The defendant is Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a one-time driver for Osama bin Laden, who faces a life sentence if convicted on charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism. While the 30-something man, believed to have a fourth-grade education, admits working as Bin Laden's chauffeur, he denies any involvement in terrorism or acts of violence.

In the years since Hamdan was first charged in 2004, under a military tribunal system that would later be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Yemeni's defense team has promulgated an image of their client as a hapless immigrant, who was motivated by financial interest, not ideological passion.

In seven days of testimony, 11 prosecution witnesses have sought to slowly dismantle that image. Military personnel and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) have said Hamdan was in constant and close proximity to bin Laden, and had advance knowledge of al-Qaida attacks.

On Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutor John Murphy asked a witness about Hamdan's experience around the time of the 1998 al-Qaida attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

"Was it clear to you from your conversation with the accused that he knew that an operation was coming, that is, a violent attack?" Murphy asked former FBI agent Ali Soufan.

"Yes, he assumed it was coming," replied Soufan, who interrogated Hamdan over several months in 2003.

"Did Salim Hamdan, after learning about al-Qaida's role in the attack, decide to leave al-Qaida?" Murphy asked.

"No," Soufan said.

The prosecution began the presentation of their case on Tuesday, with testimony from two soldiers who were stationed in Taktapol, Afghanistan when Hamdan was captured there in November 2002. Both Major Hank Smith and a man identified only as Sergeant Major A testified that Hamdan was captured driving a car that contained two surface-to-air missiles.

But on cross-examination by defense lawyer Lieutenant Commander Brian Mizer, Sergeant Major A conceded that he was not actually at the checkpoint when Afghan forces apprehended Hamdan.

"You never saw Mr. Hamdan in the car," Mizer said.

"I did not," the witness replied.

Though Hamdan is not accused of planning or participating in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, they nevertheless loomed large over the testimony and evidence offered by the prosecution.

Soufan and other interrogators told the court that Hamdan knew that "there was something happening" before the attacks happened because Bin Laden ordered an evacuation. Hamdan also heard Bin Laden crowing about the larger-than-expected death toll afterward, Soufan testified.

"Did he [Hamdan] abandon al-Qaida at this point?" prosecutor Murphy asked.

"No," Soufan replied.

The 9/11 attacks entered the proceedings most dramatically on Monday – the sixth day of evidence – when the prosecution won permission to play a specially commissioned film about al-Qaida that included harrowing footage of the attacks, complete with the screams of onlookers and multiple angle replays of the World Trade Center towers being hit and then collapsing.

The documentary was entitled, The al-Qaida Plan, in homage to a film played at the Nuremberg trials called The Nazi Plan. Financed by the prosecution to the tune of $20,000, the seven-part, 90-minute film traced the genesis of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and culminated with footage of the 9/11 attacks.

The defense objected strenuously to the playing of the film, and specifically the attack footage. In their cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, Hamdan's defense team repeatedly emphasized that their client had no involvement in the attacks.

"Did Mr. Hamdan ever say anything to you, or anyone else for that matter, that he knew the destination of a fourth plane in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack?" defense lawyer Harry Schneider asked one witness.

"No he did not," replied George Crouch, an FBI agent who interviewed Hamdan multiple times in 2002.

"A third plane?" Schneider asked. "No he did not," Crouch replied.

"A second plane... A first plane?" Schneider continued.

"No, he didn't," Crouch said.

"Did you ever learn ... that Mr. Hamdan had anything to do with the planning or execution of terror acts?" Schneider asked another prosecution witness – FBI Agent Stewart Kelly.

"No," Kelly replied.

But even if the defense can successfully convince the panel of six military jurors responsible for Hamdan's fate that he was not involved in the 9/11 attacks, the legal team will have a difficult time defending against the broad charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism.

The latter charge does not require the prosecution to show that Hamdan intended to help realize terrorist acts, and the jury has already heard testimony about the importance of bit-players in al-Qaida's operations.

"Without people like Mr. Hamdan, bin Laden would enjoy no support. He would enjoy no protection," Crouch told the court last week.

"Without people willing to do logistics and menial tasks," Crouch said, "al-Qaida as we know it couldn't exist."