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CNN Live At Daybreak

Government's Tagging of Padilla as Enemy Combatant Adds to Already Long Rap Sheet

Aired June 12, 2002 - 06:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The government's tagging of Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant adds to his already long rap sheet.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports on the challenge facing the dirty bomb suspect's attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lawyer, Donna Newman, last saw client, Jose Padilla, Friday. He was at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center in 23-hour lockdown, she says, on a maximum security floor used for suspected terrorists.

DONNA NEWMAN, PADILLA'S ATTORNEY: My client was not a prisoner, and he -- any movement was with what we call the three-piece suit, which includes the wrist irons, the leg irons and the belt with the shackle.

FEYERICK: Shortly after their meeting and before the government could ever file formal charges, Newman says Padilla was moved to a military prison in South Carolina without her knowledge. His status changed from material witness to what the government called an enemy combatant.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are not interested in trying him at the moment. We are not interested in punishing him at the moment. We are interested in finding out what in the world he knows.

FEYERICK: The attorney general has publicly, not formally, accused Padilla of scoping out targets where a radioactive bomb could potentially be set off.

NEWMAN: My client is a citizen. Nothing has changed with respect to that. The last time I looked at the Constitution, he still had constitutional rights.

FEYERICK: Padilla, who calls himself Abdullah al Muhajir, also has a long criminal record. Documents in Chicago and Florida show Padilla being arrested several times as a juvenile and an adult for a number of violent crimes, like armed robbery. He used a string of fake names, Jose Rivera, Jose Hernandez, Julio Rodriguez, and he repeatedly failed to show in court for traffic violations. Though he did serve a year in jail, there are still warrants for his arrest in both Chicago and Florida.

In 1996, Padilla married a woman in Florida. Documents show when she filed for divorce two years ago, she listed Padilla's last known address as Alzaytoon (ph), Cairo. A State Department source says in February, Padilla showed up at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, saying he lost his passport. A month later, he got a new one.

(on camera): Officials say Padilla traveled to Pakistan, Egypt and Switzerland before arriving in Chicago last month. That's where he was arrested. His lawyer is trying to get him released, saying the government is holding him unlawfully.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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