Terror Suspect's Brig Life Detailed
By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press Writer
02/28/07 - - MIAMI (AP) - The exterior window in Jose Padilla's
80-square-foot cell in a Navy brig was painted over. At times,
he had to sleep on a steel bunk with no mattress. He went months
without a clock and was sometimes seen weeping in his cell.
But officials at the brig in Charleston, S.C., testified Tuesday
that the alleged al-Qaida operative was not physically abused
during his 3 years in military custody, nor did he display
serious symptoms of mental problems.
Craig Noble, the brig's main psychologist, and Sanford Seymour,
the brig's technical director, testified for the first time in
public Tuesday in Padilla's competency hearings. The hearings
are to determine whether Padilla can stand trial in April on
terrorism-related charges.
Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, was
arrested in 2002 in Chicago in what U.S. authorities initially
claimed was a mission to set off a radioactive ``dirty bomb'' in
a major city. He was held at the brig without being charged
after President Bush declared him an enemy combatant.
Padilla was added to a Miami terrorism support case in late
2005. That indictment does not mention the ``dirty bomb'' plot.
Two mental experts hired by Padilla's lawyers say he cannot
assist in his defense because he suffers from post-traumatic
stress disorder, which they claim results from isolation and
alleged torture at the brig. U.S. officials deny he was
tortured.
Noble said he examined Padilla when he arrived June 10, 2002,
and again on May 14, 2004. He said Padilla had begun wearing
glasses, but he found the second visit ``unremarkable'' for any
signs of problems.
The second interview was conducted at Padilla's cell door, with
the prisoner speaking through a small slot, Noble said.
``He was responsive, made good eye contact, in fact smiled
frequently,'' Noble said. ``There were no changes.''
Seymour described some of the cell conditions, including the
painted-over window, lack of clock and periodic removal of
Padilla's mattress and Quran. He also said he remembered two
instances where he watched Padilla - who was under 24-hour
surveillance - crying in his cell.
But Seymour also said that the brig staff allowed Padilla
outside for recreation, when he sometimes shot baskets. He was
allowed no contact with any other inmate.
``Sometimes he sat in the sun,'' Seymour said. ``If it was a
nice day, we tried to get him out.''
Padilla has claimed his cell was often filled with noxious fumes
and that brig staff injected him with LSD or some other
hallucinogenic drug.
Seymour said the injection was a flu shot. And he testified that
the odors come from a paper mill less than a mile away. ``We
often had a nasty odor throughout the facility,'' he said.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke barred Padilla's lawyers from
delving into the details of this testimony unless it was
directly related to a competency report prepared by a Bureau of
Prisons psychologist.
Cooke scheduled closing arguments on the competency issue for
Wednesday. It was not clear when she would rule.
Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael
Jayyousi face up to life in prison if convicted of charges they
were part of a North American terror support cell that provided
recruits, money and supplies to Islamic extremist groups.
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