Gov't. Rests in Jose Padilla Trial

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 04:08:32 PM EST
Tags: Jose Padilla (all tags)

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The Government has rested its case in the Miami terrorism trial of Jose Padilla and his two co-defendants.

The Southern District of Florida blog has a wrap-up of coverage.

Journalist Lew Koch has been writing about the case for Firedoglake. His latest is here, focusing on the jurors playing dress-up.

More...

Update: Padilla's lawyer while he was in the Brig, Andrew Patel, filed this affidavit(pdf) with the Court describing the conditions of confinement and their effect on Padilla.

Other revealing documents are the Motion to Dismiss for Outrageous Government Conduct (pdf) and Reply to Government's Response to Motion to Dismiss for Outrageous Government Conduct (pdf) filed by Padilla's lawyers. Padilla submitted an affidavit attesting to the facts contained in the motion. His recap of allegations of torture while at the Brig begin on page 6 of the Reply.

For a summary, see my post from December, The Torment of Jose Padilla.

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Gov't. Rests in Jose Padilla Trial | 9 comments (9 topical)

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This was not a trial of Jose Padilla. (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by Edger on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 04:37:19 PM EST

It was part of the continuing trial of George W. Bush and of Bush's supporters and of the psychotic mindset of what Hunter Thompson called The Kingdom Of Fear.

During the trial:
Padilla was never linked to any specific acts of terrorism or murder and, unlike his co-defendants, he was not accused of using purported code words like "tourism" for "jihad" or "eggplant" for "rocket-propelled grenade."

"Although everyone has been referring to this case as the Padilla trial, the government's case against Padilla has been pretty thin," said David O. Markus, a Miami defense attorney who has frequently written about the case on his legal blog. "I'm sure the government lawyers are sweating quite a bit right now."

Jose Padilla could have been your neighbor, or your brother...... or you:

The case of Jose Padilla is one of the most despicable and outright un-American travesties the U.S. Government has perpetrated for a long time. It is impossible to defend that behavior, let alone engage in it, and claim with any legitimacy that one believes in the principles that have defined and guided this country since its founding. But there has been no retreat from this behavior. Quite the contrary. The atrocity known as the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is a huge leap forward to elevating the Padilla treatment from the lawless shadows into full-fledged, officially sanctioned and legally authorized policy of the U.S. Government. The case of Jose Padilla is no longer a sick aberration, but is instead a symbol of the kind of Government we have chosen to have.

They say ev'rything can be replaced,
Yet ev'ry distance is not near.
So I remember ev'ry face
Of ev'ry man who put me here
-- I Shall Be Released, Bob Dylan

I never understood why ... (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by Sailor on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:00:58 PM EST

... his trial was added to the existing one. Or why the judge allowed it to be added. They have nothing to do with each other and it only serves to implicate him by association.

: It was added (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by wlgriffi on Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 09:23:17 AM EST

Because the "Decider" decided so.
"by Sailor on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:00:58 PM EST
... his trial was added to the existing one. Or why the judge allowed it to be added."

Edger (1.00 / 0) (#3)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:06:38 PM EST

Also from the link tou provided to ABC news...

Padilla, a 36-year-old Muslim convert, was arrested in 2002 as he got off a plane in Chicago, returning from Pakistan. He was carrying $10,526, a cell phone and e-mail addresses for al-Qaida operatives.

Guess he just got unlucky when he was swapping email adresses with some dudes he had tea with...

Padilla's voice was heard on only seven intercepts

Only? Bias? What bias? ;-)

Can anybody tell me what the magic number is??
8? 52? 28901?? Inquiring minds want to know.

Seven of Padilla's fingerprints are on the form, which was recovered by the CIA in Afghanistan in December 2001.

Well you see, it was like this. The evil Carl Rove sent the fingerprint fairy who stold his fingerprints and stuck them on the form.

The fingerprints could have gotten on years later (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by Jeralyn on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:09:38 PM EST

if the interrogators handed him the card while he was in the brig and asked if he signed it.

The Government's expert at trial said there was no way to date the fingerprints.


J, wow, I really haven't been following this, but (none / 0) (#5)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:17:38 PM EST

is that the defense's claim?

The fingerprints could have gotten on years later if the interrogators handed him the card while he was in the brig and asked if he signed it.

: the prints were ... (5.00 / 2) (#7)
by Sailor on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:54:06 PM EST

... only on the outside of the forms and not consistent with someone filling the form out. The form was allegedly discovered in a pickup truck load of other documents delivered to an army base in Afghanistan by an afghani. And even tho the cia officer who received the docs (and testified secretly) couldn't read the language he immediately recognized the importance of that one doc out of all the others.
AFAIK, there was no other physical evidence against Padilla.

Any speculation ... (none / 0) (#6)
by Sailor on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 07:26:32 PM EST

... on why he wasn't given his own trial?


: Why he wasn't given his own trial? (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by Edger on Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 09:47:25 PM EST

November 22, 2005
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After being held for more than three years in U.S. military custody, Jose Padilla has been charged with membership in a North American terrorist support cell and with conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim.
...
Announcing the charges at a news conference* Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Padilla, 34, will be transferred from military custody to the Justice Department.

* Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales...
November 22, 2005
Earlier today, a superseding indictment was unsealed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida charging Jose Padilla with providing - and conspiring to provide - material support to terrorists, and conspiring to murder individuals who are overseas.
...
Mr. Padilla is now a new co-defendant - along with Canadian national Kassem Daher - in a criminal prosecution that previously charged defendants Adham Hassoun, Mohomed Youssef, and Kifah Jayyousi with terrorism-related crimes. All of these defendants are alleged members of a violent terrorist support cell that operated in the United States and Canada. As you know, under our criminal justice system all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Presumed innocent unless George W. Bush labels you an 'enemy combatant', in which case you can be held without charges until the WOT is declared ended, whether or not you are an American Citizen.