Charges against Padilla may avert custody ruling

Charges against Padilla may avert custody ruling
......which is pretty convenient when you think about it, can't take the risk that the Supreme Court might actually find something wrong with holding a guy 3 and a 1/3 years without charges, after all....

Charges against Padilla may avert custody ruling
He's accused of conspiracy, terror aid

BY JENNIFER A. DLOUHY
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

November 23, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's announcement that it has charged Jose Padilla in a federal civilian court, rather than keeping him in a military brig indefinitely, likely averts a Supreme Court showdown over how long the government can hold terrorism suspects.

In an indictment returned by a Miami federal grand jury last week and unsealed Tuesday, the government accused Padilla of conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim Americans overseas and of providing material support to terrorists. The charges don't include earlier allegations by administration officials that Padilla was planning to set off a radioactive dirty bomb on U.S. soil.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Padilla had traveled overseas for training to fight in "violent jihad" and was part of a terrorist support cell that operated in the United States.

"This cell supported terrorists by sending money, physical assets and new recruits to overseas jihad conflicts," Gonzales said.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has been held at the U.S. Naval Brig in Charleston, S.C., since June 2002. But the government now is removing him from Defense Department custody and putting him in the control of the Justice Department.

With the indictment, the government has abandoned -- at least for now -- its strategy of holding Padilla as an enemy combatant in military jails.

The indictment comes as the Justice Department was facing a Monday deadline to respond in the Supreme Court to Padilla's claim that the president does not have the power to seize U.S. citizens and hold them indefinitely without bringing criminal charges.

Padilla is appealing a decision by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in September that the president had authority to hold him as an enemy combatant. That decision overturned a February ruling by a federal district judge in Charleston who said the government had overstepped its bounds by keeping Padilla in military custody.

On Tuesday, Gonzales argued that the Padilla appeal was now moot because the defendant had asked the high court to order that he be released or charged with a crime.

"Since he has now been charged in a grand jury" proceeding in Florida, Gonzales said, "we believe that the petition is moot and that the petition should not be granted" by the high court.

Padilla is not expected to abandon his appeal.

The Supreme Court still could decide to take the case, which could set a precedent governing the U.S. war on terrorism.

Gonzales wouldn't answer questions Tuesday about whether Padilla was still viewed as an enemy combatant by the administration.

That means that if the case against Padilla crumbles in the civilian courts, he could be sent back to military jails.

Justice officials also wouldn't say why they weren't pursuing other charges against Padilla that would focus on earlier allegations that he had planned U.S. attacks.

In June 2002, after Padilla was captured in Chicago, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said Padilla was "a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or dirty bomb, in the United States."

In June last year, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey said Padilla also had sought to blow up as many as three apartment buildings.

On Tuesday, Gonzales would say only that the current charges were "based upon an evaluation of the total circumstances," and that "a decision was made that this was an appropriate thing to do."

Copyright � 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.