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Defense to appeal 10-year sentence in Neighbours arson case

Screen Shot 2014-08-20 at 10.00.19 AMAttorneys for convicted Neighbours arsonist Musab Masmari have filed an appeal of the 10-year sentence in the case.

“Because of the political nature of this case, one always suspected this could happen,” defense attorney Charles Swift said after the July decision by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez to double the five years both sides in the case had agreed to. Prosecutors told CHS at the time that they believed Masmari had an anti-gay bias but they asked the judge to not raise the sentence based on hate crime motivations because it would open the possibility of appeals.

The Seattle Weekly broke the news on the appeal and reported more on attorney Charles Swift’s involvement in the case:

As with Hamdan’s case, which went to the U.S. Supreme Court, Masmari’s sentence was political, Swift thinks. Shortly after the term was handed down by U.S. Judge Ricardo Martinez on July 31 – doubling the five-year sentence that prosecutors and Masmari had agreed to in a plea bargain – Swift told reporters he was worried this could happen “because of the political nature of this case.” The next day, he gave notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, challenging the sentence. He is set to file his appellate brief by Halloween.

Masmari, a former Capitol Hill resident, pleaded guilty to setting a New Year’s Eve fire inside a crowded Neighbours nightclub. The arsonist blamed his actions on drinking too much alcohol before setting the fire. In the statement Masmari said he drank an entire “cheap bottle of whiskey” on New Year’s Eve and said he did not remember what happened afterwards. “This defendant violated people’s right to gather safely: he put more than 700 lives at risk when he purposely started a fire at a crowded nightclub on New Year’s Eve,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan in a written statement in May.

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Adam
Adam
9 years ago

10 years seems lenient, considering he should have been charged with several hundred counts of attempted murder.

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  Adam

Exactly. I fervently hope the appeal is denied.

trailrunnr
trailrunnr
9 years ago

“Given the political nature …”? That means if the club had been full of straight people, and the would-be murderer had been white and christian, it would not have been policital? What exactly is this “political nature”, a middle-eastern sounding name?

Fritz
Fritz
9 years ago

Not up on federal procedure. But in state court, a defendant is told in no uncertain terms that even when the prosecution and defense have reached a plea bargain with agreed sentence recommendations, the judge is not bound by those recommendations, but can impose any lawful sentence, up to and including the maximum. Unless ten years is beyond the possible prison term for the crime, hard to see what basis there is for this appeal.

Capitol Hill Denizen
Capitol Hill Denizen
9 years ago

Let’s give the boy a choice: He can either sit in prison for the FULL 10 years he was sentenced OR he can opt out of prison and allow himself to be doused in gasoline and lit with a match.

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[…] while out at R Place as part of a nationwide crime and murder spree. Meanwhile, Musab Masmari was sentenced to 10 years for the New Year’s arson at Neighbours nightclub. While prosecutors and police say Masmari […]

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[…] part of a nationwide crime and murder spree. Meanwhile, Musab Masmari was sentenced to 10 years for the New Year’s arson at Neighbours nightclub. While prosecutors and police say Masmari was clearly driven by anti-gay […]

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[…] CHS reported that defense attorneys for convicted Neighbours nightclub arsonist Musab Masmari have filed an appeal of the 10-year sentence in the […]