Padilla Evidence Missing, Feds Say

The videotape of intelligence agents' final interrogation of al Qaeda suspect Jose Padilla is missing, raising questions about whether federal prosecutors have lost other tapes and evidence as the case finally nears trial.

Padilla's defense attorneys have said they believe there is something on the classified tape related to their contention that Padilla does not trust them and thinks they may be government agents themselves.

The tape of the March 2, 2004, interrogation at a Navy jail in Charleston, S.C., may contain "information that was conveyed to Mr. Padilla by agents of the government which directly impacts upon his relationship with his attorneys," attorney Anthony Natale alleges, according to federal court documents.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, is scheduled to stand trial April 16 along with two co-defendants on charges of being part of a North American terrorism support cell. When he was initially arrested in 2002, Padilla was accused of preparing an al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States — but the criminal case does not mention that.

Federal prosecutors and the Defense Department's intelligence agency have said they cannot find the tape despite an intensive search. James Schmidli, the agency's deputy general counsel for operations, said there were 88 video recordings of Padilla interrogation sessions during his 3 1/2 years in custody as an "enemy combatant" at the military jail before he was turned over to civilian authorities.

Eighty-seven of those tapes have been turned over to defense lawyers, leaving only that last session unaccounted for, he said.

"I don't know what happened to it," Schmidli said during a recent court hearing.

The federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, was incredulous that anything connected to a defendant as high-profile as Padilla could simply be lost.

"Do you understand how it might be difficult for me to understand that a tape related to this particular individual just got mislaid?" Cooke told prosecutors at a hearing last month.

Padilla's lawyers sought the brig tapes, medical records and other details about his incarceration there to buttress their claims that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his long isolation and repeated interrogations. Cooke ruled Feb. 28 that Padilla is nevertheless competent to stand trial.

Padilla's attorneys also are seeking to dismiss the indictment entirely, accusing the Bush administration of "outrageous government conduct" by mistreating and even torturing Padilla at the Navy jail. Justice Department and Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied those claims.