COURTROOM 21 TRIAL TO CENTER ON TERRORISM FUNDING

Experimental Trial will use cutting edge technology to test its use for terrorism cases. Trial will be held Saturday, April 5, 2003 at the Courtroom 21 Project, located at the William & Mary Law in Williamsburg, Virginia.

(PRWEB) March 26, 2003 -- The Courtroom 21 Project has announced that this years high-technology experimental trial, United States v. Stanhope, will be a prosecution of a US citizen who attempts to fund an Al Qaeda terrorist strike in the US using in part the hawala money transfer system, the ancient, virtually untraceable money transfer system. Defendant Stanhope is charged under 18 U.S.C. 2339B, Providing Material Support or Resources to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with converting a valuable painting to gold for terrorist use. Her boyfriend carries the painting to Dubai and is sold for gold. Using the hawala system, the gold is transferred through Beirut to a charity in London. The funds are then transferred to the charitys Berlin office, which then helps finance a company whose executive uses the funds to hire and support two men who plan to buy and use demolitions in the local area.

The trial will be heard in the world-renowned Courtroom 21 Projects McGlothlin Courtroom-the worlds most technologically advanced trial and appellate courtroom. The Project is an ongoing international demonstration and experimental effort which seeks to determine how technology can best improve all components of the legal system and was a 1997 recipient of a Foundation for Improvement of Justice Award for its efforts to improve the administration of justice through technology.

United States v. Stanhope, is part of the Courtroom 21 Projects ongoing experimental efforts and will feature courtroom technology at the highest level. The trial will feature the first ever three-continent judicial proceeding in which judges from the United States, Australia and the UK will rule upon the attorney-client privilege as an interlocutory matter in the midst of the trial. The project also expects to use such methods as remote video-conferencing to present witness testimony from other continents and Internet-presented evidence to try the case. Counsel will also use wireless instant messaging to communicate with the court and their assistants working outside the courtroom, while the court will publish the most comprehensive court record now available contemporaneously to the public via the world-wide-web. After viewing the evidence electronically, the jury will determine its verdict while using deliberation room technology. The Courtroom 21 Project, the model for the Michigan Cyber Court, will use all of its storied cutting edge technology to test the desirability of its use in the day-to-day search for justice. The Laboratory Trial will be conducted with the assistance of the Federal Judicial Center. The Honorable James Spencer, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, will preside over the trial.

United States v. Stanhope will be tried Saturday, April 5, 2003 in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the William & Mary Law Schools McGlothlin Courtroom, South Henry Street, beginning at 9 a.m. The trial will last one day.

Journalists are invited to observe the case. Space is limited and those interested in attending should reserve seats as early as possible by calling Tammi Flythe at (757) 221-2494 or emailing lsflyt@wm.edu.