By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer
A federal judge refused to dismiss terrorism support charges against Jose Padilla on Friday, rejecting defense claims that his 3 1/2 years in custody as an enemy combatant violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke agreed with prosecutors that Padilla’s years in isolation at a Navy brig did not count because he had not yet been charged.
The criminal charges came when Padilla, a U.S. citizen accused of being an al-Qaida operative, was added to an existing Miami terrorism support indictment in November 2005. Only then did the clock start for the Sixth Amendment’s right to a “speedy and public trial,” Cooke said.
“I agree that the law in this case is that a criminal trial proceeding begins with the filing of the criminal process,” Cooke said. “Mr. Padilla has been promptly brought to court in that matter.”
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