Verdict reached in Padilla trial

[sportschick]

Verdict reached, but it hasn't been read yet.

 

[Football_Bat]

He'll be guilty of a Class W felony.

See ya in 99 years, Jose.

 

[sportschick]

First co-defendent guilty on all counts per MSNBC.

 

[sportschick]

All defendents guilty on all charges.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

First co-defendent guilty on all counts per MSNBC.

Boos in the newsroom? Standing O? Polite applause?

 

[I love puppies!]

Up next: The trial of the guy who tried to blowup the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch.

I have no problem with the verdict (although the defense team seemed to do a shirtty job), but why didn't the government bring him to court 3 1/2 years ago? It's obvious that he was tortured -- not that many people care.

Funny how (read below) the government never brough up the dirty bomb argument, because that would force them to admit what they've been doing to him the last 3-1/2 years.

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Padilla was originally arrested on dramatic allegations that he planned to set off radioactive "dirty bombs" in the United States. But the current charges are not related to those accusations, and prosecutors did not present the "dirty bomb" plot to the jury.

Neither were jurors told that Padilla was held in a Navy brig for 3½ years without charges before his indictment in the Miami case.

Before trial, his lawyers tried to argue that he was no longer mentally competent to stand trial after years of solitary confinement and abuse -- allegations the government strongly denied.

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[sportschick]

First co-defendent guilty on all counts per MSNBC.

Boos in the newsroom? Standing O? Polite applause?

Eh, I'll ask when I get to work.

 

[heyabbott]

By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

MIAMI - Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's zeal to stop homegrown terror.
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The Chicago native was once accused of being part of an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S., but those allegations were not part of his trial with two co-defendants.

Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face life in prison because they were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts that carry potential 15-year sentences each.

 

[Webster]

It's a shame that we had to rip up the constitution to get a guilty verdict.

 

[healingman]

Constitution? Huh? I vaguely remember that from ... uh ... from U.S. History class. Oh well ... I also heard about a Bill of Rights. Guess that got shredded, too. Oops ... shouldn't use that "shredded" word too loud.

 

[heyabbott]

It's a shame that we had to rip up the constitution to get a guilty verdict.

Was there no trial in open court? No Notice and opportunity to present a defense, no notice of the charges, no free defense attorney.Did the court fail to apply the 4,5, 6 and 8th amendments to the Constitution to the defendants? Does he not have a right to appeal?
Seems that the Constitution worked out fine. And he's lucky he's a Muslim on trial in America rather than A Korean held captive by a Muslim Sect in Afganistan

 

[jboy]

I think they were referring to the three years he spent in a cell without access to a lawyer or without a hearing, or without a chance to rebut any evidence against him. In other words, habeus corpus (look it up).

That's a violation of the constitution. By the time they switched him from a government cell to criminal courts, he was, by many accounts, mentally unfit to stand trial because of isolation and torture.

Oh, and as far as being better than a Korean held captive by Muslims, is that the standard now?

From time.com

The government itself cited the affidavit of a psychiatrist for the defense, Dr. Angela Hegarty, who said that Mr. Padilla did not understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him and that he suffered "impairment in reasoning" as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder "complicated by the effects of prolonged isolation."

Mr. Padilla's lawyers said he opposed this request that his competency be evaluated. Dr. Hegarty, one of two mental health professionals who examined him, said Mr. Padilla was "fearful of being thought of as crazy." She described him as "hypervigilant," his eyes darting about, his face twitching into grimaces, his "startle response" on constant high alert.

"During questioning, he often exhibits facial tics, unusual eye movements and contortions of his body," Mr. Patel said. "The contortions are particularly poignant since he is usually manacled and bound by a belly chain when he has meetings with counsel."