Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

David Coleman Headley, accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks and facing 12 terror charges in a Chicago court, on Thursday changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on all charges. On account of this plea agreement Mr. Headley is currently facing life imprisonment, pending the conclusion of the case, instead of the death penalty.

However in a conversation with The Hindu on Thursday, his attorney, John Theis, said that as per his plea agreement Headley may be eligible for “downward departure”, which is essentially an even lighter sentence than life imprisonment, conditional upon his continued cooperation. He was however unable to confirm how many years in prison Mr. Headley might face in such circumstances, saying that that would be pure “speculation.”

Mr. Theis argued that Headley had already provided important information to the authorities, which had already “helped save lives”. He said that while he had no information from law enforcement agencies about what they did with any information provided by Headley, he said, “My understanding is that the United States government has shared information with the Indian government on a regular basis.”

Further, as mentioned in the plea agreement, Mr. Theis emphasised that authorities of other countries, including India, would be able to question Headley; however that would have to be on U.S. soil.

Headley has “agreed not to be sentenced until the case is over,” Mr. Theis said, confirming that sentencing would depend on the arrest and trial of Headley’s co-defendants, including Tahawwur Rana, Illyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed.

Mr. Theis said at this point it was unclear how long that might take or if indeed they would all be brought before the U.S. justice system. In any case Headley would likely to remain in custody until such time, Mr. Theis added.

Labels: Chicago court, David Coleman Headley, guilty plea, John Theis, Mumbai attacks