You won’t find Donna Newman on talk TV’s lawyer-go-round. In her nearly 20 years as a criminal defense attorney, representing everyone from drug defendants to alleged racketeers, reporters have come knocking from time to time. “But I generally don’t believe it’s in my client’s best interest to talk to the press,” says Newman, 56. Then she met Jose Padilla. Padilla, 32, was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in May 2002 after he allegedly plotted with al-Qaeda leaders to get materials for U.S attacks that might possibly include a “dirty bomb.” A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive that disseminates radioactive material. ‘I don’t know the buzz words’ Newman was appointed by a federal judge to represent Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was being detained because he may have information about the terrorist organization. For nearly four weeks, she met regularly with her client. But in June, President Bush designated Padilla an “enemy combatant,” and he was moved to a military brig in South Carolina. He is being held there, without charge or access to his attorneys. Full Story
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