Padilla Trial Begins Without “Dirty Bomb” Charges

U.S. prosecutors are scheduled to begin their opening arguments today in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla, who was accused on his arrest more than three year ago with plotting a “dirty bomb” attack in the United States, USA Today reported (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2006).

Federal officials have since dropped those claims against Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was held in U.S. military custody with limited access to legal aid for more than three years following his 2002 arrest. 

Padilla and two co-defendants now face charges of participating in terrorist training in Afghanistan, but they are not accused of any specific attacks plans, according to USA Today.

Legal experts now refer to the case as “Padilla light,” said Wake Forest University law professor Robert Chesney.

“The case is going to go out with more of a whimper than a bang,” added Stephen Vladeck, a University of Miami law professor who challenged Padilla’s detention in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court.  “When you peel away all the layers, the actual case is circumstantial.  The government's central argument is that Padilla is a bad guy who hung out with other bad guys” (Laura Parker, USA Today, May 14).

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