MINNEAPOLIS — During jury selection in the first week of the Feeding our Future trial in federal court in Minneapolis, the attorneys and seven defendants had access to the personal information of jurors via "juror lists" provided by the court. When the jury was seated at the end of the week, Judge Nancy Brasel ordered the lawyers and seven defendants to return those lists.
But two of those lists were not returned, a potential clue as to who may have orchestrated a $120,000 attempted bribe of a juror Sunday night, an unprecedented bombshell that rocked the case and has loomed over the ongoing deliberations.
That information was revealed in a court filing Thursday by Andrew Mohring, one of the attorneys for defendant Mukhtar Shariff. Mohring states that that Shariff and their legal team turned in their juror lists and pointed out the numbering affiliated with the missing lists does not correspond to their table.
"Further, Mr. Shariff did not write down or otherwise record the name or information of any prospective or seated juror," Mohring wrote.
But Mohring doesn't reveal which defendant or defendants the missing lists correspond to.
The new information is revealed in a motion for Judge Brasel to reconsider the detention of Shariff as the deliberations and bribe investigation continue. On Monday, after Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed the attempted bribe, Brasel ordered the arrest and jailing of the seven defendants, known in federal court as detention.
For Shariff as well as some of his co-defendants, it was their first time jailed as part of this case.
"Despite his cellular device being within the FBI’s custody over the last several days, there has been no evidence that Mr. Shariff was involved in the attempt to bribe Juror #52. The FBI has, however, since raided the home of defendant Abdiaziz Farah. Mr. Shariff’s home has not been raided," Mohring wrote. "This strongly suggests that Mr. Shariff is not involved in the alleged bribery scheme. Mr. Shariff’s detention is therefore unnecessary. He is not a danger to any juror, or to the community in general."
As an exhibit in his motion to reconsider, Morhing includes the KARE 11 article breaking the news of the FBI raid of Farah's home in Savage on Wednesday as part of the bribe investigation.
The search warrant application giving details of what led investigators to Farah is currently sealed. But Mohring reveals that Farah through his attorney has requested that the Government produce the application to provide additional facts about the bribery scheme.
Shariff's home was not raided, according to Mohring.
With all those developments, Mohring argues that Shariff should now be released from jail.
"The Office of Probation and Pretrial Services also recommends if found guilty, Mr. Shariff be continued on bond under the same terms and conditions previously imposed, given Mr. Shariff’s general compliance on supervision," Mohring wrote.
The jury is not aware that the defendants are now in custody. Friday will mark the fourth day of deliberations.
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: