(CNN) -- A federal judge in Miami has dismissed the lead terror count against Jose Padilla, the U.S. citizen once identified as a "dirty bomb" suspect and detained for three years without charges as an "enemy combatant."
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke tossed out the first of three counts in an indictment handed down last year, Padilla's lawyer, Andrew Patel, told CNN. (
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The dismissed count alleged that Padilla, a Brooklyn-born convert to Islam, and others plotted to "murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country," Patel said.
Padilla has pleaded not guilty to the indictment, which includes two other counts -- conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists. Those counts remain, and a trial is scheduled for early next year.
