HELIOLITH

Listening to yesterday’s podcast of Democracy Now (transcript here), some serious issues in the trial come to light. I have not been closely following this trial at all, but it seems that an appeal is clearly warranted, on several grounds, and anyone even scanning the headlines can realize how politicized this trial has become, and how little it has to do with Padilla himself. Here is a brief report from the forensic psychologist from the program:

Forensic Psychiatrist Angela Hegarty examined Padilla last year and concluded the extreme isolation and torture had left Padilla essentially brain damaged. She appeared on Democracy Now yesterday in her first broadcast interview. Angela Hegarty: “What happened at the brig was essentially the destruction of a human being’s mind. That’s what happened at the brig. His personality was deconstructed and reformed.”

The authenticity of the most damning document (his alleged application to an Al Qaeda camp) is clearly in question, having multiple styles of handwriting, ink colors, and styles of dating (European vs. American) on different pages. Additionally, he was tried with other men, for whom a CNN interview with Osama Bin Laden was played. The jury was asked not to consider that evidence regarding Padilla, but seriously who could really question its impact?

I do not claim to know anything of his guilt or innnocence, but I know enough about criminal justice to know that the number of problems with the prosecution would seriously hamper my consensus with a guilty verdict, were I myself ever picked for such a jury (which of course, I probably could never be because of the extent to which I question common assumptions).

If our highest standards of decency and justice do not apply when it comes to a high-profile trial of this nature, how can we possibly hope them to stand up in the thousands of trials that don’t get such attention?

Amy Goodman and Democracy Now do an incredible job in the subsequent program interviewing psychaiatrists and the role of ethics in torture and interrogation. Her questions are pointed, direct, informed, and lead interviewees to the most interesting and educational discourse. You can download the mp3 of this show and listen to it for yourself.