Who is Hamid Hayat from Confession Tapes and has he been released from prison?
25 June 2019, 16:50
Everything you need to know about Hamid Hayat, who appeared on Netflix's Confession Tapes
The Confession Tapes season two has just dropped on Netflix - and one of the four episodes focuses on the case of Hamid Hayat.
Who is Hamid Hayat and has he been released from prison?
Hamid is still incarcerated in a federal facility near Phoenix, Arizona, in the USA. He has been there for around 14 years.
He was sentenced to 24 years after being found guilty of lying to the FBI and attending terror camps in Pakistan.
A Magistrate Judge, Deborah Barnes has issued a 116 page document recommending that his convictions be overturned.
It said that his: “Sixth Amendment rights were violated by the defence put on by an inexperienced lawyer who had never before selected a jury or tried a criminal case in federal court."
His 'inexperienced' attorney Wazhma Mojaddidi supported the reccomendation, saying: “I passionately represented Hamid Hayat as a young attorney and worked with a great team of lawyers and investigators in his defence,“I have always believed that he is an innocent man who was wrongly convicted.“I am elated to hear that he could be freed soon after unjustly spending so many years in prison. It is a good day indeed.”
The reccomendation also claims that that US Attorney for the Eastern District of California, McGregor Scott, said: “It has consistently been our position that Mr Hayat received effective representation at trial and that his conviction by a jury, subsequently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit, is completely valid.
“We are presently considering all our options to include asking for further review by the district court judge.”
