|
One of three charges against Padilla thrown out
A federal judge on Monday threw out one count in the terror indictment against alleged Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla and his co-defendants, concluding that it repeated other charges in the same indictment. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke leaves intact two other terror-related counts against Padilla and the others alleging a conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic extremist causes worldwide.The count that was dropped charged a conspiracy to "murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country." Cooke ruled that charge was unnecessary because the alleged illegal acts were already covered by the other terror-related counts in the indictment. Prosecuting all three charges, she said, would violate the Constitution's ban against double jeopardy, or prosecution of the same charges twice. Posted by: Jackal 2006-08-22 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=163623 |