Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, Arab News Staff

ALKHOBAR, 10 July 2003 — The trial of accused Saudi Naif Al-Yousif, which had been scheduled to begin in Denver, Colorado, on June 30 has been postponed again, the third major delay in the start of court proceedings against him.

“The defense attorney for Al-Yousif asked for yet another delay in the trial — and over our strenuous objection the judge granted the delay. The trial is now scheduled for Oct. 7, 2003,” Lynn Kimbrough, communications director of Denver District Attorney’s Office, told Arab News yesterday.

Accused of taking part in the kidnapping and murder of Saudi college student Abdulaziz Al-Koohaji, Al-Yousif has been in custody since January 2001 and is being held by the Denver authorities without bond. The other two Saudis accused in the case returned to the Kingdom in early January 2001 and were immediately arrested. Despite numerous requests from the Denver District Attorney, Mishael Al-Suwaidi and Tariq Al-Dossary have not been returned to Denver to face charges, although they do remain in custody in the Kingdom.

There is no extradition treaty between Saudi Arabia and the United States.

While the charges against him are serious, Al-Yousif has already been granted a boon by the Denver district attorney. The prosecutor has decided not to seek the death penalty at trial, even though the State of Colorado does permit capital punishment.

“If found guilty, Al-Yousif will be given a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole,” said Kimbrough.

“A death penalty case requires the presence of aggravating factors. If a case has aggravating factors, then each elected district attorney in their district must weigh whether there are sufficient aggravating factors to convince a jury of 12 people to return a death sentence. It is difficult in our community here in Denver to get a death sentence, so the district attorney knows that if he is going to seek the death penalty there must be aggravating factors that far exceed any mitigating factors. The last two times the Denver district attorney has sought the death penalty, he lost and the defendants got life in prison.

“Yes, the brutal murder of Abdulaziz Al-Koohaji and the dumping of his body in a garbage landfill were heinous acts.” She added, “there is no question. But based on the past efforts to seek a death penalty in cases that were even more heinous, the district attorney concluded he could not realistically expect a jury to return a death sentence in this case.”