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Lindh lawyers will try to block evidence

CNN interviewed Walker Lindh shortly after he was captured in Afghanistan.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Attorneys for John Walker Lindh are scheduled to appear in court Monday to try to block the government from using statements, including a CNN interview the Taliban American made following his capture in Afghanistan, as evidence in his upcoming trial.

Walker Lindh was among Taliban fighters taken into custody by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. He was identified as an American following a bloody prison uprising in late November during which CIA agent Mike Spann was killed.

He is scheduled to stand trial in August on a number of charges, including conspiring to kill Americans overseas, providing support to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and using firearms and other destructive devices during crimes of violence.

If convicted of all the charges, he could receive up to three life sentences, plus 90 years in prison

After his capture, Walker Lindh gave statements to the FBI and to journalist Robert Pelton, who was working for CNN at the time.

Walker Lindh's attorneys argue that his statements to U.S. authorities should be suppressed because he was held for 55 days under what they call "torturous conditions" and was "completely intimidated, broken, mentally and physically."

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They contend he should have been brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of his capture and allowed to see an attorney.

Prosecutors reject those arguments, saying that Walker Lindh was "treated with exceptional regard for his health, his safety and his security."

They say Walker Lindh voluntarily waived his Miranda rights before being interrogated.

Walker Lindh's attorneys also want to suppress the December 1, 2001, CNN interview that was conducted by Pelton. In it, Walker Lindh describes fighting with the Taliban and training at a camp run by terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The defense argues that Pelton was, in effect, an agent of the U.S. government because he was traveling with the Special Forces troops who took Walker Lindh into custody.

The government wants the videotape of the interview admitted, arguing in papers filed earlier this month that "Pelton is a private citizen who was not acting on behalf of any United States agency, civilian or military, when he interviewed Lindh."

Pelton may be called to testify at the hearing. He tried to quash a subpoena to appear, saying that requiring him to appear would "threaten the safety and independence" of all war correspondents.

Judge T.S. Ellis brushed aside that argument, saying that Walker Lindh's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial outweighed any First Amendment concerns.

"I do not see that the First Amendment gives a testimonial privilege to [journalists]," he said.

Ellis said he could revisit the issue if he found the testimony to be unnecessary.

-- CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken and Producer Laura Bernardini contributed to this report.