JUDGE IN ARAB BANK CASE DENIES DEFENSE POST-TRIAL MOTIONS

The US District Judge presiding over the Arab Bank case has, in a 96-page Memorandum Opinion and Order*, detailing all the trial testimony, disposed of all the major post-trial motions filed by the defendant Bank:

1. The Court denied the Bank's Rule 59 Motion for a New Trial, declining to overturn the jury verdict on liability.
2. The Court denied most of the Bank's Rule 50 Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law; See below for details.
3. The Court denied the Bank's Motion for Certification of an Interlocutory Appeal, pursuant to 28 USC  §1292(b). This means that the bank cannot take an early appeal, but must wait until a final judgment is entered in the case.

The Court did find that 2 of the 24 terrorist  attacks could not be linked directly to the bank, and dropped those two from the case.

The Court found that there was "ample"** evidence to support the jury verdict; It held that there was a "cornucopia***" of circumstantial evidence to demonstrate that the Bank knew, or was willfully blind to, the Hamas connections to the charities receiving money. Families of deceased terrorists each received USD$5300 through the bank.

There was "damning****" circumstantial evidence that the defendant Bank knew that its customers were terrorists. You are invited to review the complete text of the Opinion, to get a sense of the overwhelming evidence presented at the trial; you will also see million dollar payments to individual members of the terrorist leadership detailed in the testimony. Use the hyperlink below to see the document. I warn you that some might find the evidence disturbing.

The trial on damages begins on July 13, 2015, and treble damages are available under the civil liability provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
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* Memorandum Opinion and Order
** Order at 21.
*** Order at 24.
**** Order at 26.