Al-Qaeda Operative’s Convictions Stand Following Rejected Appeal

A former al-Qaeda operative behind a foiled plot to bomb New York City subways in 2009 lost his bid to set aside one of his convictions on Wednesday, when the Second Circuit rejected his arguments about what might constitute a crime of violence.

Adis Medunjanin claimed that a conviction for aiding and abetting attempted terrorism couldn’t be a predicate crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). But the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit disagreed.

When a jury convicts a defendant of a crime of violence premised on an aiding-and-abetting theory, the defendant is guilty of the ...