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John Walker Lindh Due in Court to Enter Guilty Plea

Aired October 04, 2002 - 10:21   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: John Walker Lindh is due in court to enter a guilty plea for fighting alongside the Taliban.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us with more.

And, Susan, I understand, another plea will be made, that perhaps if he is going to serve time, that it might be near his family.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one of the things he would like. Just to set the stage for this, Fredricka, let me remind you of this, I'm standing near a field adjacent to where I am right now, and just about 10 months ago, a helicopter landed with a prisoner all the way from Afghanistan. He has been jailed here ever since. This afternoon, he will be sentenced. At the time of his guilty plea last summer, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called it an important victory in the war against terrorism.

John Walker Lindh, as you will recall, became to be well known and criticized as the American Taliban. He grew up in this area and north of California, and then wound up fighting with the Taliban, and was captured by U.S. forces back in November of 2001, two months after the September 11th attacks.

Last July, the 21-year-old changed his not guilty plea to guilty to a much scaled-down federal indictment. Under the plea agreement, he is pleading guilty to supplying services to the Taliban and a new charge of caring an explosive during a felony, specifically two hand grenades and a rifle. He now faces 20 years in prison. That is a sentence that is not being challenged by the defense or the government. And in return, he must continue to help the government.

Now, last summer, his lawyers admitted, that if they had gone to trial, they might have a tough time with the jury.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BROSNAHAN, WALKER LINDH ATTORNEY: He was a soldier in the Taliban. He did it for religious reasons. He did it as a Muslim. And history over came him, as we know.

All of the counts except one are dismissed. All of the terrorism counts are dismissed. It happens in time of war that there is an excitement about what's going on and a lot of that was in this case, as I view it. Now he has to plan his future.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: And that future will be 20 years behind bars. In court filings, John Walker Lindh has asked that he be placed in a prison where he can continue his education, and as you indicated, Fredricka, he also said that he wants to be in a prison located near his parents home in northern California. Finally, we will hear from him today.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan, and it does seem to be a pretty good deal, considering had he gone to trial with 10 charges he would be serving up to life in prison, correct?

CANDIOTTI: That's right. And now at age 21, theoretically when he gets out, he will only be about 40 years old, if not sooner.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much. Susan Candiotti, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 4, 2002 - 10:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: John Walker Lindh is due in court to enter a guilty plea for fighting alongside the Taliban.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us with more.

And, Susan, I understand, another plea will be made, that perhaps if he is going to serve time, that it might be near his family.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one of the things he would like. Just to set the stage for this, Fredricka, let me remind you of this, I'm standing near a field adjacent to where I am right now, and just about 10 months ago, a helicopter landed with a prisoner all the way from Afghanistan. He has been jailed here ever since. This afternoon, he will be sentenced. At the time of his guilty plea last summer, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called it an important victory in the war against terrorism.

John Walker Lindh, as you will recall, became to be well known and criticized as the American Taliban. He grew up in this area and north of California, and then wound up fighting with the Taliban, and was captured by U.S. forces back in November of 2001, two months after the September 11th attacks.

Last July, the 21-year-old changed his not guilty plea to guilty to a much scaled-down federal indictment. Under the plea agreement, he is pleading guilty to supplying services to the Taliban and a new charge of caring an explosive during a felony, specifically two hand grenades and a rifle. He now faces 20 years in prison. That is a sentence that is not being challenged by the defense or the government. And in return, he must continue to help the government.

Now, last summer, his lawyers admitted, that if they had gone to trial, they might have a tough time with the jury.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BROSNAHAN, WALKER LINDH ATTORNEY: He was a soldier in the Taliban. He did it for religious reasons. He did it as a Muslim. And history over came him, as we know.

All of the counts except one are dismissed. All of the terrorism counts are dismissed. It happens in time of war that there is an excitement about what's going on and a lot of that was in this case, as I view it. Now he has to plan his future.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: And that future will be 20 years behind bars. In court filings, John Walker Lindh has asked that he be placed in a prison where he can continue his education, and as you indicated, Fredricka, he also said that he wants to be in a prison located near his parents home in northern California. Finally, we will hear from him today.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan, and it does seem to be a pretty good deal, considering had he gone to trial with 10 charges he would be serving up to life in prison, correct?

CANDIOTTI: That's right. And now at age 21, theoretically when he gets out, he will only be about 40 years old, if not sooner.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much. Susan Candiotti, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com