United States v. Siddiqui

• Decision Date: 15 November 2012
• Docket Number: Docket No. 10–3916–cr.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Aafia SIDDIQUI, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

699 F.3d 690

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.Aafia SIDDIQUI, Defendant–Appellant.^*

Docket No. 10–3916–cr.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: Feb. 10, 2012.

Decided: Nov. 5, 2012.

Amended: Nov. 15, 2012.

Dawn M. Cardi (Chad L. Edgar, on the brief), Dawn M. Cardi & Associates, New York, NY, for Defendant–Appellant.

Jenna M. Dabbs, Jesse M. Furman, Assistant United States Attorneys (Christopher L. Lavigne, Assistant United States

Attorney, on the brief), for Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY, for Appellee.

Before: WESLEY, CARNEY, Circuit Judges, MAUSKOPF, District Judge. ^**

WESLEY, Circuit Judge:

Defendant–Appellant Aafia Siddiqui appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Berman, J.) entered on September 23, 2010, convicting her after a jury trial of one count of attempted murder of United States nationals in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332(b)(1); one count of attempted murder of United States officers and employees in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1114(3); one count of armed assault of United States officers and employees in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b); one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); and three counts of assault of United States officers and employees in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1). The district court sentenced her principally to 86 years' imprisonment. Siddiqui urges this Court to reverse her convictions and, failing that, to vacate her sentence. We address five of the arguments that Siddiqui raises on appeal here and the remaining issues in an accompanying summary order.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Offense Conduct

Around dusk on July 17, 2008, Afghan National Police (“ANP”) detained Aafia Siddiqui, a United States-educated Pakistani national, in Ghazni City, Afghanistan, on suspicion of attempting to attack the Governor of Ghazni. When police took her into custody, Siddiqui possessed, among other things, various documents that discussed the construction of weapons, referenced a “mass casualty attack,” and listed a number of New York City landmarks. Afghan authorities brought Siddiqui to an ANP facility for questioning. Later that evening, the Governor of Ghazni delivered the materials found in Siddiqui's possession to the United States Army.

The following morning, the United States dispatched a team to the ANP facility with the objective of interviewing Siddiqui and ultimately taking her into American custody. The team—most dressed in military fatigues—consisted of two FBI agents and members of a military special forces unit. Afghan officials brought the team to a poorly lit room partitioned by a yellow curtain. The room was crowded with Afghan officials, and unbeknownst to the Americans, Siddiqui was sequestered unrestrained behind the curtain.

The presence of a large number of Afghan officials led members of the American team to believe that they had been brought to the room to discuss the terms of their access to Siddiqui. One of the team members, a Chief Warrant Officer, moved to a chair near the curtain dividing the room. After quickly glancing behind the curtain and seeing nothing, he set down his M–4 rifle and turned to engage the Afghan officials in conversation. Moments later, Siddiqui gained control of the rifle, aimed it at members of the American team, shouted, and fired. The team's interpreter lunged at and struggled with Siddiqui. As the interpreter wrestled with her, the Chief Warrant Officer drew his sidearm and shot Siddiqui in the stomach.

Team members then attempted to restrain Siddiqui, who was fiercely resisting and screaming anti-American statements. One witness recalled Siddiqui stating, “I am going to kill all you Americans. You are going to die by my blood.” Another recounted that Siddiqui yelled “death to America” and “I will kill all you motherfuckers.”

Eventually, the Americans were able to subdue Siddiqui enough to begin to render emergency medical aid to her. After providing preliminary treatment at the scene, the Americans transported her to a number of military bases in Afghanistan to undergo surgery and receive further care. On July 19, 2008, American forces moved Siddiqui to Bagram Airfield to recuperate.

While recovering at Bagram, Siddiqui was guarded by an FBI team. She was tethered to her hospital bed in soft restraints. During the course of her stay at Bagram, Siddiqui provided a number of incriminating, un- Mirandized statements to two members of the security team. In particular, she (1) asked about the penalty for attempted murder; (2) stated that she had a number of documents in her possession at the time of her arrest and recognized some of them when shown to her; (3) said that she had picked up a rifle with the intention of scaring the American team and escaping; and (4) noted that “spewing” bullets at Americans was a bad thing.

The government filed a sealed criminal complaint against Siddiqui in the Southern District of New York on July 31, 2008. On August 4, 2008, the government transferred Siddiqui to the United States for prosecution. A month later, Siddiqui was indicted.

B. Pre–Trial

Soon after the indictment was filed, the district court ordered that Siddiqui undergo psychiatric evaluations of her competence to stand trial. In a report issued on November 6, 2008, Dr. Leslie Powers opined that Siddiqui was not currently competent, citing, among other things, Siddiqui's reports of visual hallucinations. Later, Dr. Powers revised her assessment, finding that Siddiqui was malingering to avoid prosecution. Other experts arrived at the same conclusion, although one expert commissioned by the defense opined that Siddiqui was not competent. The district court held a competency hearing on July 6, 2009. After canvassing the relevant evidence, the court found Siddiqui competent to stand trial.

In advance of trial, the district court ruled on a number of motions, some of which are relevant here. Siddiqui first moved to dismiss all of the counts of the indictment. As to Count One, Siddiqui claimed that the Attorney General failed to timely issue the required written certification that her offense (attempted murder of United States nationals) “was intended to coerce, intimidate, or retaliate against a government or a civilian population.” ¹18 U.S.C. § 2332(d). Siddiqui also contended that Counts Two through Seven, charging violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 111, and 924(c), should be dismissed because the statutes do not have extraterritorial application under the circumstances of her case. The district court denied Siddiqui's motions.

The district court also considered the government's motion in limine to admit certain documents and other evidence recovered from Siddiqui at the time of her arrest by Afghan officials. These documents, some of which were in Siddiqui's handwriting and bore her fingerprints, referred to attacks on the United States and the construction of various weapons. The court found this evidence admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) to show Siddiqui's “motive, intent, identity, and knowledge.” In finding the documents admissible, the court rejected the argument that the evidence would cause Siddiqui unfair prejudice, concluding that the documents were no more sensational than the crimes charged. The court also noted that it would instruct the jury that the documents were not to be considered as propensity evidence.

C. Trial

At trial, the government presented six members of the American interview team who testified that Siddiqui gained control of the Chief Warrant Officer's rifle and fired at them. Three more witnesses who did not directly observe the shooting testified that they heard M–4 rifle shots. A government expert testified that the fact that no gunpowder residue was found on the curtain hanging in the room did not necessarily indicate that an M–4 had not been fired because someone standing between the curtain and the weapon could have absorbed the residue. The government also introduced the 404(b) documents discussed above.²

The defense put forth a forensic metallurgist who, based on the lack of forensic evidence of a discharge of a M–4 rifle at the crime scene, testified that he did not believe an M–4 had been fired in the room. In particular, he found it implausible that someone could discharge an M–4 rifle in a room without bullet fragments or gunpowder residue being recovered by authorities. The defense also introduced deposition testimony of an ANP officer that when Siddiqui was arrested she possessed documents describing how to make explosive devices, among other things, and that while in Afghani custody she made anti-American statements and asked not be turned over to the United States. He also stated that he saw an American soldier walk behind the curtain prior to hearing shots fired, although he did not directly observe the shooting.³ Significantly, the officer testified that he observed a technician remove two rifle shells from the scene.

Against the advice and over the objection of her attorneys, Siddiqui took the stand to testify in her own defense.⁴ Though her testimony at times lacked focus, she was able to provide her version of the events that transpired on July 18, 2008. According to Siddiqui, she was sitting behind a curtain in a room at the ANP facility when she heard American voices. She feared being taken into American custody and peeked through an opening in the curtain with the hope of finding an escape route. Siddiqui testified that she was then shot from multiple directions. She stated that she never picked up, aimed, or fired an M–4 rifle at the Americans.

Siddiqui claimed that she could not confirm that she possessed documents at the time of her arrest in Afghanistan because she was “in a daze.” JA 2371. She stated that the bag in which the documents were found was not hers but rather was...