Defense Begins in Jose Padilla Trial

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 01:50:36 AM EST
Tags: Jose Padilla (all tags)

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The defense begins its case today in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla and two codefendants.

How big are the holes in the case? Journalist Lew Z. Koch, writing at Firedoglake, counts the ways. He concludes:

Ashcroft, then Comey, and now Gonzales, Frazier, Shipley, Killinger and Pell have built a case on fantasy, supposition, prejudice and fear mongering. Can the defense make the jury see the shocking inadequacies of the prosecution’s case?

The Christian Science Monitor asks, Without a Plot, Is Padilla Guilty?

More....

Each of the three counts in the indictment allege a conspiracy to "murder, kidnap, and maim persons in a foreign country."

But after an eight-week presentation of evidence by the government, prosecutors have not identified a single individual as a potential target for murder, kidnapping, or maiming, nor have they identified any specific plot to accomplish someone's murder, kidnapping, or maiming.

But, this is the jury who dressed up in red, white and blue for July 4th. Will they see the light?

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Defense Begins in Jose Padilla Trial | 8 comments (8 topical)

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mr. padilla (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by cpinva on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 03:57:12 AM EST

could be the reincarnation of adolph hitler & joseph stalin, rolled into one, for all i know. however, based on the complete failure of the gov't to provide actual, documented evidence of any actual lawbreaking by mr. padilla, those two should walk free.

why the judge allowed it to proceed is something of a mystery. this is about as close to being tried for your thoughts as i've seen so far.

Stranger Than Fiction (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by john horse on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 06:24:07 AM EST

According to the CS Monitor "the government's approach would permit proactive prosecutions of individuals long before they take any affirmative step toward carrying out a specific act of terror against a particular target." Does this strike anyone as similar to the plot to the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report."

This ability to predict the future that the Bush administration believes it has (didn't work so well in Iraq) is skewered by the historian Arthur Schlesinger in his arguements against Bush's claim for preventive war. As Schlesinger points out " Certainty about prediction is an illusion. One thing that history keeps teaching us is that the future is full of surprises and outwits all our certitudes."

Oh yeah, one more thing about the Padilla case. According to the CS Monitor Padilla is not being prosecuted for the "dirty bomb plot" because "the interrogation methods used to unearth the allegation are known to produce unreliable information and violated key protections of the criminal justice system." Does anyone else find this disturbing?

John H (1.00 / 1) (#6)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 09:39:40 AM EST

I find this almost as disturbing as I find an unemployed dude getting off an airliner from the ME with $10,000 in cash, a cellphone and a list of email addresses of known al-Qaeda operatives that has his fingerprints on an al-Qaeda application for training on how to be a terrorist.

What I really find disturbing is all the sympathy this dude is getting while two border patrolmen are in prison for shooting an illegal alien who was smuggling dope and who wouldn't stop.

[ Parent ]

: What real Americans find disturbing (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by Sailor on Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 06:39:31 PM EST

Padilla, an American citizen was held for 3 years w/o charges.
Padilla was originally accused of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb. They lied about that.

an unemployed dude getting off an airliner from the ME with $10,000 in cash, a cellphone and a list of email addresses of known al-Qaeda operatives
How do you know? Did the gov't tell you that or did they provide evidence of it?
And your BS about the fingerprints has been reputed here before. It's a 5 page form and his prints were only found on the front and back, consistent with a person being handed the form during torture, not consistent with filling it out.
And howzabout the gov't claiming they just happened to lose key evidence.

The federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, was incredulous that anything connected to a defendant as high-profile as Padilla could simply be lost.
"Do you understand how it might be difficult for me to understand that a tape related to this particular individual just got mislaid?" Cooke told prosecutors at a hearing last month.
Just like ppj to convict a tortured American w/o trial and seek to relate it to absolving convicted criminals.

[ Parent ]

yes i do john, (none / 0) (#3)
by cpinva on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 11:40:03 AM EST

but then, i find this whole administration disturbing, on multiple levels. worse still, that there are people out there who still profess undying loyalty to mr. bush and his gang o' dozen, is even more disturbing.

it's really well past time to break out the super prozac!

prozac may or may not work ... (5.00 / 0) (#4)
by Sailor on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 03:50:53 PM EST

... on folks who are depressed. This admin needs anti-psychotic meds. And the same shock treatment they give to Gitmo detainees.

[ Parent ]

actually (none / 0) (#5)
by cpinva on Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 08:28:22 AM EST

i was thinking of the prozac for me! :)

[ Parent ]

: Oops! (none / 0) (#8)
by Sailor on Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 06:40:25 PM EST

I'm sorry about that on so many levels;-)

[ Parent ]