WILLIAMSPORT — The inmate charged with stabbing an Allenwood Federal Penitentiary corrections officer in the eye in 2020 seeks dismissal of his indictment.
Kuwait-born Abdulrahman el Bahnasawy in a motion filed Monday in U.S. Middle District Court accuses the government of violating his speedy trial rights.
He claims the period between last Nov. 6 and Monday is not excludable under the Speedy Trial Act and therefore the charges should be dismissed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur in a June 3 email to defense counsel Andrew J. Frisch apologized for the delay and added, “Let’s get this moving and set a trial date.”
The prosecutor said he still is open to resolving the matter short of a trial but Bahnasawy would have to plead guilty.
His attempt in 2022 to plead no contest to two counts of assault on a federal officer was rejected.
Little has occurred in the case since Judge Matthew W. Brann in May 2023 approved a delay in the trial to allow the government to conduct a competency mental health examination.
Last Sept. 29, the judge granted the unopposed motion for the examination to take place at the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado, where Bahnasawy is incarcerated.
Attached to the dismissal motion are copies of these emails exchanged on Oct. 27 between Frisch and MacArthur about the status of the examination:
Frisch: “Geoff, any update on the proposed timing of the doctor’s evaluation?”
MacArthur: “Andy is hung up on our financial side. I just finished a trial and will see what the issue is.”
Frisch: “Understood. Just concerned about scheduling as a busy part of the year approaches and also winter weather in Colorado.”
The following is taken from a June 3 exchange of emails:
MacArthur states the government is trying to get its expert Dr. Ronald Schouten to Florence to do the examination.
Frisch: “Why has it taken so long to get at this point?”
MacArthur: “Our expert took some time to review past records to get up to speed.
“I had a trial at the end of 2023 and another one in April that took up the bulk of my time. I do want to move this matter forward; we just have a lot of schedules to coordinate.”
Bahnasawy has not claimed he is mentally incompetent to stand trial, Frisch points out in his motion, adding he has had difficulty communicating with him.
It is the opinion of Kenneth J. Weiss, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania retained by the defense, that Bahnasawy was in the midst of a psychotic episode on Dec. 7, 2020, when he attacked Dale Franquet Jr.
Bahnasawy, 26, claims before the assault a voice told him he was a failure and threatened him if he did not follow directions, Weiss wrote in his report.
His intention was to protect himself and his family and he wishes he could have resisted the voice, the document states.
Frisch has maintained his client had not been stabilized on antipsychotic medication at the time of the stabbing.
Franke was critically injured when an inmate identified as Bahnasawy came at him with a shank while yelling all ahu akbar, a term historically used by Muslims as a battle cry.
Franquet was stabbed in the right eye and neck. His doctor told him he came “within the width of a dime” of being killed, he said. He lost the sight in his right eye.
The sharpened metal shank was 14.5 inches long with a cloth handle, the indictment states.
The attack, which was captured on video, occurred as Franquet was walking down the “range” after unlocking the cell door to allow Bahnasawy out to move about.
According to Franquet, the inmate came up behind him, stabbed him near the jugular and as they struggled in the eye.
The shank was used with such force it punctured the spray canister a female corrections officer deployed as other guards came to assist, Rocktashel said.
Besides the two counts to which he wanted to plead no contest, Bahnasawy is charged with two counts each of assault with intent to commit murder and assault with a deadly weapon along with single counts of possession of a prohibited object and providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
Bahnasawy, a Canadian citizen, is serving a 40-year sentence for plotting in 2016 on behalf of ISIS to blow up the New York subway system, detonate bombs in Times Square and shoot people in public venues.
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