Lawyer Says Md. Terrorist Suspect Was Entrapped
BALTIMORE (WJZ) --Prosecutors say Antonio Martinez was grinning from ear to ear as a plan to bomb a local military recruitment center was set into motion. But now his attorneys say it wasn't even his plan.
Kelly McPherson explains how both sides plan to fight this case.
The defense argues that the government created this cookie-cutter plot to nab a man for putting threatening—but vague—posts on Facebook. The victim's mother is now standing by him.
Martinez, 21, faces life in prison for attempting to blow up the Armed Forces Career Center, a military recruitment center in Catonsville.
For the first time, his mother spoke publicly, though briefly.
"I know him," she said. "I'm the only person that knows him. I just believe it's entrapment. That's all I'm [going to] say."
Her sentiment is the public defender's argument. The defense also argues that the informant may not be credible,
"Is the informant combing through mosques of Baltimore to find susceptible young men?" defense attorney Joseph Balter asked in court.
He says his client was entrapped.
"Arguments today addressed the issue as to whether or not Mr. Hussein should be detained pre-trial," Balter said. "The court made their decision, and it didn't go the way we wanted it."
While the courts are using the suspect's birth name Antonio Martinez, his lawyer refers to him by his Islamic name of Mohammad Hussein.
Asking for Martinez to remain in custody, the prosecutor describes the bombing suspect as a young man who has been dreaming of violence for years.
In his confession Wednesday Martinez said he went through with the bomb plot because it was the "right cause" and "his duty to wage jihad." He also said he thought this might be a set-up, until he smelled the gas fumes from the bomb inside the SUV.
Prosecutors also say they have Martinez's notebook that talks about dying for a cause as early as last spring.
The judge acknowledges that the court will have to look at the FBI's tactics in this case once the trial is underway.
The next step in Martinez's case is for either a grand jury indictment or a pre-trial hearing next week.
