boutons_
08-22-2006, 04:03 AM
August 22, 2006
Judge Throws Out Charges in Padilla Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/eric_lichtblau/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 — A federal judge has ruled that the government brought overlapping and redundant charges against Jose Padilla (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/jose_padilla/index.html?inline=nyt-per), a former “enemy combatant” linked to Al Qaeda (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/al_qaeda/index.html?inline=nyt-org), and she dismissed one that could have resulted in a life sentence.
The judge, Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court in Miami, said constitutional problems were raised in the charges that Mr. Padilla and two co-defendants were in a conspiracy to support violent jihad campaigns overseas.
All three charges related to one conspiracy to support terrorism overseas, Judge Cooke said.
“Charging the defendants with a single offense multiple times is violative of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment,” she wrote in a decision dated Friday and released on Monday.
Judge Cooke threw out a conspiracy charge that the men conspired to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country.
Andrew Patel, a lawyer for Mr. Padilla, said the decision could ultimately mean the difference between Mr. Padilla’s facing a life sentence and a maximum of 20 years.
“This is cleaning up the indictment,” Mr. Patel said. “It’s procedural. This is a highly technical legal issue that doesn’t affect the trial at all. It may in a theoretical sense affect the maximum time” faced by Mr. Padilla.
Justice Department officials said they were considering an appeal. The United States attorney in Miami, R. Alexander Acosta, said in a statement, “We stand by the charges in this indictment and will respond after a full review of the court’s order.”
Mr. Padilla, a one-time gang member in Chicago who converted to Islam, was linked in 2002 to a reported plot to detonate a “dirty bomb” on American streets. He was declared an enemy combatant and held in a brig in South Carolina for three and a half years without being charged. The Justice Department, facing a deadline, decided in November to prosecute him in federal court on unrelated terrorism charges.
Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)
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The incompetence of these Repug mofos is just amazing, even after 6 years, Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, etc, etc, tec, one is still surprised at how badly these mofo's do their jobs.
Judge Throws Out Charges in Padilla Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/eric_lichtblau/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 — A federal judge has ruled that the government brought overlapping and redundant charges against Jose Padilla (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/jose_padilla/index.html?inline=nyt-per), a former “enemy combatant” linked to Al Qaeda (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/al_qaeda/index.html?inline=nyt-org), and she dismissed one that could have resulted in a life sentence.
The judge, Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court in Miami, said constitutional problems were raised in the charges that Mr. Padilla and two co-defendants were in a conspiracy to support violent jihad campaigns overseas.
All three charges related to one conspiracy to support terrorism overseas, Judge Cooke said.
“Charging the defendants with a single offense multiple times is violative of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment,” she wrote in a decision dated Friday and released on Monday.
Judge Cooke threw out a conspiracy charge that the men conspired to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country.
Andrew Patel, a lawyer for Mr. Padilla, said the decision could ultimately mean the difference between Mr. Padilla’s facing a life sentence and a maximum of 20 years.
“This is cleaning up the indictment,” Mr. Patel said. “It’s procedural. This is a highly technical legal issue that doesn’t affect the trial at all. It may in a theoretical sense affect the maximum time” faced by Mr. Padilla.
Justice Department officials said they were considering an appeal. The United States attorney in Miami, R. Alexander Acosta, said in a statement, “We stand by the charges in this indictment and will respond after a full review of the court’s order.”
Mr. Padilla, a one-time gang member in Chicago who converted to Islam, was linked in 2002 to a reported plot to detonate a “dirty bomb” on American streets. He was declared an enemy combatant and held in a brig in South Carolina for three and a half years without being charged. The Justice Department, facing a deadline, decided in November to prosecute him in federal court on unrelated terrorism charges.
Copyright 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)
=================
The incompetence of these Repug mofos is just amazing, even after 6 years, Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, etc, etc, tec, one is still surprised at how badly these mofo's do their jobs.