Arrest Evidence Stands in Padilla Terror Case

A federal judge has refused to throw out evidence related to the 2002 arrest of alleged Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Rejecting defense lawyers’ requests, U.S. Magistrate Stephen Brown said in a pair of rulings that jurors should be allowed to consider the terror suspect’s statements prior to his arrest in May 2002, as well as items in his possession at the time including about $10,000 in cash, a cellphone and a phone book containing numbers for alleged Al Qaeda contacts. Brown’s rulings, signed Tuesday, became public Friday.

After his arrest, Padilla, now 35, was designated an enemy combatant by President Bush and held in military custody for 3 1/2 years before being transferred to Miami to face terrorism-related charges. His trial is set to begin in January.

Padilla is charged with providing material support and resources to terrorists. Government officials had said he wanted to detonate a radioactive bomb on U.S. soil.

Defense lawyers argued Padilla’s arrest was illegally based on information obtained from alleged terrorists held overseas, at least one of whom claimed to have been tortured.

Anything their client said to the FBI should be thrown out because he was not informed of his rights to remain silent and to be represented by an attorney, the lawyers said.

Brown said such warnings were unnecessary because the agents questioned Padilla before placing him in custody.

As for the torture allegations, the judge said even if true, defense lawyers failed to prove that the FBI agent applying for Padilla’s arrest warrant knew or should have known about them.

The rulings come after U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who oversees the case, threw out a main charge against Padilla and his co-defendants because it duplicated allegations in other charges.