United States v. Ghailani
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
743 F. Supp. 2d 261 (2010)
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (defendant), an alleged al Qaeda member involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, was arrested abroad in 2004 and turned over to the CIA, which held him at a secret prison and subjected him to enhanced interrogation. During that interrogation, Ghailani gave information that led the government directly to a man named Hussein Abebe. The government sought to call Abebe as a witness against Ghailani at his criminal trial. Ghailani moved to exclude Abebe's testimony, arguing it was the direct product of statements the CIA had elicited from him in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
Whether a statement obtained by coercion in violation of the Fifth Amendment, and the statement's fruits, must be excluded from a criminal trial unless the government proves the connection between the coercion and the proposed evidence is so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.