Associated Press correspondent Frank Eltman reports on the case of Osama Awadallah, who faces perjury charges stemming at least in part from an FBI polygraph interrogation. Excerpt:
NEW YORK (AP) – An FBI agent testified Saturday that a Jordanian student with alleged links to two of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers was deceptive during a polygraph examination that was given before his arrest.
Osama Awadallah voluntarily took the polygraph test while being questioned by FBI agents over a two-day period in September, agent Frank Teixiera said in federal court.
“He stated that he was quite certain that he would pass the polygraph,” Teixiera said.
But Awadallah’s answers about whether he had any knowledge of people planning to commit acts against the United States , or whether he had any knowledge about anyone planning the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, led agents to believe there were “inconsistencies and discrepancies” in Awadallah’s story, Teixiera said.
Also Saturday, FBI polygrapher J. Antonio Falcon said the results of Awadallah’s polygraph examination “appeared to be consistent with deception.”
Falcon said he administered the polygraph to Awadallah, who had read and signed a release for the examination and a list of his Miranda rights. The tone of the FBI’s interactions with Awadallah turned from cooperative to combative after the polygraph examination, Falcon said.
The testimony came on the second day of a hearing on whether evidence against Awadallah should be thrown out.
Awadallah, 21, a student at Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., is charged with twice lying to a grand jury in New York . If convicted, he could get 10 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ordered the evidentiary hearing after suggesting last month that Awadallah “may have been the victim of coercion and intimidation.”