Court unseals opinion ordering production of Justice memos

In an opinion that was unsealed on Wednesday, a New York federal judge ruled last month that prosecutors must produce Justice Department memos in a high-profile terrorism case, the New York Law Journal reported.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had ruled on January 21st that disclosure rules applied to Justice Department memos about the transfer of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who is charged in an al-Qaida conspiracy to destroy U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. The decision has been sealed since then while a court security officer ensured that releasing the opinion would not result in the disclosure of any national security information.

Ghailani’s attorneys are attempting to use the memos to support their argument that the indictment should be dismissed because the government violated Ghailani’s right to a speedy trial. The federal government argues that there was a delay because they needed to interrogate Ghailini for information to help prevent other terror attacks.

Judge Kaplan’s ruling may guide other ongoing terrorism cases, although it will not be binding precedent.