Following is a statement by James J. Brosnahan following John Walker Lindh's court hearing earlier today before US Magistrate Judge W. Curtis Sewell.

I am pleased to introduce our trial team, which includes four former federal prosecutors. In addition to myself, we have:

Bill Cummings, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and prominent defense attorney here in Alexandria. Bill is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, a past president of the Federal Bar Association here in Virginia, active in his community and a leader in the bar and bench in this district.

George Harris, my partner and an experienced criminal defense attorney who, along with me, was a Special Prosecutor in the Iran-Contra case. George is a graduate of Yale Law School and a former law professor at the University of Utah teaching ethics and trial practice.

My colleague, Tony West, is a former federal prosecutor in the Northern District of California and former Assistant Attorney General for the State of California. Tony graduated from Stanford Law School and served as an assistant in the Department of Justice under Janet Reno.

Our associate, Raj Chatterjee, is a former public defender in California who has worked on several criminal defense cases. Raj is a magna cum laude graduate of Hastings Law School in California and former federal law clerk.

John Walker Lindh is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This is the law in the United States and this is what the judge will tell the jury. So far there have been no witnesses, no evidence and no trial in this case.

For 54 days the government has held John incommunicado. For 54 days he has been subject to interrogation by the military, the FBI, and other government agents. At no time during this period was John able to talk to his parents or consult a lawyer. In violation of the rules of the Eastern District of Virginia that specifically prohibit comment on cases likely to come to the court, government officials issued or leaked false, misleading, and prejudicial characterizations of the facts and law in this case. It is time finally for this outrageous and unfair situation to change. It's time for John Walker Lindh to have his day in court.

John's case is now in the judicial branch of our government. We will have a distinguished and fair judge to hear the case. We will have a jury that will listen to the evidence and apply the law. This is the American way and we are confident in the outcome of this great process.

There has, of course, been a tremendous amount of publicity surrounding the case. People across America have been bombarded by constant news reports based on leaks from government sources. I have not discussed the facts and issues of the case with anyone outside our legal team and I will not do so in the future. I call on government officials to exercise similar restraint and am confident that the rules of the Eastern District of Virginia regarding publicity will put an end to the false and misleading government statements that have been the rule in this case so far.

These are challenging times. There are two ways of looking at this case, and I believe that the people of America are going to have to choose between them. I think most of the people believe in our Constitution -- which means a belief in fairness, in the presumption of innocence, and a strong belief that a trial by jury is not a technicality, but a right for all of our citizens. Unfortunately, there seem to be other Americans who are acting as if the trial had already occurred and that it is simply a matter of finding an appropriate punishment for John. This point of view is unacceptable and dangerous and a threat to all our freedoms. Virginia was the home of many of America's founding fathers -- men like Washington, Jefferson and Madison who played such an important role in defining the freedoms on which this country is based.

John Walker Lindh, who was born not far from here, in Washington, D.C., has the right to a fair trial. We call upon fair-minded people to wait for the truth that will emerge during the course of his trial. We are eager to present the case to a judge and jury and are confident of the outcome.

James J. Brosnahan has tried over 130 jury trials. He was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting federal cases in Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco, California. He was inducted into The State Bar of California's "Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame" in April 1996, he was awarded the "Samuel E. Gates Award" by the American College of Trial Lawyers in October 2000 and he was named the "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the American Board of Trial Advocates in October 2001.

January 24, 2002 - Statements by John Walker Lindh's Parents

Statement of Marilyn Walker:

My love and support for John is now and has always been absolute and unconditional. I was glad to see my son for myself and tell him I love him. Although it's been an especially difficult time these past few months, I am so grateful to have John back home.

Statement of Frank Lindh:

We are very happy that our son, John, is now back on American soil. John's health seems to be improving, and he was in good spirits during our meeting.

We are very grateful to the U.S. military personnel who provided medical treatment to John over the past month-and-a-half, and to the Navy Chaplain who visited John aboard the USS Bataan.

John has told me, and I can assure all Americans, that John never intended to harm any American, never attempted to harm any American and never did harm any American. He loves America. John did not take up arms against the United States, and he is innocent of the charges against him.

We look forward to a fair trial. We ask that the American people not make judgments about John until all the facts are presented in court.