Trial of “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla begins

The first phase of the trial, which is expected to last two weeks, will be the process of jury selection. Because of the high profile of the case, US District Judge Marcia Cooke has granted lawyers a full 20 minutes per juror to ask questions about their prejudices and their familiarity with the media reports that identified Padilla as an “Al-Qaeda operative” and “dirty bomber.”

Judge Cooke, a Bush appointee, has also increased the number of jury candidates lawyers can dismiss without giving a reason. She gave Padilla’s lawyers 36 of these privileges, called peremptory challenges, while giving the government 30. Under normal circumstances, the defense is allowed 10 and the prosecution 6.

Once the trial begins, despite objections by Padilla’s lawyers, Judge Cooke has granted a government request to allow a disguised CIA agent to appear in court to testify against Padilla. Cooke has also said she will allow the government to use loaded words, names, and phrases like “violent jihad,” September 11,” “Osama bin Laden,” and “terrorist” during the trial. The trial will likely take four months to complete.

The several weeks leading up to the beginning of the trial have been characterized by the efforts of Padilla’s team of defense lawyers to get the criminal charges against Padilla thrown out on the grounds that he was subjected to systematic torture while in military detention and was denied his constitutionally guaranteed due process rights, including his right to a speedy trial. Judge Cooke denied each of these motions.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/padi-a17.shtml