Despite his attorneys pleas that he is suffering in solitary confinement, a federal judge has denied bond for a 23-year-old web developer accused of trying to join a terrorist organization.
U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick denied on Feb. 25 the motion by Adam Shafi's lawyers to release him from federal custody in the Glenn E. Dyer Jail in Oakland.
While the judge wrote he has "concern for the minimization of any detrimental mental health consequences" for Shafi, Orrick also did not find any cause to free him on bond. He rescheduled the next court hearing in the case for March 17.
Shafi has been in custody since July 2015 after being indicted on charges of plotting to join the Al-Nusra Front, and in solitary since Dec. 17, 2015, when an Alameda County Sheriff's lieutenant found a notebook that he called "contraband" and contained terrorist writings.
But Shafi's attorneys, Joshua Dratel of New York and Erik Levin of Oakland, said the notebook contained no such thing. They contend the writings contained generic doodles and notes about the case, which they argued in court are protected under attorney-client privilege.
Shafi now remains in a cell for 24 hours a day, except for five hours of exercise a week.
His lawyers had argued to free him on bond in December, which was also denied.
