Viktor Bout’s Defense Seeks New Trial

News

The defense team of Viktor Bout, a Russian national convicted in early November of conspiring to kill Americans, has requested a retrial on the grounds that members of the jury may have been influenced by the media. Attorney Albert Dayan requested a re-trial, suggesting an evidentiary hearing for the jury as an alternative, because he said members of the jury had been exposed to “prejudicial material.” In a letter to the District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, Dayan complained that the media myth surrounding Bout was too large to be concealed from the jury, and that it would take a “special” jury to look beyond Bout’s “prejudicial” portrayal in the media. Dayan cited as evidence of this a New York Times article that quoted jury foreman Heather Hobbs saying she had seen the movie “Lord of War,” a 2005 film starring Nicholas Cage, but was not aware that the film was about Bout.  She told the New York Times that the film had no influence on her vote, and that the jury’s verdict was based on “overwhelming” evidence presented against Bout in court. Dayan disagrees.  In a letter to Judge Sheindlin, he wrote that there is “clear, strong and incontrovertible” evidence that the jury had been biased.  “Bout was explicitly named as the inspiration for the film’s villainous lead character at the end thereof,” Dayan wrote, noting that Bout’s photograph was used in the film “to identify him.”

Related Articles

Calls for Anti-Corruption in Ukraine’s Post-War Rebuild
As Ukraine looks toward recovery from the ongoing conflict, international partners and reform advocates call for embedding anti-corruption measures in post-war restoration efforts.
Mining Crimes Pose a Challenge for Law Enforcement, Experts Say
A recent report found that only one in three of environmental crime cases in the Amazon produced a parallel financial crime investigation from authorities.
Kyrgyz Elite Targeted as Japarov Allies Gain Key Assets
After the killing of crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev, Kyrgyz authorities have intensified their crackdown on prominent business figures suspected of financing organized crime. But is it justice—or something else?
Calls for Anti-Corruption in Ukraine’s Post-War Rebuild
As Ukraine looks toward recovery from the ongoing conflict, international partners and reform advocates call for embedding anti-corruption measures in post-war restoration efforts.
Mining Crimes Pose a Challenge for Law Enforcement, Experts Say
A recent report found that only one in three of environmental crime cases in the Amazon produced a parallel financial crime investigation from authorities.
Kyrgyz Elite Targeted as Japarov Allies Gain Key Assets
After the killing of crime boss Kamchy Kolbaev, Kyrgyz authorities have intensified their crackdown on prominent business figures suspected of financing organized crime. But is it justice—or something else?
November 17th, 2011
Arms Industry Justice System

On Nov. 2, 2011, Bout was found guilty of four charges including conspiring to kill US officials and citizens by agreeing to aid an anti-American group designated by the US government as terrorists.  He was extradited to the US in late 2010, following his arrest during an undercover operation in Thailand. On March 6, 2008, Bout and former colleague Andrew Smulian, met two undercover US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents posing as members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). At the Bangkok meeting,  Bout agreed to provide a wide array of weapons to FARC, including anti-aircraft missiles. He also offered to sell them two cargo planes for arms deliveries, and to train guerrillas. DEA agents secretly recorded the meeting with Bout and Smulian, and the recording was among the evidence used in Bout’s trial. Bout was arrested immediately after the Bangkok meeting.  Smulian, convicted on similar charges, agreed to testify for the prosecution in the hopes of a more lenient sentence.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has reacted loudly against the verdict against Bout. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich says the US violated international standards in its treatment of Bout . The ministry believes that Bout was held in "unjustifiably harsh detention conditions" and was subjected to "controversial methods of a physical and psychological nature that contravene existing international rights standards," Lukashevich  said in a press statement published on the Ministry’s web site.   The Russian government has vowed to bring Bout back to Russia.

Bout’s wife Alla recently told an Emirati tabloid that the “Lord of War” ruined Bout’s reputation, and while it is good entertainment, it has nothing to do with her husband.. She said Bout only shipped “ostriches and bathroom tiles” through his cargo business in Sharjah, not weapons. Mrs. Bout had similar comments about the book, “Merchant of Death,” written by investigative journalists Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun. She blamed the authors and the DEA, for giving the world the “wrong impression” of Bout.

The reading of Bout’s sentence is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2012, when he will receive a sentence between 25 years and life in prison.

Related Reporting