Judge rejects Padilla motion to dismiss case
Ruling nixes effort over ‘outrageous government conduct’ on legal grounds

MIAMI - A federal judge rejected a motion by alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla to dismiss terrorism charges against him over claims he was tortured in U.S. military custody.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke stressed in a 12-page order filed late Monday that she was not passing judgment on the torture allegations. Rather, she said the effort to dismiss the case for “outrageous government conduct” was faulty on legal grounds.

Padilla’s lawyers claim that during the 3½ years Padilla was held as an “enemy combatant” at a Navy brig he was routinely subjected to harsh treatment and torture.

He claimed that he was forced to stand in painful stress positions, given LSD or some other drug as a “truth serum,” subjected to loud noises and noxious odors, and forced to endure sleep deprivation, extreme heat and cold and harsh lights.

The Pentagon and Justice Department have repeatedly denied those claims. Officials with the military jail in Charleston, South Carolina, said during earlier testimony before Cooke that Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, was not mistreated, though they acknowledged occasional removal of the mattress in his cell and of his copy of the Quran.

Not guilty pleas
The new decision removes one of the biggest remaining obstacles to the start of trial next Monday for Padilla and his co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi. They are charged with conspiracy and terrorism material support for allegedly being part of a North American support network for Islamic extremist groups worldwide.

All three have pleaded not guilty and face possible life in prison if convicted.

Cooke said Padilla’s attorneys failed to provide adequate case law to back up their claims and that it failed on other legal grounds because prosecutors are not using any evidence collected during his custody in military jail in the Miami case.