporting included details of the dramatics involved when a Muslim gets the guilty verdict in America for doing unto others as they believe is right. It is also obvious that they don't understand that we are not under Sharia law. Enjoy:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...816122,00.html
Saudi guilty in case of nanny
Man convicted of reduced charges

Homaidan Al-Turki paid the woman less than $2 per day, according to an affidavit.STORY TOOLS
Email this story | Print By Tillie Fong And Jonathan Garcia, Rocky Mountain News
July 1, 2006


ARAPAHOE COUNTY - Screams and sobs filled a packed courtroom Friday when a jury found a Saudi man guilty of keeping an Indonesian woman captive in his Aurora home and sexually abusing her.


"What did he do?" one of Homaidan Al-Turki's daughters cried repeatedly as she was carried out of the courtroom over the shoulder of a male supporter of the defendant.

Al-Turki, 37, was convicted of 12 felony counts of unlawful sexual contact with use of force, one felony count of criminal extortion and one felony count of theft. He also was found guilty of two misdemeanors: false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.

Al-Turki could face between 96 years to 12 consecutive life sentences on just the unlawful sexual contact charges alone.

He had worked as a linguist at a Denver publishing and translating company and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado.

"This has been a very gratifying verdict for Arapahoe County," said Ann Tomsic, chief deputy district attorney.

"Cases of human trafficking are extremely difficult to identify, extremely difficult to prosecute."

John Richilano, one of Al-Turki's attorneys, declined to comment. "We want to appeal," he said.

Al-Turki, who is married and has five children, had been charged with kidnapping, extortion and sexually abusing the 24-year-old Indonesian woman who came from Saudi Arabia six years ago to work for his family as a nanny and housekeeper.

Prosecutors argued that Al-Turki took away the woman's freedom by keeping her passport and not allowing her to maintain a legal status in the country.

They also said he took advantage of her isolation and fear by sexually abusing her, culminating in a rape that took her virginity.

Al-Turki's attorneys tried to cast doubt on the woman's credibility, noting that there was no physical evidence to corroborate her allegations and that she did not initially tell authorities that she had been raped when she was arrested for overstaying her visa in November 2004.

The defense also argued that prosecutors were engaged in "Islamaphobia" during the trial, putting emphasis on Al-Turki's Muslim faith rather than on facts.

Friday, the courtroom was packed with Al-Turki's supporters, many of them with the Colorado Muslim Society.

A number of people stood between the two sets of doors to the courtroom, with more gathered in the hallway.

Al-Turki's family, which sat in the front row behind him, wept silently before Arapahoe County District Judge Mark Hannen read the verdict.
The victim sat on the opposite side of the courtroom, in the row behind prosecutors, her face hidden by a black headscarf.

As Hannen pronounced each guilty verdict, Al-Turki's wife, Sarah Khonaizan, began sobbing loudly, joined by several other relatives, including two men and two of Al-Turki's daughters.

At one point, Hannen banged his gavel and asked for order in the court during one dramatic outburst.

Sheriff deputies eventually escorted one man outside, with Hannen warning that he was not to be allowed back in again.

The sobbing from Al-Turki's relatives was muted when Hannen continued reading the verdict, but Al-Turki, who was dressed in a long white robe, could be heard crying softly.

After the jury was polled and dismissed, Hannen called a short recess.

None of the jurors wanted to talk about the decision.

After the recess, Richilano asked that Al-Turki's $400,000 cash bond be continued and that his client be released to home detention.

But Tomsic asked that Al-Turki be remanded without bond, noting that he was not a citizen and was in trouble with immigration authorities.

"I think bond is highly inappropriate," she said.

Hannen ruled that since Al-Turki was convicted of counts that had aggravating factors that would put them into the category of violent crimes, the statutes did not allow him to continue bond, and Al-Turki was to be kept in custody until his sentencing Aug. 31.

As sheriff deputies put handcuffs on Al-Turki, his family broke into screams and sobs, prompting deputies to order everyone out of the courtroom.
One of Al-Turki's younger daughters sat outside the courtroom doors and refused to leave, screaming, "I'm not going to go without my dad" between sobs.

Eventually, two women helped her on her feet, and she was carried down the hallway.

Other men carried Al-Turki's wife and another daughter in a similar fashion, each surrounded by a cluster of supporters, several of whom tried to cover the lens of television cameras before leaving.

Once out of the building, sheriff deputies told the crowd to get into their cars and leave.

Some of Al-Turki's supporters complained to the deputies about how they were treated, while others said they felt that the all-white jury was prejudiced.

Prosecutors held a short news conference outside after Al-Turki's family and supporters had left.

Tomsic said she had talked to the victim after the verdict. "She indicated a desire to go home," she said.

However, the woman is allowed to stay in the country in order to help federal prosecutors pursue their case against Al-Turki.

He faces an October federal trial on charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant.

In April, Al-Turki and his wife agreed to pay the nanny about $64,000 in wages to settle a Labor Department lawsuit.

His 35-year-old wife pleaded guilty to state and federal charges of theft and harboring an illegal immigrant and faces up to a year in prison when she is sentenced in July and August.