Prosecution
Witness Contradicts Key Rasmieh Odeh Defense Argument
IPT News
November 6, 2014
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 DETROIT - An
emotional Rasmieh Odeh testified Thursday about her life as a
Palestinian, admitting that she was in an Israeli prison after being
convicted in connection with a series of bombings that killed two people in
Jerusalem in 1969.
It's an admission she failed to make when she applied to come to the
United States on an immigrant visa in 1995 and when she applied for, and
obtained, naturalization as an American citizen. She is on trial for one count of naturalization fraud as a result. If
convicted, the 67-year-old Odeh could face up to 10 years in prison and
ultimately be deported.
The visa form asks applicants to disclose all the places they've lived for longer than
six months since turning age 16. Odeh listed only Amman, Jordan. The naturalization application asks if the person seeking
to become an American had ever been arrested, convicted or imprisoned. Odeh
checked "no" for each.
Truthful answers would have disqualified Odeh from coming to the United States and
from becoming a citizen, previous witnesses testified.
Odeh claims that her brother filled out her visa application because she
understood little English at that time. She trusted him to answer
accurately. The form also asks if anyone helped her complete the form, but
the box for "no" was checked.
For the naturalization, Odeh said she thought the questions about any
criminal history only pertained to her life in America, where she has a
clean record. Previous questions on the form specifically named the United
States.
Those, however, dealt with whether she had ever claimed to be citizen,
registered to vote, or actually voted here. The criminal history questions,
asked as part of a section to show a person is of good moral character, say
"ever" in capitalized, bold font.
The argument that "ever" could reasonably have been
interpreted to be limited to life in America suffered significant damage
during testimony by Jennifer Williams, a U.S. Citizen and Immigration
Services official. She interviewed Odeh in 2004 as part of the
naturalization process. Part of that interview involves going over the
application form line by line. Applicants can correct or update any of
their answers.
She could not remember anything about Odeh or that specific interview.
But, in all naturalization interviews, Williams said, when she reads the
questions out loud about whether the applicant had ever been arrested,
convicted or imprisoned, she includes the phrase "anywhere in the
world."
"I ask it of all applicants," she said. She was trained to do
that and she said it is required.
Odeh testified that she would have disclosed her record if she had
understood the form was asking about life before she came to the United
States. She denied she was trying to hide her record. "It's not [a]
secret that I have been in the jail," she said. "Everybody
knows."
She also was able to say the conviction was a false one. "They
[Israelis] can put any charges, of course," Odeh said. "They are
the power."
U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain sustained a prosecution objection
to that statement. Before Odeh took the stand, Drain reminded her and
defense attorney Michael Deutsch that pre-trial rulings deemed Odeh's
claims of being tortured in Israeli custody and claims that she was wrongly
convicted were inadmissible.
"I'm not going to allow you to testify about the details of
it," Drain said. "We're not here to retry your [bombing]
case."
Odeh tried to push back, saying she couldn't talk about her life and not
describe that experience. "It's my life. It's my case," she said.
The only other defense witness, University of Illinois at Chicago
Professor Nadine Naber, described the community work Odeh has
done to aid and empower immigrant Arab women. Odeh, she said, has a
reputation for character and honesty.
Odeh's case sparked a mass public relations campaign aimed at pressuring
prosecutors to drop the case. That effort was joined by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a
group of 124 feminist academics. CAIR's Detroit Director Dawud
Walid attended the trial Thursday.
Odeh was still being questioned by defense attorney Michael Deutsch when
the trial recessed for the day. After cross examination Friday, attorneys
for both sides are expected to give closing arguments. Because the court
adjourns at 1 p.m., however, deliberations may not be completed, or even
start, before Monday.
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