Federal Circuit Court Judge Marcia Cooke has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that regardless of what transpires at the trial of Jose Padilla, nothing will deter her from ensuring that this trial moves forward, ends and a verdict is handed down. Nothing.

The jurors even seem to have a sense of the inevitability in the air, and if so, they took the opportunity to revel in it just prior to the

It’s a holiday. The Padilla trial is not in session, but if the prosecution wanted to identify a better expert on terrorism than Pentagon-puppet Rohan Gunaratna who testified last week, they would spend the time off reading Jessica Stern’s astonishing 2003 book Terror in the Name of God – Why Religious Militants Kill.

Where the defense attorneys at the Padilla trial likely scored some points was with their cross examination of the prosecution’s expert witness, Rohan Gunaratna.

He responded to a question about whom he had worked for in the past with a variation on the classic — I-could-tell-you-but-then -I’d- have -to-kill-you response.

Federal District Court Judge Marcia Cooke has made a decision that Jose Padilla’s lawyers and others believe will cause a mistrial. At worst, should Padilla be convicted, it will be the Judge’s ruling that will play a significant role in a probable reversal by the Supreme Court, even one that has turned so sharply to the right.While it may or may not be a legal blunder, Judge Cooke’s decision is

The best thing about getting an “exclusive” is the exhilaration, the thrill of digging out new information which casts a big story in a different, and significant way. You get a warm feeling, a glow all over. And when competitors comes up with their own “exclusive,” you smile and grit your teeth and say, “Nice job” and try to submerge all those nasty green-eyed feelings of jealously.The absolute best exclusive is

There is something delicious about reading secret wiretaps. It’s like, well, all of a sudden looking out your bedroom window and seeing that the neighbors have forgotten to draw down the bedroom shades in the late evening. It’s more than you ever wanted to know or see. On the other hand, it can also be [...]

When I attended the opening of the Jose Padilla trial–can it be two months ago–I noticed two middle aged women in the small, packed Miami courtroom. I realized that for some folks public trials are a welcome alternative to Court TV, or even Dr. Phil and Oprah. I tried to imagine how the two ladies, [...]

Lew will be interviewed by Peter Hart of FAIR on CounterSpin tomorrow at 2PM – find stations here. The MP3 and podcast will be available at the same link on Friday – and don’t forget to check out all the other great CounterSpin programs while you’re at it. – Siun If you’re wondering how the [...]

The prosecution received a sound rejection from U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Cooke on Thursday, while using its key evidence, the taped conversations. FBI agent – John Kavanaugh – was reviewing the tapes and said the men were using words like “tourism” and “football” as code words for violence. Defense attorneys strongly objected. “In a [...]

Friday June 1 — From Carol J. Williams at the Los Angeles Times :  In testimony that appeared to backfire for the prosecution, an ex convict who attended the same mosque as terrorism suspect Jose Padilla testified Thursday that he himself had considered going abroad for training to become an Islamic holy warrior, as Padilla [...]