Apr 28, 2009 2:59 pm US/Eastern
Trial Delayed For Terror Defendant In NYC
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Aafia Siddiqui headshot, from FBI Seeking Information poster in April, 2003.
AP
A defense lawyer says a U.S.-trained scientist accused of being an al-Qaida operative may use a mental illness defense if she is brought to trial.
The comments by defense attorney Dawn Cardi came as Judge Richard Berman postponed a July trial for Aafia Siddiqui (AH'-fee-ah Sih-DEE'-key).
The judge scheduled a hearing instead to determine if Siddiqui is competent to stand trial. She is charged with shooting at U.S. soldiers and FBI agents after her capture in Afghanistan.
The government says she is faking mental illness to avoid trial. Cardi says Siddiqui may use mental illness as a defense at trial or may use a justification defense.
Siddiqui studied at MIT and Brandeis University before she fled to her native Pakistan in 2003.
Aafia Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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