Woman accused in fake bomb case on trial
Mon, Jan. 07, 2008

ByPaul Bourgeois
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FORT WORTH — Testimony began Monday in the trial of Janet Ahmad, a woman accused of placing a fake bomb in a vacant lot in the Arlington South Ridge Hills addition and of making a false bomb call to police in January 2002.

The Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000 or both.

The case is being tried in County Criminal Court No. 10 before Judge Phil Sorrells and a jury of three men and three women.

Ahmad, of San Antonio, is founder and president of HomeOwners for Better Building, an organization designed to help residents fight against builders when they find construction defects and other problems in their homes and subdivisions.

In an opening statement, prosecutor Steve Gebhardt said Ahmad planted a “hoax” or “fake” bomb in the neighborhood.

The idea was to attract attention to earlier reports of exploded and unexploded ordnance in the area, according to testimony.

The neighborhood was built by KB Homes on what had been a practice bomb range used by the U.S. Navy during World War II. There are published reports of practice bombs found in the neighborhood.

The issue is whether Ahmad planted a bomb in a lot on Jan. 26, 2002, two days before she was to speak at a public meeting on the neighborhood bomb issue. The meeting was at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Defense attorney Mark Daniel characterized the case as “as retaliatory effort by KB Homes,” which also has sued Ahmad for $20 million.

Daniel said Ahmad did nothing more than find a bomb where bombs had been found before and called 911 as residents who found bombs had been instructed to do.