Padilla case raises attorney access issue

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. legal scholars are looking at the conviction of Jose Padilla on terror-related charges as a new model for preventative detentions.

Experts told The New York Times the focus on conspiracy charges against suspected terrorists provides a path for prosecutors to lock up a defendant on relatively thin evidence that they actually committed a criminal act.

The use of conspiracy charges raises the issue of whether or not a suspect taken prisoner in a war situation should be entitled to an attorney during questioning.

Padilla was found guilty in Miami Thursday on charges he conspired to murder people in a foreign country, a charge carrying a possible life sentence. A major piece of evidence was an application he filled out for a terrorist training camp in 2000.

Scholars told the Times that while conspiracy is usually charged after the crime has been committed, in terrorism cases it is being applied to so-called “enemy combatants” whom the government says would be dangerous if released.