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Mohamed al-'Owhali: A witness says he saw him throw stun grenades at the security gate so the bomb truck could get closer to the embassy in Nairobi.

By From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jurors completed their eighth day of deliberations Monday in the trial of four men accused of participating in a worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans and destroy U.S. property -- a conspiracy that allegedly included the coordinated 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The jury is scheduled to reconvene at 9:30 Tuesday morning to continue considering the 302-count indictment alleging the conspiracy, the bombings, the murders of the people killed, and perjury to cover up the conspiracy.

In notes sent to the court Monday, the jury signaled it was finished considering the trial's most important counts -- Nos. 1 through 8 -- that cover the alleged conspiracy and the bombings and was focused on the murder counts -- one for each of the 224 people killed.

CASE FILE Shattered Diplomacy: The U.S. Embassy Bombings Trial An in-depth special report on the trial of four men charged with the embassy bombings Trial reports | Timeline | Key Figures  DOCUMENTS • Jury verdict form for the U.S. embassy bombings trial (FindLaw) (PDF) Part 1 | Part 2 • Jury Questionnaire (FindLaw) Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.   GALLERY Images from the U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania   LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

The jury asked the court to read back the testimony of one eyewitness who said he saw Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, 24, a Saudi, participate in the bombing of the embassy in Kenya.

The witness, Charles Mwaka Mula, an embassy technician, had been fixing a water pump behind the embassy when the bomb-laden Toyota Dyna pickup truck entered the embassy's rear parking lot around 10:30 a.m. on August 7, 1998.

Mwaka Mula said al-'Owhali got out of the passenger side, threw stun grenades at the security gate so the truck could get closer to the building, then ran away. Mwaka Mula's recollection conformed with al-'Owhali's version of events in his post-arrest statement to the FBI. Al-'Owhali had turned a corner when the explosion occurred and sustained minor cuts and bruises.

Mwaka Mula later identified al-'Owhali in a Kenyan police line-up, and 2.5 years later in open court. The jury asked to review the line-up photo and the photos of al-'Owhali's injuries.

The jury asked the judge to clarify whether to find a defendant guilty of murder it had to determine that using his own weapons rather than "acting as a diversion" caused the deaths. The judge will answer on Tuesday.

Count Nos. 9 through 281 on the verdict form relate to the murder or attempted murder of the bombing casualties.

Another jury note pointed out the verdict form for count No. 8, which alleges the use of weapons of mass destruction in the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, bombing, referred to the "Nairobi embassy" in one of the follow-up questions. The jury would be required to answer that follow-up question "if and only if" it had found the defendant guilty of the charge.

The note was a negative sign for Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, a Tanzanian, the only defendant accused of carrying out the Dar es Salaam bombing and of murdering the 11 people who died in that coordinated attack.

Al-'Owhali stands in a Kenyan police line-up following the bombing.

Defendant Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 36, a Jordanian, like al-'Owhali, is accused of carrying out the bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, and of murdering the 213 people who died in the explosion.

Defendant Wadih el Hage, 40, a Lebanese-born naturalized American, is not charged with the bombings, but he and the other three defendants face terrorist conspiracy charges. El Hage also faces 18 perjury counts for allegedly lying to a grand jury about his ties to bin Laden and his associates.

El Hage's wife, April, and their 14-year-old son, Abdullah, the eldest of their seven children, both visiting from Arlington, Texas, have been steady court observers since deliberations began. The family has had to settle mostly for exchanging waves and smiles across the courtroom.

El Hage's attorney, Sam Schmidt, told the court Monday a non-contact jail visit scheduled for Saturday was abandoned when jail guards refused to let el Hage see his wife and son without wearing handcuffs and leg shackles.

Schmidt said el Hage did not want his son to see him like that. Judge Sand, after speaking with the jail, told Schmidt that a less restrictive visit could take place late Monday afternoon.

The jury received the case late in the afternoon of May 10, slightly more than three months after it began to hear testimony. It heard from nearly 100 prosecution and defense witnesses and saw hundreds of pieces of evidence.

A majority of the exhibits are documents, including declarations by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden urging the killing of American soldiers and civilians. Bin Laden is accused of leading the conspiracy and orchestrating the embassy bombings.

Federal prosecutors say all the defendants are tied to bin Laden -- as a business associate, a member of his Islamic militant group, al Qaeda, or as trainees in his military camps in Afghanistan, where bin Laden and some of his followers live.