Investigators Seek To Question Would-Be Bomber
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BOSTON — Federal investigators told a judge Tuesday that they want to question would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid because it was likely that he has “important information” about terrorist activities.
But prosecutors said in U.S. District Court they don’t believe Reid is entitled to a public defender now that his criminal case is over.
Reid, a British citizen and self-described follower of Osama bin Laden, pleaded guilty in 2002 to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.He is now serving a life sentence at a maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo.
In April, a judge extended a 2003 order allowing Reid to continue to be represented by federal public defenders. At the time, Reid was expected to be called as a witness in the trial of Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Reid was never called as a witness.
