Padilla Found Guilty On Terror Charges

Jury Finds Jose Padilla And Two Others Guilty On All Counts Of Supporting Al Qaeda

(CBS/AP)  Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's zeal to stop homegrown terror.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen from Chicago, was once accused of being part of an al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S., but those allegations were not part of his trial.

Padilla was portrayed as an al Qaeda terrorist planning to attack an American city with radiation-laced explosives. He was locked up in a military prison and labeled an "enemy combatant" for 3 1/2 years.

To avoid a showdown in the Supreme Court, the government eventually moved Padilla into the criminal system, and now he's been convicted of conspiring to support terrorists - charges far less serious than the "dirty bomb" allegations first leveled by the Bush administration, reports CBS New correspondent Bob Orr.

Padilla, 36, and his foreign-born co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas, which carries a penalty of life in prison. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts, which carry potential 15-year sentences each.

Jurors deliberated for a day and a half after a three-month trial. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke set a Dec. 5 sentencing date.

The three were accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists. The defense contended they were trying to help persecuted Muslims in war zones with relief and humanitarian aid.

The White House thanked the jury for a "just" verdict.

"We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House. "Jose Padilla received a fair trial and a just verdict."

Estela Lebron, Padilla's mother, said she felt "a little bit sad" at the verdict but expected her son's lawyers would appeal.

"I don't know how they found Jose guilty. There was no evidence he was speaking in code," she said, referring to FBI wiretap intercepts in which Padilla was overheard talking to Hassoun.

In 2002, the Bush administration portrayed Padilla, a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, as a committed terrorist who was part of an al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S. The administration called his detention an important victory in the war against terrorism, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The charges brought in civilian court in Miami, however, were a pale shadow of those initial claims — in part because Padilla was interrogated about the plot when he was held as an enemy combatant in military custody with no lawyer present and was not read his Miranda rights.

Padilla's attorneys fought for years to get his case into federal court, and he was finally added to the Miami terrorism support indictment in late 2005 just as the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to consider President Bush's authority to continue detaining him. Padilla had lived in South Florida in the 1990s and was supposedly recruited by Hassoun at a mosque to become a mujahedeen fighter.

"The defense's theme — don't let prosecutors force you to look at pre-9/11 conduct through the lense of the post-9/11 present — was an abysmal failure in the eyes of these jurors," says CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

The key piece of physical evidence was a five-page form Padilla supposedly filled out in July 2000 to attend an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, which would link the other two defendants as well to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

The form, recovered by the CIA in 2001 in Afghanistan, contains seven of Padilla's fingerprints and several other personal identifiers, such as his birth date and his ability to speak Spanish, English and Arabic.

"He provided himself to al Qaeda for training to learn to murder, kidnap and maim," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier in closing arguments.

Padilla's lawyers insisted the form was far from conclusive and denied that he was a "star recruit," as prosecutors claimed, of the North American support cell intending to become a terrorist. Padilla's attorneys said he traveled to Egypt in September 1998 to learn Islam more deeply and become fluent in Arabic.

The defense contended Padilla and the others were merely interested in helping fellow Muslims suffering in war zones, reports Orr.

"His intent was to study, not to murder," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso.

Central to the investigation were some 300,000 FBI wiretap intercepts collected from 1993 to 2001, mainly involving Padilla's co-defendants Hassoun and Jayyousi and others. Most of the conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad or "zucchini" and "eggplant" instead of military weapons or ammunition.

The jury heard dozens of the wiretapped calls — some in Arabic, some in English — recorded over a six-year period. Padilla was heard in both languages in only seven calls, reports CBS News producer Phil Hirschkorn.

The bulk of these conversations and other evidence concerned efforts in the 1990s by Hassoun and Jayyousi, both 45, to assist Muslims in conflict zones such as Chechnya, Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

Hassoun is a computer programmer of Palestinian descent who was born in Lebanon. Jayyousi is a civil engineer and public schools administrator who is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Jordan. Jayyousi also ran an organization called American Worldwide Relief and published a newsletter called the Islam Report that provided details of battles and political issues in the Muslim world.

"It wasn't a terrorist operation. It was a relief operation," said Jayyousi attorney William Swor.

[jshmks]

Don''t drop the soap, Mr. Padilla. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[rushman71]

jshmks: lmao!!!

[perception5]

I wonder if the ACLU will appeal his conviction?

[one_american]

This is an even bigger defeat for all terrorist sympathizers.

[one_american]

I expect the terrorist defending CAIR organization to start their ranting and threaten with lawsuits in 3...2...1...

[sgtrds]

It''ll never stand on appeal as the government present "secret" information that Paddila''s attorney''s were not allowed to see or question. I have no problem with convicting a terrorist of their crimes, but only if it''s done according to the law. This one obviously was not.

The conviction will stand. US laws allow the government wide leeway for security reasons. The smuck is going to get life...maybe if we are lucky...some latin thug will finish the job!

[feelfree1]

This man was clearly never much of a threat, if any. The illegitimate Bush regime pirates should face a lengthy prison sentence, simply for what they have done to this one American, let alone their mass-murderous and torture laiden crusade of idiocy.

Padilla was held and tortured for years, based on false accusations, without being charged, at an illegal prison compound. I really could not care less what he may or may not have done, at this point, as his rights as a U.S. citizen and as a human being have been so badly violated by the illegitimate Bush cabal. He should be released, compensated, apologized to, and protected as a witness against the regime.

CBS reports here that:

"Most of the conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad or "zucchini" and "eggplant" instead of military weapons or ammunition."

Yet in an earlier CBS report, they write:

"FBI agents testified that the telephone conversations were often in code, with "football" or "tourism" meaning "jihad" and words such as "zucchini" and "eg(g)plant" meaning weapons or ammunition. Yet Padilla was never heard using such code, testimony showed."

So which is it, CBS? Did he use this alleged "code" or was this a fabricated lie designed to wrongfully convict this man?

It does not make much sense to spend so many resources going after insignificant or nonexistent threats like Padilla, while the Bush cabal remains at-large.

[tuckerndfw]

The Bush administration claims it must keep Guantanamo (and other "secret prisons") as a concentration camp because "terrorists" (suspects, the accused) cannot be tried in an American court.

Which appears to be just another in the long list of lies told by George Bush.

(Ignoring the fact this case will likely be overturned on appeal. Most of the evidence is likely to be inadmissible due to torture and coercion)

[mudrose-2009]

The conviction will stand. US laws allow the government wide leeway for security reasons. The smuck is going to get life...maybe if we are lucky...some latin thug will finish the job!

Posted by KEITHGARDNER

Clear, crisp, concise and accurate. Righteous!

[sgtrds]

The conviction will stand. US laws allow the government wide leeway for security reasons. The smuck is going to get life...maybe if we are lucky...some latin thug will finish the job!

Posted by KEITHGARDNER at 03:05 PM : Aug 16, 2007

The rule of law is more important then the conviction of any terrorist. Any! Even if it were George W. Bush being convicted (as I think he should be) for war crimes, if his conviction was based on "secret" unchallengeable testimony and documents, I would hold my nose and call for the verdict to be overturned. It''s more important in America to let the most abhorrent criminal loose (which does describe Bush) then to violate the rule of law to obtain his conviction. The rule of law is more sacred then any god or church and must not be violated.

[infidel_us]

Take him out back and DO HIM IN!

[sgtrds]

Besides the most egregious miscarriage of justice today is that CBS has a story about Jenna Bush getting engaged, but they don''t Have a comment box!!!! Come on CBS!!!!! I just have a FEW things to wish her on her honeymoon!!! Things like drunken impotence on her husbands side!

[infidel_us]

"The rule of law is more sacred then any god or church and must not be violated."

If that were true, libs would not be defending Bill Clinton.

[infidel_us]

"Things like drunken impotence on her husbands side!"

Why would you wish what happened to your husband would happen to someone else. That''s just "activist" lib mean.

[cbs_oliver]

The jury has already been praised for their verdict by the President of the United States!

The jurers can at least feel safe for themselves and their families with this verdict even if it is a completely unjust finding.

A different verdict would have placed them in grave danger.

The implied duress was certainly there and the President''s immediate public approval makes that completely clear.

[mitywhity]

I was just at the doctors office where they keep CNN blaring all day and heard this. I kid you not, four women who were the receptionist, my nurse, the office manager and a mom with two kids said, "Who is he and what did he do?" Then CNN aired statemnts from the mother that her son was perfect and innocent and this is all Bush''s doing, blah, blah. As I walked out the door these women were feeling so sorry for Padilla''s mom and all of a sudden had formed the opinion that they convicted the guy to make Bush look good. ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! I can''t take it anymore!

[infidel_us]

The implied duress was certainly there and the President''''s immediate public approval makes that completely clear.
Posted by CBS_Oliver at 03:43 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Libs are bedwetting, sniveling whiners......
Their monopoly on the media has ended. There are a few Oprah watchers who don''t know what''s going on, but their numbers are decreasing.

[sgtrds]

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! I can''''t take it anymore!

Posted by MityWhity at 03:44 PM : Aug 16, 2007

So leave. You won''t be missed. And take your bas***** child infidel with you. Don''t let the door hit you in the as*s on the way out and good riddance......

[jumkey]

I''d like to believe we have captured and imprisoned a terrorist mastermind. But that would be Bin Laden - remember him?

Apparently we''ve simply tortured and convicted a hapless malcontent while the real terrorists continue to plot.

What worthless failures Republicans are.

[mitywhity]

I get so tired of hearing all these dumba$$es who think that the USA has no real enemies and that we did 9/11 to ourselves and Bush is making everything up, etc. What fools! These people are the USEFUL IDIOTS that the muslim scumbags speak of. Do they lie in Washington? You better believe they do! What would happen if they all just came out and told it like it was? Mass suicide would result, then anarchy followed by an invasion by Russia. Misinformation is a time-tested tool of ledership. Remember when you spelled everything in the presence of children, you whispered in the presence of sensitive ears. It''s the same thing. If you did know everything what could you do about it? What if you knew that Russia was going to invade it''s formerly held countries? Well, they are, so what are you going to do now? Worry? Cry? Pray? Nothing, you would do nothing. You wouldn''t go to work and the country would grind to a halt. Dumba$$es.

[infidel_us]

Don''''t let the door hit you in the as*s on the way out and good riddance......
Posted by SgtRDS at 03:52 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Silence, village idiot! :) Go troll the entertainment section.....leave the important stuff to us. :)

[mitywhity]

SgtRDS...........don''t make me come and stomp the squeeze out of your bony a$$, punk!

[jshmks]

Well let''s see if him and his 2 co-defendant friends can conspire a plan in which member of the trio will get the consequeneces when dropping the soap.

[mudrose-2009]

I say put them in a cell and toss a dirty bomb in there with them.

[tuckerndfw]

maybe if we are lucky...some latin thug will finish the job!

Posted by KEITHGARDNER at 03:05 PM : Aug 16, 2007

In other words, you do not support the rule of law.

Anyone who does not support the rule of law does not support the US Constitution. Given the fact the US Constitution is America, that means you do not support the USA.

You must be a Bush supporter. He does not support the USA, either.

Bush and supporters are a far greater menace than al qaida. We can replace buildings and people far easier than we can replace the US Constitution (USA, rule of law) if we allow them to destroy it.

[sgtrds]

SgtRDS...........don''''t make me come and stomp the squeeze out of your bony a$$, punk!

Posted by MityWhity at 03:57 PM : Aug 16, 2007

ROTFLMFAO!!!! That''s a good one!!!

I know I can always count on trolls for a good chuckle!
LOLOLOL!!

[jshmks]

SgtRDS, and infidel_us, I appreciate you guys trying to express your IQ''s being equal to a fruit gusher, but if you could take your fight to AIM, or AOL, maybe even candystand.com, we would be most grateful.

[sgtrds]

Bush and supporters are a far greater menace than al qaida. We can replace buildings and people far easier than we can replace the US Constitution (USA, rule of law) if we allow them to destroy it.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:04 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Again we agree. The republicans see the law as something to be gotten around or to be twisted to their own ends. To them, esp the neoconservative wing that''s currently in power, it''s nothing more then a minor inconvenience standing between them and dictatorial rule. Once upon a time they used to be the law and order party, but Bush and Cheney have pis*sed that away too.

[infidel_us]

Anyone who does not support the rule of law does not support the US Constitution. Given the fact the US Constitution is America, that means you do not support the USA.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:04 PM : Aug 16, 2007

So you agree that Bill Clinton was justly prosecuted because he committed perjury, suborned perjury, and obstructed justice? FINALLY! They have come around!! :)

[infidel_us]

Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:04 PM : Aug 16, 2007

Liberals, activist judges, Hollywood, and the MSM have do more to destroy our country over the last 50 years than 100 Bush''s could EVER do.

[rushlimpdrug]

infidel_us please leave and take your terrorist jihad friend mudrose with you.
Some traitor country would love to have you.
We don''t need your kind here in America.

[clestes-2009]

This is a travesty of justice. Jose Padilla was no threat. The CIA had been watching for years and finally decided he was not worth watching anymore in 2000. They quit.

then after 9-11, which Padilla had no part in, he is suddenly a terrorist, an enemy combantent??

Where did he suddenly become dangerous????

They will appeal to the Supreme Court and they should. This is a joke and another example of how Bush trashed civil rights.

He declared Padilla an enemy combatent, threw him in jail for years with no habeus corpus and a bunch of trumped up charges. His case was due to go before the supreme court and suddenly again he is charged with crimes completely different than the trumped up sht and put in federal court???

Bush was AFRAID of letting the Padilla case be heard by the Supreme Court, but it will be anyway.

Andrew Cohen said our federal system of justice is on trial here and it just lost.

[tuckerndfw]

So you agree that Bill Clinton was justly prosecuted because he committed perjury, suborned perjury, and obstructed justice? FINALLY! They have come around!! :)

Posted by infidel_us at 04:28 PM : Aug 16, 2007

"They"?

Who is "they"?

Not only did I support his impeachment and prosecution, I wrote him a letter requesting he resign for the overall good of the nation.

When are you going to do the same regarding George Bush and his admitted crimes (violations of FISA)?

Unlike most Bush supporters, my support for the US Constitution and rule of law applies to all of us, irrespective of title, ideology or politics.

[tuckerndfw]

infidel_us please leave and take your terrorist jihad friend mudrose with you.
Some traitor country would love to have you.
We don''''t need your kind here in America.

Posted by rushlimpdrug at 04:34 PM : Aug 16, 2007

We agree.

At this point, Bush supporters clearly prefer dictatorships in which those at the top are exempt from the rules they force on everyone else.

[talkingham]

This is just an eye-candy "news for idiots" case so America won''t have to worry so much about Osama-Bin-forgotten whom Bush let walk away, because if we had gotten him there would have been little or no excuse for Bush to lie his way into Iraq.

It seems that America will never wake-up from this neo-con induced nightmare of lies and bloodshed.

This crowd who LET the Pentagon get blown apart by a jet or whatever 45-minutes after the 2nd plane hits the second trade tower. Someone please tell me that this doesn''t amount to gross negligence to at least the point of involuntary manslaughter or even voluntary manslaughter. I''m sure Bush would serve no more time than the preachers wife who just walked out of a mental institution after murdering her husband.

And then lie his way into a war after letting Bin Laden walk (months after he let the Saudis fly out shortly after 911) when none of us could board a jet.

The current younger generation of "news" media has no since of outrage, rage or anything else worthy of calling it a "free" press. It''s a bought and paid for press, nothing free about it.

infidel_arse wrote:

"Liberals, activist judges, Hollywood, and the MSM have do more to destroy our country over the last 50 years than 100 Bush''''s could EVER do."

Only in your pathetic, excrement filled head is this true.

You should try living in reality for once.

[secundus2]

Some of you seem to think that "constitutional" is an adjective that describes political preferences (mainly your own).

Padilla has been convicted by a jury in a trial that will be deemed fair and open, unless a court overturns the verdict on appeal. The jury judges the facts. This is a perfectly "constitutional" procedure, and for the moment it seems the federal prosecutors got this case right, but it may not be over. The accused wanted to be in civilian court and he got his civilian trial. So he will also have his appeals.

[perception5]

I guess Americans would like to know now if the Democrats and the ACLU plan on appealing the conviction of this terrorist?

[perception5]

At this point, Bush supporters clearly prefer dictatorships in which those at the top are exempt from the rules they force on everyone else.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:44 PM : Aug 16, 2007

........tuckerndfw, is that why all your liberal Democrat pals are spending all their time with Hugo?......and supporting his efforts and plans?

Every wonder how liberals think the way they do?.....very strange.......and very sad indeed.

[rushlimpdrug]

Every wonder how liberals think the way they do?.....very strange.......and very sad indeed.
Posted by perception5

Liberals think as a majority of Americans with their brains, unlike filth like you and your terrorist friends that think within a cloud of hatred for humanity.

[perception5]

Liberals think as a majority of Americans with their brains, unlike filth like you and your terrorist friends that think within a cloud of hatred for humanity.
Posted by rushlimpdrug at 06:10 PM : Aug 16, 2007


....FYI rushlimpdrug, liberals make up roughly 23% of America. 36% of Americans are conservative and the balance independents.

Your lucky rushlimpdrug because 80-90% of Amercia''s wolfpack press is corrupt and liberal. So you have propaganda working for you. Have a nice day.

[perception5]

Liberals think as a majority of Americans with their brains, unlike filth like you and your terrorist friends that think within a cloud of hatred for humanity.
Posted by rushlimpdrug at 06:10 PM : Aug 16, 2007


....FYI rushlimpdrug, liberals make up roughly 23% of America. 36% of Americans are conservative and the balance independents.

Your lucky rushlimpdrug because 80-90% of Amercia''s wolfpack press is corrupt and liberal. So you have propaganda working for you. Have a nice day.

[speakinup]

talking-pressedham, you just don''t get it do you ? Bush didn''t lie. Congress had the exact same information he did before they voted to invade.

But, since you brought up the topic - let''s examine what the democratic front runner did. HillBilly voted for the invasion, then wanted credit for the vote as late as when Saddam was captured. Then, when public opinion went against the war, due to the length it was taking to run it''s course and the press''s slant, she flip-flopped on the decision and said it was a mistake.

But your "since (sic) of outrage" with the press doesn''t mention a word about her role, does it? Your narrow minded point of view is caused listening to many lying liberals.


Mcdazz - I see you have geared your response to infidel so that the real high class liberal can understand. Or, are you just frustrated ?

speakinup wrote:

"Mcdazz - I see you have geared your response to infidel so that the real high class liberal can understand. Or, are you just frustrated ?"

Nahh - I find I have to dumb things down so that Republicanazis like you and GW Bush can understand them.

[sgtrds]

Your lucky rushlimpdrug because 80-90% of Amercia''''s wolfpack press is corrupt and liberal. So you have propaganda working for you. Have a nice day.
Posted by perception5 at 06:16 PM : Aug 16, 2007

The myth that the mainstream media is liberal is one of the biggest piles of sh*it that Lee Atwater was able to put over on the American people. The vast majority of media outlets have conservatives as talk show hosts and are owned by major conservative big organizations. Yet the conservative whine every time a truth about one of them is pointed out that the MSM is out to get them. It''s a joke along the lines of the tele-evangelists trying to sell the myth that there''s some sort of vendetta out to get them in a nation that''s already completely controlled by them. Their feel sorry for me whines are as rediclious and childish as conservatives claim that the media hates them. Wah Wah Wah.

[perception5]

Hey SgtRDS, Looks like your corrupt liberals pals aren''t playing fair-n-balanced AGAIN:

"JOE SCARBOROUGH: There was a story out of Seattle, and the reason I love it is that it''s transparency in the news. You have an editor who was actually outing his own people. The Seattle Times newsroom broke into applause when Karl Rove resigned. And of course that''s bad. What I like about it is that the editor actually wrote about it and went in and told the people in the newsroom that was unacceptable.

And I''ve got to say, my first night here at MSNBC was the President''s State of the Union address in 2003, and I was shocked because there were actually people in the newsroom that were booing the president actually from the beginning to the end. And I actually talked to [NBC/MSNBC executive] Phil Griffin about it, and he said "how was it last night?" Because he was the one that called me out of the Ace Hardware store, got my vest on. He said "how was it last night?" I said "well, it''s OK, I understand it''s a little bit different up here than it is down in northwest Florida, but you had people in the newsroom actively booing the President of the United States. Phil turned red very quickly. That didn''t happen again.


Great news: the MSNBC newsroom no longer actively boos the President! But did Griffin replace any of the offenders and bring in professionals, or is MSNBC still staffed by people who simply do their booing on the inside -- and in the news choices they make?

[speakinup]

mcdazz - something you have a good handle on - dumbing down. Unfortunately, you haven''t been able to smarten-up since becoming a liberal..

Say, mcdazz wouldn''t be another name for j-whitman would it. Or, do all of you liberal, elite, wanna-b debaters have a Hitler fetish?

Actually, it''s a little sad when people have to make up stories and names like ''Republicanazis'' to try to get their point across. (ok, so a lot sad.)

Do you have anything to say that is content based, or are we going to play 3rd graders our whole lifes ? I noted you passed on the Hillary comment.

[sgtrds]

Posted by perception5 at 06:42 PM : Aug 16, 2007

You believe Joe Scarborough? LOLOLOL!!! Well it could be worst. You might believe Tucker Carlson!!! They''re both about as liberal as Rush Limbaugh, so saying they work for MSNBC sort lets the air out of your argument that the media is leftist.

[speakinup]

So, mcdazz - here''s a couple of questions for you that will lead towards a good debate.

Just what has Hillary done to be the front runner for the Democrats right now ?

What makes her so qualified to be a President of the United States ?