by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 26 – Hassan Khan was sentenced to 17 years in Federal prison for grooming an elevent year old girl and having sex with her, "ruining her life," as the judge put it at sentencing.
On June 26, his habeus corpus petition was the subject of an oral argument before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Jennifer E. Willis. Inner City Press was there, the only media in this SDNY courtroom. Thread:
Khan's parents are the the gallery, with only Inner City Press. Khan, in prison, is on the phone. The attack is on Khan's counsel at sentencing, Greco, whose strategy is called bizarre.
Judge: Wasn't he just trying to fully accept responsibility? There was a psycho-sexual expert. Are you saying two were required?
Khan's Counsel: He only consulted the expert in the plea bargaining phase- and Judge Rakoff called the expert into question. Greco never tried to explain Khan's conduct.
Khan's counsel: Greco simply let stand the prosecutor's narrative. The victim's self-cutting may not have been attributable to Mr. Khan
Judge: We're talking about grooming that began at age 11. Could the impacts really be questioned?
Counsel: The victim said she heard voices. It seems more organic. Greco did not question it; he did not channel the mind of an advocate.
Counsel: Sure, Greco made a sentencing video - but it made Khan look privileged, with a wonderful family. He phoned it in. Judge: Mr Khan got a below guidelines sentence.
AUSA Rossmiller: This is Monday morning quarterbacking. It was smart for Mr Greco to not try to justify the crime based on cultural differences and upbringing. Judge: Explaining the conduct is the norm.
AUSA: Greco did say that Khan was in love with the victim Inner City Press will report the ruling when it comes.
The case is Khan v. United States of America, 20-cv-945 (Rakoff / Willis)
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