José Padilla
MrBrian
Posts: 2,672
Updated March 9, 2007, 3:12 p.m. ET
Videotape of officials interrogating terror suspect Jose Padilla is missing
MIAMI (AP) — A videotape showing Pentagon officials' final interrogation of al-Qaida suspect Jose Padilla is missing, raising questions about whether federal prosecutors have lost other recordings and evidence in the case.
Authorities made 88 video recordings of Padilla being interrogated during the 3 1/2 years he was held at the brig as an "enemy combatant," officials said. Eighty-seven tapes have been given to the defense, leaving only the last session unaccounted for.
When he was arrested in 2002, Padilla was initially accused of mounting an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States, but the criminal case does not include those allegations.
Padilla's lawyers sought the brig tapes, medical records and other details about his incarceration to back up claims that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his long isolation and repeated interrogations.
The judge ruled Feb. 28 that Padilla is competent to stand trial.
Miami criminal defense lawyer David O. Markus said the missing tape makes the government agents look like "Keystone cops."
"You can't help but be suspicious," Markus said. "It's the government's burden to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. When it 'loses' evidence, defense lawyers are right to cry foul."
Padilla's attorneys have also accused the Bush administration of mistreating and even torturing Padilla at the brig, before he was transferred to civilian custody. Justice Department and Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied those claims.
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/0309/padilla_ap.html#storycont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Padilla_(alleged_terrorist)
(On June 9, 2002, two days before District Court Judge Michael Mukasey was to issue a ruling on the validity of continuing to hold Padilla under the material witness warrant, President Bush issued an order to Secretary Rumsfeld to detain Padilla as an "enemy combatant," and Padilla was transferred to a military brig in South Carolina without any notice to his attorney or family. The order legally justified the detention using the AUMF, which authorized the President to "use all necessary force against . . . such nations, organizations, or persons" and by opining that a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil can be classified an enemy combatant.)
Videotape of officials interrogating terror suspect Jose Padilla is missing
MIAMI (AP) — A videotape showing Pentagon officials' final interrogation of al-Qaida suspect Jose Padilla is missing, raising questions about whether federal prosecutors have lost other recordings and evidence in the case.
Authorities made 88 video recordings of Padilla being interrogated during the 3 1/2 years he was held at the brig as an "enemy combatant," officials said. Eighty-seven tapes have been given to the defense, leaving only the last session unaccounted for.
When he was arrested in 2002, Padilla was initially accused of mounting an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States, but the criminal case does not include those allegations.
Padilla's lawyers sought the brig tapes, medical records and other details about his incarceration to back up claims that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his long isolation and repeated interrogations.
The judge ruled Feb. 28 that Padilla is competent to stand trial.
Miami criminal defense lawyer David O. Markus said the missing tape makes the government agents look like "Keystone cops."
"You can't help but be suspicious," Markus said. "It's the government's burden to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. When it 'loses' evidence, defense lawyers are right to cry foul."
Padilla's attorneys have also accused the Bush administration of mistreating and even torturing Padilla at the brig, before he was transferred to civilian custody. Justice Department and Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied those claims.
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/0309/padilla_ap.html#storycont
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Padilla_(alleged_terrorist)
(On June 9, 2002, two days before District Court Judge Michael Mukasey was to issue a ruling on the validity of continuing to hold Padilla under the material witness warrant, President Bush issued an order to Secretary Rumsfeld to detain Padilla as an "enemy combatant," and Padilla was transferred to a military brig in South Carolina without any notice to his attorney or family. The order legally justified the detention using the AUMF, which authorized the President to "use all necessary force against . . . such nations, organizations, or persons" and by opining that a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil can be classified an enemy combatant.)
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