No 'terrorism' reference, PTSD defense in trial

DETROIT - Jurors won't hear the words "terrorism" or "terrorist" at the Detroit trial of a Chicago-area activist charged with failing to disclose her convictions for bombings that killed two people in Israel when she gained U.S. citizenship in 2004.

Federal Judge Gershwin Drain made decisions on evidence Monday, eight days before Rasmieh Odeh's trial. She's associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago.

While prosecutors can't use certain words, they can tell jurors that Odeh was convicted of the 1969 bombings in Jerusalem.

Odeh says she confessed only after Israel's military tortured her. She says she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when she didn't disclose her convictions on a citizenship application.

The judge won't allow a PTSD defense but says he believes Odeh's claims of torture are credible.