http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/nation/15370365.htm?template=c ontentModules/printstory.jsp Padilla attorneys criticize 27-year-old `Doogie Howser' of terrorism
By Vanessa Blum South Florida Sun-Sentinel (MCT) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Defense lawyers in a major South Florida terror case want to make sure jurors never hear from witness Evan Kohlmann. The proposed government expert on al-Qaida is simply no expert, lawyers say. He has no Ph.D., no faculty position, and no real-life experience in the Middle East. Plus, there's the age thing. Kohlmann, who has testified five times for the government already, is just 27. He's been called the "Doogie Howser" of terrorism. One critic cracked that prosecutors have been using Kohlmann "since he was a zygote." Kohlmann has fought off such attacks before. The Fort Lauderdale high school graduate doesn't take it personally. "It's a fairly common tactic to try to disqualify me," he said. "I would do the same thing if I was in their position." Prosecutors want Kohlmann - who started his own terror-related Web site and wrote a book about al-Qaida by age 25 - to explain the complex world of Islamic terrorism to jurors at a Miami trial of an alleged terror cell. Accused cell members Jose Padilla and Adham Amin Hassoun, both former Broward County, Fla., residents, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi of Detroit, are charged with supporting murder, maiming, and kidnapping in foreign countries. According to prosecutors, Hassoun and Jayyousi raised money for violent Islamic causes and recruited young Muslim men, including Padilla, to fight in regions like Bosnia, Chechnya, and Kashmir. The case is high profile because it involves Padilla, the man government officials said wanted to detonate a radioactive bomb on U.S. soil. In a blistering motion, Hassoun's attorneys say Kohmann should be barred from testifying because his proposed testimony is anti-Muslim and he lacks the qualifications and experience to be considered a terrorism expert. His testimony could turn the trial into an inflammatory rant about al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden, instead of a focused "examination of what defendants did or did not do," lawyers Jeanne Baker and Kenneth Swartz state. In federal court, judges act as gatekeepers, determining what expert testimony can be presented at trial. Since 2003, two federal judges in Virginia and one in New York have permitted Kohlmann to testify in five trials - all government wins. Last year, a third Virginia judge barred Kohlmann's testimony amid questions about his credentials. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who presides over the Padilla case, has not yet ruled on the matter. Marvin Miller, a Virginia attorney who unsuccessfully tried to bar Kohlmann's testimony from a 2005 terror trial, calls Kohlmann the government's "favorite wind-up toy." "He's their guy who will say what they want. They just wind him up and send him somewhere," Miller said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami declined to comment on the case. Kohlmann began studying fringe Islamic movements at age 17, graduating from Pine Crest High School in 1997. He studied international politics and Islam at Georgetown University and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. He has not taken the bar. Kohlmann, who now lives in Manhattan, said he was first exposed to Islamic culture through Muslim friends while spending his summers in France as a teenager and young adult. "I learned a lot about what its like to be a Muslim living in Europe," he said. "People think I don't understand what Muslims go through, but I do. I've seen it first hand." He worked part time in his early 20s at a counter-terrorism think tank called the Investigative Project, where he was tagged with the Doogie Howser nickname - a reference to the 1980s TV series about a teenage doctor. Kohlmann left the group in 2004 and launched his own Web site, globalterroralert.com, an online clearinghouse for terror-related information gleaned from Internet chat rooms, martyrdom videos, terrorist propaganda, and other material he calls "raw data." "What I try to do is reach into the information coffers of real terrorist groups and get the real story as told by the groups themselves," he said. When possible, that includes speaking with the families of suicide bombers by telephone and online or in person with members of terrorist groups. His critics accuse him of oversimplifying when he testifies, lumping together Islamic groups in different regions and linking them to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Whether or not Kohlmann has a personal bias, his testimony plays to jurors' fears of terrorist attacks, defense lawyers said. Kohlmann, who typically is paid between $10,000 and $15,000 for serving as an expert witness, said his work is done "with the greatest respect for Islam." (He disputes charges that he is cashing in on a post-Sept. 11 terrorism cottage industry, saying that he would earn more at a law firm.) In addition to the U.S. government, Kohlmann has been hired by British and Australian law enforcement and testified in an international trial before the Bosnia-Herzegovina Supreme Court. He makes frequent appearances as a terror analyst on MSNBC and has published articles in some scholarly journals. Zachary Abuza, a professor specializing in Southeast Asian terror groups, called Kohlmann's 2004 book on al-Qaida's role in the Bosnian conflict "essential reading." But defense lawyers point to certain holes in Kohlmann's resume. Unlike many expert witnesses who have spent decades working in a particular field, Kohlmann doesn't have a Ph.D. or a university faculty position. Moreover, Kohlmann doesn't speak fluent Arabic and has never traveled in the Middle East. Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said he was "astonished" by Kohlmann's slim credentials after taking over a case in which he testified. "It seemed to me the thinnest resume of anyone I'd ever encountered in a national security case," Turley said. "To this day, I'm not sure how he became an `expert.'" Kohlmann said he invites defense lawyers to slug it out with him during cross-examination. "I may be young. I may not have 10 titles after my name. But rest assured my research is solid." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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