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3 unusual facts about Material witness


Material witness

In Ashcroft v. al-Kidd (2011), the detainee was never charged or called as a witness, and sued the U.S. Attorney General in office at the time he was held.

He is an American citizen who was arrested in 2003 and held for 16 days in maximum security prisons to be used as a material witness in the trial of Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.

In 2009 the Ninth Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco found in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd that former Attorney General John Ashcroft could be sued personally for wrongful detention by Abdullah al-Kidd.



see also

Detentions following the September 11 attacks

Brandon Mayfield was arrested May 6, 2004 on a material witness charge, on the basis of a fingerprint found after the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks.