Mistrial in Benghazi attack case

Jury couldn’t agree on murder counts against Libyan man in 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities.

WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge declared a mistrial Monday after a federal jury convicted a second Libyan man of conspiracy in the deadly 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, but deadlocked on 15 of 17 counts in connection with the deaths of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper dismissed jurors after they reported themselves unable “to come to unanimous agreement on any of the remaining counts.”

Cooper last Thursday asked jurors to return after a weekend break following their partial verdict, in which they found Mustafa al-Imam, 47, guilty on one count each of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and maliciously destroying government property in overnight attacks that began Sept. 11, 2012, on a U.S. diplomatic mission and a CIA post.

The dismissed counts included the most serious charges of murder and attempted murder against the Americans, and also counts involving a second round of attacks on the nearby secret CIA annex in which two contractor security agents were killed and another CIA and State Department security officer injured.

The results of Imam’s trial largely tracked the outcome from a separate jury in November 2017 that found accused ringleader Ahmed Abu Khattala, 47, guilty of four of 18 counts but not directly responsible for the deaths of Stevens, State Department communications aide Sean Smith, and CIA security contractors Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Abu Khattala is serving a 22-year prison sentence.