Judge won’t scrap Padilla terror charges

Accused Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla was held in military detention without charges as an enemy combatant for three years and eight months, but his constitutional right to a speedy trial has not been violated, a federal judge ruled in Miami.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke refused to scrap the terrorism charges that Padilla faces, saying, “Dismissal of the indictment is not appropriate at this time.”

Padilla was arrested May 8, 2002, and declared an enemy combatant by President Bush the next month. During the following years at the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., Padilla was repeatedly interrogated about terrorism activities, but he was not formally charged until November 2005. His trial is set for April 16.