[Ppnews] Padilla ruled fit for terror trial
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Thu Mar 1 12:02:30 EST 2007
The judge pointed to the October 2006 defense
motion detailing the alleged abuses in military
custody as evidence that the defendant
comprehends the legal proceedings and can provide
his lawyers meaningful information when he wants to.
So proof of competence is signing on to a motion detailing torture...hmmm.
Padilla ruled fit for terror trial
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-padilla1mar01,1,7474910.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo
In a victory for the government, his judge says
the defendant has proven himself mentally competent.
By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer
March 1, 2007
MIAMI Suspected Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla
is competent to stand trial on terrorism charges
because he understands the case against him and
has already shown himself capable of assisting in
his own defense, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke
was a victory for the government, which has
alleged in a three-count indictment that Padilla
was part of a North American terrorist cell that
recruited, trained and supported Islamic
militants seeking to carry out acts of violence.
Anthony Natale, lead attorney on Padilla's
four-man public defender team, had argued a few
hours earlier at the conclusion of a four-day
hearing that Cooke should find his client unfit
to proceed. Natale urged Cooke to send Padilla to
a mental hospital where he could be treated for
what the defense called debilitating anxiety and
post-traumatic stress disorder.
The defense had contended that Padilla, a
36-year-old former Chicago gang member, was
mentally damaged by the 3 1/2 years he was held
without charges at the Navy brig in Charleston,
S.C. The lawyers say Padilla was deprived of
human contact and subjected to dehumanizing stresses that amounted to torture.
Cooke prefaced her ruling by saying she might
conduct another hearing on the torture
allegations before Padilla's trial, set to begin
April 16. The defense has moved for dismissal of
the case on the grounds of "outrageous government
conduct" during Padilla's time in the brig.
"That discussion is for another day," she said of
the allegations of mistreatment. She also said
her ruling Wednesday did not prejudice her
potential consideration of Padilla's brig experiences.
The judge pointed to the October 2006 defense
motion detailing the alleged abuses in military
custody as evidence that the defendant
comprehends the legal proceedings and can provide
his lawyers meaningful information when he wants to.
"This defendant clearly has the capacity to
assist his attorneys," she said. "He had to
communicate something to his lawyers in order for counsel to file that motion."
She also appeared to fault Padilla for failing to
cooperate fully with three mental health
professionals who attempted to conduct mental
fitness tests. Two experts hired by the defense
diagnosed Padilla with post-traumatic stress
disorder, but the court-ordered psychological
evaluator said the defendant was fit for trial
and that any failure to collaborate with his lawyers was "volitional."
Padilla, in tan cotton prison garb, sandals and
shackles, stood impassively as Cooke read her
decision. He shook hands with Natale and gave him a rueful smile.
Neither the defense nor the prosecution would
comment on the ruling or predict the next step in
the complicated case. But one assistant U.S.
attorney was overheard saying to another as they
boarded an elevator: "One down, about 52 to go."
Padilla, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican ancestry
who converted to Islam during a previous prison
sentence, was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport in May 2002, when he
returned from at least six years abroad,
including time in Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft accused Padilla of
being part of a plot to detonate a radioactive
"dirty bomb" in a U.S. city. President Bush
declared Padilla an "enemy combatant," and
Padilla was sent to the brig where he reportedly
endured months of sensory deprivation followed by
alternating extremes of light and darkness, silence and noise.
As the U.S. Supreme Court was pondering a ruling
on the extent of the president's powers to hold a
U.S. citizen indefinitely without charges, the
government indicted Padilla on charges of
conspiracy and material support to terrorism in
November 2005. He was transferred two months
later from the brig to the federal court system.
There has been no mention of the dirty bomb
accusation in the civilian court procedures.
*
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carol.williams at latimes.com
The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org
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