Bin Laden driver's conviction thrown out by court

[NewsCaster]

Courtesy of Prof. Neal Katyal via AP Salim Ahmed Hamdan is seen in an undated photoBy NBC News staffUpdated at 11:58 a.m. ET: WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday tossed out the conviction of Osama bin Laden’s former driver for supporting terrorism, saying the law under which he was tried did not apply to his crime.

Follow @NBCNewsUSSalim Ahmed Hamdan was convicted in 2008 by a panel of six U.S. military officers of providing material support to al-Qaida. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years and released shortly thereafter because he had already spent six years in custody at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detention camp in Cuba.


He was the first Guatanamo detainee to be convicted of war crimes.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated Hamdan’s conviction even though he has already served his sentence.

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