Robert Doggart
Talk about Valentine's Day, talk about the spring that's to come. But don't talk about the Robert Doggart case, a U.S. district judge told federal jurors after seven hours of deliberation Tuesday.
The jury returns today at 9 a.m. to resume deliberations into the guilt or innocence of Doggart, a 65-year-old former Tennessee Valley Authority engineer who is accused of planning to attack a Muslim community in New York.
Prosecutors spent five days playing wiretapped phone calls, in which Doggart discussed using assault rifles and explosives on Islamberg near Hancock, N.Y., a commune that Doggart believed was planning an attack of its own.
No evidence of Islamberg residents planning an attack ever existed, however, law enforcement officers said.
Doggart, who has kept a Quran on top of a Bible on his legal table, faces one count of solicitation to commit arson of a building, one count of solicitation to commit a civil rights violation, and two counts of threat in interstate commerce, records show.
His defense attorneys have argued that Doggart exaggerated several details to would-be supporters, never had a consistent plan in place, was entrapped by a confidential informant, and only wanted to conduct reconnaissance on Islamberg, like he had peacefully done on a Muslim community in Dover, Tenn.
The government rested its case Monday after four days of testimony, giving jurors all Tuesday to deliberate.