Kunstler Says 4 in Bomb Case Ask His Services
Criminal-defense lawyer William M. Kunstler said Tuesday that the four defendants convicted of bombing the World Trade Center have dropped their attorneys and asked him to represent them at their sentencing.
Kunstler also said in a letter to Judge Kevin T. Duffy that he would move for a new trial for the four on grounds that they received “ineffective assistance of counsel.”
The four Muslims were convicted earlier this month of all charges that they carried out the Feb. 26, 1993, bombing, which killed six people and injured at least 1,000 others.
Kunstler has repeatedly criticized the defense attorneys, saying they did not do enough to question the government’s case.
Kunstler said the men made their request in a phone call from federal prison in Lewisburg, Pa. The defendants, Mohammed A. Salameh, Mahmud Abouhalima, Nidal Ayyad and Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj, are expected to be sentenced May 4.
Austin Campriello, Ajaj’s lawyer, said he was unaware of any plans by his client to switch lawyers.
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