Matanov Gets New Lawyer, New Prison

TMO 

Editor’s note:  Karin Friedemann is a TMO columnist.  Her opinions are her own.

The imprisoned Quincy, Massachusetts cabdriver from Kyrgyzstan, Khairullozhon Matanov prevailed in a motion hearing to fire his attorney on November 20, 2014. Judge Young kindly granted his request for permission to retain his former immigration attorney to represent Matanov, as he faces trial in June 2015 on charges of lying to the FBI and obstructing justice. The attorney switch went smoothly and politely between Edward Hayden, who was his court-appointed attorney, and Paul Glickman, his replacement, because Hayden agreed to step down voluntarily. Judge Young had denied an earlier request from Matanov to retain Glickman, but accepted the request upon appeal.

Glickman explained to reporters after the hearing that he was not originally appointed because he is not on the “CGA List.”

“I am on the appeals list but not the general list.”

However, pubic sympathy may have also softened the judge’s heart towards the defendant, who made headlines in October after being kicked in the head and teargassed by prison guards at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, who played the US National Anthem repeatedly and called him “Muslim terrorist.”

“Matanov has told supporters in letters that he has been beaten by corrections officers, ridiculed and harassed, and he watched another inmate attempt suicide,” reported Milton Valencia in the Boston Globe.

“Some guards were trying to say that National Anthem of USA was not played at all, thankfully some brave inmates said indeed it was played for three times. I want the video of I am getting beat up should be released for public, so this way everybody know about their crimes. Already two more people told me about their torture and I am sure once it is gonna come out, there are a lots of people whom themselves experienced such a thing, will speak up,” wrote Matanov in his most recent letter to a supporter.

Several people wrote letters to the judge asking for mercy, which ended up in his docket. Some letters mentioned that the government asked the young immigrant to become an informant in exchange for his freedom but he refused.

Matanov was suddenly moved to Wyatt, a federal prison in Central Falls, Rhode Island, shortly before he appeared in court.

Entering the courtroom, Matanov kept his eyes downcast but did not look terrified or despairing as he had appeared in previous hearings, shortly after he was arrested by a SWAT team that came to his home. Despite having no history of violence, political activism or any criminal record, he has been kept in solitary confinement since May 2013. His hair is now longer, and he appeared somewhat unkempt, with beard stubble. He looked both tired and tired of this long ordeal. His head is likely still throbbing from the concussion, which he claims has not received adequate medical attention. Matanov wore olive green prison clothes, which were thin like hospital garments.

Judge Young began by saying to Matanov: “I don’t want a discussion of what happened between Hayden and you, or the charges against you: Why don’t you want Hayden as your attorney?”

“I have been working before with Glickman. I felt more confident while working with him,” answered Matanov.

“Mr. Matanov has been a perfect gentleman during these difficult times at prison. He has been respectful and appreciative despite the circumstances. I couldn’t do anything to alleviate his conditions,” explained Hayden humbly. He called Matanov a “star client.”

Judge Young asked Hayden why there has been no progress on this case. Hayden had not filed any motions or seemingly done much of anything to prepare for trial.

“Mr. Matanov was not a problem client. This is not a complex case. It is not difficult to get ready for this case,” said Hayden. “Because of the high notoriety of this case, I had to go to Plymouth two or three times to put out fires.”

Judge Young seemed to sympathize with the defendant. “This young man has the right to a speedy trial. I am ready to give him a prompt trial.”

Young asked Glickman, who was in attendance in the courtroom, if he would take the case. Glickman agreed. He assured the judge that he has been following the case and that there would be no delay if he were to take over the job.

“There can only be one attorney,” said Judge Young to Hayden. “I do thank you for everything you have done under these unique circumstances.”

Hayden said he did not oppose the assignment of a new lawyer.

At that point the judge allowed Matanov’s motion to withdraw his attorney. “I mean no disrespect. You have been ably defending your client.”

“The Plymouth conditions are deplorable. I think it’s fair to say that he may not have been treated well. There have been three suicides. The information the client gave is not unreasonable,” Glickman told reporters after the hearing, assuring them about how prepared he was for trial and implying the lack of any behind the scenes plea deal.

Matanov is not accused of playing any role in the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombing but he had dinner with Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the night of the bombing. He faces up to 15 years for downplaying his relationship with them, after he went to the police to identify the Tsarnaev brothers when their faces came on television.

Judge Young presided over the trial of the notorious “shoe bomber,” Richard Reid in 2003.

Spy for us: Offer Refused!

Our America: Boston  http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1559.htm

Spy for us: Offer Refused! Family says Help the hungry in Syria. 
by Sis. Karin Friedemann


On Friday, July 18, a brief hearing took place in front of Judge William Young at the federal courthouse in Boston for Khairullozhon Matanov, the cab driver from Kyrgyzstan who had dinner with the Tsarnaev brothers the day after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013. He is accused of lying to the FBI about whether he happened to run into them at the restaurant or if he drove them there. He is also accused of deleting google searches from his computer knowing that the FBI would be visiting, even though everything he deleted was public information that provided no clues to the bombing investigation whatsoever.

Matanov's situation is an unusual case because the FBI used a drone to circle around his apartment building on numerous occasions and employed 3-4 FBI agents to follow him around wherever he went, 24 hours a day for one year. This incredible taxpayer expense resulted in not one single alarming activity being detected other than charitable wire transfers to his family overseas.

In a new development, the government seems to now be asking for 15 years under sentencing guidelines with terrorism enhancements for "destroying evidence," when in the previous hearing they were talking about 44 years.

In prison, Matanov was asked by the FBI to spy on "terrorists." He was also told that if he were to plead guilty, his sentence would be reduced to under 7 years.

A tentative trial date was set on June 8, 2015 for the young man, who is being held under 24 hour solitary confinement. The government offered this date, saying they wanted to give defense attorney Edward Hayden plenty of time to review the discovery, which Hayden said was a stack of paper about a foot high. Hayden agreed to this date "in good faith that I will need this time," while reserving the right to move the trial sooner.

This approach is polar opposite to all the other BMB related cases, where the prosecution has dumped millions of pages worth of unsearchable digital evidence upon the defense, and then insisted upon plowing forward with the proceedings despite defense cries for more time to not only review the evidence, but to figure out where the government is going with the case.

The US prosecuting attorney against Matanov is Scott Garland. Reporters asked Hayden if he thought Garland was playing games and Hayden replied he did not think so, as Garland had never played games in the past.

The defense is planning on filing another motion for release on bail, so another bail hearing is expected within a couple weeks. Hayden argued that Matanov is "in a stressful situation." Court filings which state Matanov, "whose ability to respond lucidly to questions has deteriorated because of his solitary confinement," ask the court to employ his previous attorney, Paul Glickman.

"Because Mr. Matanov is a very scared young man, thousands of miles away from his family members and facing serious criminal charges that may result in his exclusion from the United States, I believe that the trusting attorney-client relationship I have built with Mr. Matanov is critical to an adequate defense of this case," Glickman said in an affidavit filed in court. The judge refused to appoint Glickman but agreed to pay him a $2,500 consulting fee to assist Hayden.

While this is a small but pleasing improvement, two letters from Matanov received by this author have found him to be in a state of iman. His main concern is for his family. He may be a bit cranky due to fasting for Ramadan under prison constrictions. He has been feeling frustrated by inability to add people to his phone list or visitor list. He talks to his attorney and his mother overseas.

The young lady on the defense team told me he has a window looking outside. His cell is like a small room (no bars). However the prisoners are able to shout to one another through the walls.

July 22 Birthday Campaign for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

In order to help in the SAMs case against Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev's solitary confinement, Jahar supporters have suggested Ramadan charity actions in his name to demonstrate that the only thing Jahar "inspires" is good deeds and acts of kindness.

Jahar reportedly "had a big smile on his face" when he heard that people were doing this, but he asked that his deceased brother Tamerlan receive the award in heaven for these kind acts. Tsarnaev family members suggested donating to the hungry in Syria.

"Your kindness to others is the only gift he can receive. And the only gift he wants," writes Amber Bishop, who is spearheading the campaign.

Documentation of the beautiful deeds will be put into a humble scrapbook and given to the Tsarnaev family. If you would like to contribute to this effort please contact Amber Bishop on facebook or send an email to acbishop74@yahoo.com

"Get creative and get out there and do amazing things for people, animals, the environment, the sick, the needy, the voiceless. Make suggestions, post ideas, work in teams. Be unique so your act stands out. And feel good about what you are doing. A small act of kindness can go a long way in this world. It can start a chain reaction of good deeds. I can't wait to see what you send!" writes Amber.

Trial Set for Khairullozhon Matanov

July 24, 2014 by TMO 

On Friday, July 18 at the federal courthouse in Boston, the initial status conference hearing took place for Khairullozhon Matanov, the cab driver from Kyrgyzstan who had dinner with the Tsarnaev brothers the evening after the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013. He is accused of lying to the FBI and deleting google searches from his computer in order to downplay his friendship with the brothers, after he went to the police to identify them. He is not accused of having any information about the bombing.

Matanov is represented by Attorney Edward Hayden while the government prosecutor is Scott Garland, the attorney whose overzealous tactics are believed to have caused MIT hacker Aaron Schwartz to commit suicide. Judge William Young is now presiding over the court. The previous judge, Marianne Bowler, for some reason does not want the case. Matanov, who is being kept in solitary confinement, is still waiting for Bowler to make a decision regarding his release on bail.

The hearing was very brief and there were few people in the courtroom.

When the judge asked Garland about sentencing guidelines, the prosecutor replied that with terrorism enhancements, Matanov would be facing up to 15 years if convicted. In the previous hearing, the government had asked for a sentence of 44 years; so possibly the public concern over prosecutorial overreach made a difference.

Garland proposed a tentative trial date on June 8, 2015, saying that he wanted to make sure Hayden had plenty of time to review the discovery material. Hayden said that this seemed “reasonable” and accepted Garland’s word “on good faith” that he would need nearly a year to prepare for this case. Judge Young intervened to suggest that the trial date could be moved closer at Hayden’s request.

Hayden had asked the court to employ Matanov’s previous attorney, Paul Glickman, as co-counsel, arguing that Matanov is “in a stressful situation.”

“Because Mr. Matanov is a very scared young man, thousands of miles away from his family members and facing serious criminal charges that may result in his exclusion from the United States, I believe that the trusting attorney-client relationship I have built with Mr. Matanov is critical to an adequate defense of this case,” Glickman said in an affidavit filed in court. The judge refused to appoint Glickman but ruled that he is to be paid a $2,500 consulting fee to assist Hayden.

It is easy to understand why Matanov might be frustrated with Hayden, who is an overworked public defender without much understanding about Islam, or possibly even the recent history of treacherousness government prosecutions of Muslims. He is definitely hopelessly naive about talking to the press, something he had already been warned about by Judge Bowler.

After the 20 minute hearing, Hayden stood outside the courtroom chatting with reporters, one of whom, Michelle McPhee, encouraged him to leak some information about what was in the pile of prosecution documents. He replied that he did not yet have time to review the discovery and could not say anything, but in order to make McPhee happy he mentioned that he looked at a random page of the foot high pile of paper and saw the photograph “with the flag.”

There have already been media leaks regarding a photo of Matanov and Tamerlan Tsarnaev taken at a mosque, in front of a black flag with Shahada written on it. McPhee quipped to Hayden that this was like posing in front of a swastika, and Hayden just smiled at her. Luckily, this author was present to straighten them out regarding the meaning of the flag, explaining that it was far more like going to a church and posing in front of a cross.

Matanov’s situation is an unusual case because the FBI used a drone to circle around his apartment building on numerous occasions and employed 3 to 4 FBI agents to follow him around in unmarked vehicles wherever he went, 24 hours a day for one year. This incredible taxpayer expense resulted in not one single alarming activity being detected other than charitable wire transfers to his family overseas.

A former client of Matanov told TMO that the young man “is a kind, considerate, wonderful young man who expressed that he loved it here and wanted to earn enough money to ‘bring his parents over.’ He expressed his love of little babies and hugging them and that they were ‘a blessing’ … not the sentiments of a dangerous person. My impression was that he would be a fabulous husband and father.”

While in prison, Matanov was asked by the FBI to spy on “terrorists.” He was also told that if he were to plead guilty, his sentence could be reduced to under 7 years.