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selfbnd411 -> Gov't Case against "terrorist" laid bare (5/18/2007 9:08:02 AM)
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Wow...This is pretty crazy. Remember Jose Padilla, the supposed "dirty bomb" terrorist? Well, the "dirty bomb" charges against him were dropped by the administration after public pressure forced them to bring him before a court. They are still prosecuting him for supposedly traveling to the Middle East to train as a jihadist, but the only evidence they have of this is a "terrorist application" that doesn't even bear Padilla's name on it! The only link they have is a few fingerprints on the application. However, the government has been unable to certify that the application was kept in a secure fashion, so the prints could have come at any time--for example, government interrogators could have told him to hold the paper. That's their entire case! Just incredible, what this adminstration has done to our beloved Constitution.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-padilla18may18,1,2073314.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=3&cset=true
Fingerprint expert takes stand in Padilla trial
The government's key evidence bears the defendant's prints, but where it was during his incarceration is unclear.
By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer
May 18, 2007
MIAMI — A former FBI fingerprint specialist testified Thursday that terrorism suspect Jose Padilla's fingerprints match at least seven of 45 latent prints found on an alleged application for Al Qaeda holy war training.
But Padilla's public defenders cast doubt on the validity of both the prints and the so-called mujahedeen data form, a cornerstone of the government's case. The form has been described by other expert witnesses as a "pledge" to fight on behalf of beleaguered Muslims abroad.
The application is the only known evidence suggesting Padilla, 36, ever went to Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden's terrorist network offered weapons and warfare training in the years before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Neither Padilla nor his two codefendants are on trial for any crime related to Sept. 11. They are charged with conspiracy to kill, kidnap or maim people abroad and with providing material support to terrorists.
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No organization name appears on the application, nor is Padilla's name on it. The applicant is identified as "Abu Abdallah Al-Mujahir," an Arabic phrase that means "Abdallah's father the immigrant," FBI translator Nancy Khouri told the jury.
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U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke ruled before trial started that Padilla's time in military custody wasn't relevant to this case. But Natale hinted that he might bring that era to light when he suggested that Padilla's prints "could have been put on the document anytime during the 3 1/2 years he was detained."
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Cooke expressed concern that the government's key piece of evidence hadn't been accounted for during the four years and four months between the time it was scanned by the FBI and the fingerprint analysis. She told prosecutors to demonstrate an unbroken chain of possession before resting their case.
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