Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the 12 counts filed against him in the superseding indictment returned on January 14, including charges he conspired in plotting the terror attacks in Mumbai and a Danish newspaper.
Appearing before US Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, Headley entered a not guilty plea to the charges at his arraignment hearing that lasted about 10 minutes.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Headley's hands and legs were shackled when he was brought into the packed courtroom. He talked briefly with his lawyers John Theis and Robert Seeder before the hearing began, at one point even smiled and laughed while talking to his attorneys.
Headley greeted the Judge "Good Morning" and responded "I do your Honour" and "Yes your honour" when Keys asked him whether he understood the charges the prosecution read out to him and that the maximum penalty in his case is death if convicted.
Headley said "That is correct" when the judge asked him if he is entering a not guilty plea. Keys set a status hearing for February 23 before US District Judge Harry Leinenweber.
Headley's lawyers had earlier requested Leinenweber that his "presence be waived" at the status hearing, which means he would not be required to appear in court on February 23.
Headley remains detained in federal custody at the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre.
This was Headley's second appearance in court after December 7, when he had appeared for his first arraignment and pleaded not guilty.
A federal grand jury had on January 14 returned a superseding indictment adding Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana to the charges filed in December against Headley, alleging they and others participated in conspiracies involving a planned terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper and the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans.
The 12-count superseding indictment contains identical charges that were filed against Headley on December 7, 2009, while adding Rana as a defendant in three of the counts charging material support of the terrorism plots in Denmark and India, as well as in support of the designated foreign terrorist organisation.
Rana had also pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment on January 25.
