A Key Padilla Charge Is Reinstated

MIAMI, Jan. 30 -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a key terrorism charge, the only one carrying a potential sentence of life in prison, against suspected al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed with federal prosecutors that the charge that Padilla and his two co-defendants conspired to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas did not duplicate other counts in the indictment.

The Atlanta-based court reversed a decision last summer by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who said the three charges in the indictment contained nearly identical elements and could subject the defendants to extra punishment for the same act, violating protections against double jeopardy.

Padilla was arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and the government alleged that he was plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a major U.S. city. President Bush declared Padilla an enemy combatant, and he was held without criminal charges for 3 1/2 years until he was indicted in late 2005 in Miami. The "dirty bomb" allegations are not part of the Miami case.

Although defense attorneys may file a challenge, Tuesday's ruling brings the case a step closer to trial as scheduled April 16. The appeals court had agreed to hear the case on an expedited basis after Cooke said she would not begin jury selection until the issue was settled.

"We are gratified by the 11th Circuit's swift decision and look forward to presenting the evidence at trial," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in Miami.

Defense lawyers have 21 days to ask the panel to rehear the case or request that the full appeals court take it up. Attorneys for Padilla and his co-defendants did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The two other main terrorism-support charges against Padilla and his co-defendants each carry maximum prison terms of 15 years.

Padilla, 36, is charged with being part of a North American terrorism support cell that provided personnel, materiel and money to extremist Islamic causes. He and his co-defendants -- Adham Amin Hassoun, 44, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 45 -- have pleaded not guilty.