DOCUMENT: Crime

Padilla: A "Danger To The Community"

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Padilla: A "Danger To The Community"

While the family of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla hit the mattresses following the accused terrorist's June 10 arrest, his mother once testified that Padilla was a "responsible" young man who was "nice with the whole family" and who helped her out financially while juggling jobs as a carpet cleaner and Holiday Inn employee. Testifying at a 1991 Florida bail hearing, Estella Ortega also noted that Padilla made support payments for a child he fathered and that she did not consider her son "a threat to the community." In late-1991, Padilla was arrested for shooting at a fellow motorist during a "road rage" incident. In December of that year, with Padilla jailed in lieu of $7500, his lawyer argued for a bail reduction, presenting testimony from Ortega, Padilla's girlfriend, and the inmate himself (you'll find transcript excerpts from that Circuit Court hearing at left

). While Sherrie Stultz, who would later marry and divorce Padilla, also claimed that her beau wasn't a threat, that opinion was not shared by Judge Robert Tyson, who declared Padilla a "danger to the community" and nearly tripled his bail. The future wannabe terrorist surely didn't help his cause with rambling, confrontational testimony that included a bizarre claim about a threat supposedly made by two jail guards. (17 pages)