Appeals Court Reverses Convictions in Kidnapping and Terrorism Case Involving 3-Year-Old Boy's Death
The court found insufficient evidence for kidnapping and a jury-instruction error, while sending terrorism and material-support counts back for retrial.
- On Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed kidnapping convictions for Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhanah Wahhaj, and Lucas Morton, ruling prosecutors failed to prove the child was taken unlawfully because the father held legal custody.
- Authorities raided the remote Amalia, New Mexico, compound in 2018, discovering 11 children and the remains of 3-year-old Abdul Ghani, who died during religious rituals intended to rid him of evil spirits.
- Writing for the court, Judge Gregory Phillips noted that while the situation was an "unattractive immoral situation," the trial judge misled the jury by implying the mother's lack of consent satisfied the legal requirement for kidnapping.
- The appeals panel also vacated terrorism-related convictions for Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Lucas Morton, ruling the trial court "breached the men's Sixth Amendment rights" by excluding the self-represented defendants from critical jury discussions.
- Prosecutors are now barred from retrying the kidnapping charges, though the court remanded the remaining terrorism and material-support counts against Ibn Wahhaj and Morton to the district court for potential new trials.
28 Articles
28 Articles
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A federal appeals court this week threw out the convictions of four former residents of a remote compound in New Mexico near the Colorado border where a 3-year-old boy died during an exorcism nearly nine years ago.
Appeals court reverses convictions in Taos Compound case
A federal appeals court has vacated kidnapping convictions in a case involving the death of a 3-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia in 2017 and later turned up dead at a squalid compound near Taos.
Federal appeals court reverses convictions linked to Amalia compound
A federal appeals court has reversed convictions linked to the death of a child at a remote compound in Amalia County, where the Taos County Sheriff’s Office arrested a group accused of kidnapping children and training to carry out acts…
The Toronto Star
Appeals court reverses convictions in kidnapping and terrorism case involving 3-year-old boy’s death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal appeals court has vacated kidnapping convictions in a case involving the death of a 3-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia in 2017 and later turned up dead at a squalid compound in New…
Associated Press News
Appeals court reverses convictions in kidnapping and terrorism case involving 3-year-old boy's death
A federal appeals court has vacated kidnapping convictions in a case involving the death of a 3-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia in 2017 and later turned up dead at a squalid compound in New Mexico.
Convictions reversed for 4 people tied to Taos compound
TAOS COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – KRQE News learned of a significant development in the case of a militant compound in northern New Mexico. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the kidnapping convictions of three people, Hujrah Wahhaj, Sbhanah Wahhaj, and Lucas Morton, linked to a terrorist compound near Taos. The court also vacated conspiracy [...]
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