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MIAMI (AP) - The trial plays out with no fanfare. This is not the stuff of O.J. Simpson or Anna Nicole Smith. Yet there has never been a U.S. criminal defendant quite like suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla.
Padilla is a U.S. citizen on trial for allegedly joining a support cell for Islamic extremists. The government was forced to prosecute him even though it would have preferred to lock him up without trial. Prosecutors also had to drop allegations that Padilla planned to set off a radioactive "dirty" bomb.
Legal experts say his case could have long-lasting legal implications for the war on terrorism because of what the verdict will say about the Bush administration's tactics.
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