Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee tried in a civilian court, was convicted of conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property but was acquitted of the remaining 281 ¹counts in the indictment related to the bombing of the United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. He was accused of procuring the truck and the gasoline tanks used in the attacks. He has said that he did not know what they were going to be use to attack the embassies. He is facing a minimum of twenty years in prison and a maximum of life without parole at his January sentencing.

The trial showed that the Guantanamo detainees charged with terrorist offenses can receive fair trials in civilian courts in New York. The jury was capable of looking at the evidence and picking which offense Ghailani was guilty of and finding him not guilty of the other offenses. The trial, unlike a military tribunal, met minimum due process requirements. The judge excluded a major witness whose testimony had been coerced by torture. In a military trial the coerced testimony would have been admissible and while not reliable would have been used. It would have raised doubts about the validity of the trial and may have resulted in further terrorist attacks against this country in response to what would have been a questionable conviction. But at the same time the judge made a number of decisions favorable to the prosecution which will probably be tested during an appeal. For example he refused to dismiss the charges even though Ghailani was tortured while in government custody. He ruled that even though the bombings occurred in 1998 and Mr. Ghailani was arrested in 2004 in Pakistan the trial met speedy trial standards.

We must remember that the test of the court system is not whether the defendant is convicted or of how many counts he/she is found guilty of but rather whether a fair trial under the Constitution is received. While the ideal is never reached the court showed that a reasonable trial could be conducted. The trial was the first and more tests will come. Certainly the appellate courts will have their say but the court certainly showed that the civilian court can do at least as good of a job as the military tribunals.