Compounding that was the fact that, indictment or no indictment, nothing much seemed to change here as day by day and month by month, Mr. Suarez, a Democrat, who declined to be interviewed on Wednesday, kept serving out his second term.
Mr. Morales was indicted in 2005, but that indictment was thrown out last year by the current trial judge, Justice Bonnie Wittner, who said it violated Mr. Morales's right to a speedy trial because prosecutors had overlooked the evidence for 15 years.
At a later stage of the investigation, however, it would make sense to set a much higher standard before indicting the identified suspect if that indictment is going to be based largely on the eyewitness identification evidence.
"I'm hoping that he would be indicted and that action would unfold following that indictment.
On Tuesday, David E. Patton, the chief federal public defender in New York City, wrote to the judge overseeing cases stemming from that indictment, arguing that Mr. Ruqai was "a defendant in an indicted case before this court" and was entitled to be taken "without unnecessary delay" before a magistrate judge, where he would also have the right to counsel.
That indictment is also before Judge Kaplan.
That indictment ran one page and charged two defendants.
That indictment, issued by a federal grand jury in Washington last November, was unsealed last week.
That indictment was thrown out by a judge who said it came too late.
Before that indictment, Mr. Ujaama, an activist, defended himself in a letter on a Web site.
