Guantánamo prosecutor quits over Brady violations

From the Washington Post:

Guantanamo Prosecutor Quits, Says Evidence Was Withheld

A military prosecutor involved in war crimes cases here has quit his position, citing ethical concerns about his office's failure to turn over exculpatory material to attorneys for an Afghan detainee... Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld... (laid) out his concerns about the case and procedures in the military prosecutor's office...

"My ethical qualms about continuing to serve as a prosecutor relate primarily to the procedures for affording defense counsel discovery," wrote Vandeveld in his filing. "I am highly concerned, to the point that I believe I can no longer serve as a prosecutor at the Commissions, about the slipshod, uncertain 'procedure' for affording defense counsel discovery..."

"Restoring a bit of America’s lost luster"

Audio from Public Radio International's The World:

Defending a Guantanamo detainee

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Air Force attorney Major David Frakt. Frakt is defending a Guantanamo detainee named Mohammed Jawad who's accused of the attempted murder of two US soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002...

See also Major Frakt's closing argument to dismiss the case against Jawad, from Discourse.net.

Bluejacket-style defense lawyering vs. Gitmo

Profile in courage from the New York Times:

An Unlikely Antagonist in the Detainees’ Corner

When he speaks publicly, Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, a military lawyer for a Guantánamo detainee, is careful to say his remarks do not reflect the views of the Pentagon. As if anybody would make that mistake.

In his Navy blues, the youthful commander could pass for an eager cadet. But give him a minute on the subject of his client, a terrorism suspect named Omar Khadr, and he sounds like some 1960s radical lawyer, an apple-cheeked William Kunstler in uniform...

I can has fair trial?

From two photo sites: one I hadn't heard of - Pundit Kitchen
...and one that everyone's heard of.

ID: Boisean off the Guantánamo express

There's a special place in heaven reserved for David Nevin. From the Idaho Statesman:

Boise lawyer critical of 'show trial' at Gitmo - David Nevin says Bush officials are rushing the proceedings for the 9/11 suspects and want a conviction at any cost

Boise lawyer David Nevin said Friday that a military court's decision to let the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks represent himself threatens a fundamental constitutional principle, the right to competent counsel.

"This is not a fair proceeding," said Nevin, a volunteer lawyer for the defense. "This is a show trial, and it's a secret trial. The United States of America is not going to look good at the end of this."

ID: "not a fence-mender, not a pacifier, not a negotiator. He’s a warrior!"

From the Idaho Statesman:

9/11 trial will test Boise attorneys - Defense team members David Nevin and Scott McKay will be ‘making sure the government plays by the rules’ in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

As Idaho’s most famous defense lawyer, David Nevin is no stranger to unpopular causes. But his decision to defend the man the government says planned the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, puts him in a league of his own... Nevin and his partner, Scott McKay, have volunteered to help military lawyers represent Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the most important detainee of 300 suspects held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. His defense is the top priority of the ACLU’s John Adams Project, which is raising money and finding lawyers to help represent the detainees...

McKay and Nevin will be working with Navy Reserve Capt. Prescott Prince, the lead defense lawyer in the 9/11 case... Nevin, 58, graduated from the U of I Law School in 1978. His career is marked by a string of celebrated defenses, from neo-Nazis to Idaho’s worst environmental criminal... A 2004 terrorism trial prepared Nevin and McKay for the new case. They represented Sami al-Hussayen, a University of Idaho graduate student and Saudi national charged with three terrorism-related offenses. Despite a rush to judgment... a Boise jury acquitted al-Hussayen.

But the case that first made Nevin famous was Ruby Ridge, when his client, Kevin Harris..., was cleared of all charges by a federal jury in Boise after a 60-day trial... “I like to remind people that Gerry Spence’s client went back to jail,” said Tom McCabe, a Boise lawyer who has worked with Nevin. “Kevin Harris walked out the front door of the courthouse with David...”

IA: "This is our government, in our name, doing this, which to me is unacceptable"

From KCCI:

Gitmo Federal Attorney Speaks Out - Des Moines Woman Says Defending Prisoners Frustrating

"I was appointed to represent these gentlemen. They didn't even know they had a lawyer for a year because I wasn't allowed to write or visit them," said federal public defender Angela Campbell.

WA: TVW open house, Guantánamo lawyer interview

This weekend Joseph and I went to the new studios of TVW, Washington State's version of C-SPAN. Joe got to check out both sides of the camera. I thought that Joe handled his interview well, and stuck to his talking points in the face of some tough questioning. When asked, have you ever watched TVW, he said "no." Asked if he would watch TVW if they carried Pokémon, Joe said "yes."

There's law-related news on "The Docket," TVW's legal affairs program, if you're into that sort of thing, not to mention Washington Supreme Court action.

Seeing as how it's five years to the day when "Guantánamo" started becoming synonymous with "Gulag," perhaps you'd be interested in this month's Docket episode, featuring an interview with LCDR Charles Swift, one of the lead attorneys in Hamdan (extended (as in almost an hour long) video of the Swift interview is available here as a Windows Media file).

Duty and honor

From the Seattle Times:

Guantánamo defense lawyer forced out of Navy

The Navy lawyer who took the Guantánamo case of Osama bin Laden's driver to the U.S. Supreme Court — and won — has been passed over for promotion by the Pentagon and must soon leave the military.

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, 44, said last week he received word he had been denied a promotion to full-blown commander this summer, "about two weeks after" the Supreme Court sided against the White House and with his client, a Yemeni captive (Salim Hamdan)...

Bonus link: from Balkinization, here is a good (and long) contemplation by Scott Horton titled "When Lawyers Are War Criminals". It's dedicated to one moral officer and lawyer, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, and in the comments brought this wish for the future job prospects of another:

A just outcome would be for the next administration to employ Lt. (Cmdr.) Charles Swift in the AG's office for the specific purpose of prosecuting administration officials for their war crimes. What a beautiful ending that would be...

Comment: Blogger Beta is blocking me from commenting, but I'd respond to the Swift-boating in the comments to say, it's true that I get some of my views from second-hand experience. My dad was a naval aviator in WWII and got in his 20 in the reserves. His first-hand opinion of military bureaucracy (occasionally shared with me on runs to the NEX at NAS Whidbey) probably wouldn't be changed by the way today's Navy handled an LCDR who can win at the U.S. Supreme Court. Another WWII vet, Paul Fussell, might refer to it as "chickensh*t."

Happy Independence Day!

Profiles in courage for the 4th of July:

From The Age (Melbourne) -

The military lawyer who won't be tamed

David Hicks’ US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, or Dan as he prefers, has carved out an extraordinary profile as a low-level US marine who speaks out in regular criticism of the military commissions set up by President George Bush, the Commander-in-Chief...

Becoming such a public defender of the rights of David Hicks is a precarious career move for Mori. His superior, air force Colonel Will Gunn, who was chosen as lead defence counsel in the trials of the detainees, thought at the time someone was out to torpedo his own career. “It occurred to me that there would be people who would not be able to understand how I could represent individuals who are characterised as enemies of the United States,” Gunn said in 2004...

The key to understanding Mori is his training as a marine; by appointing him to defend Hicks, the US military unleashed against itself the US Marine culture. Mori, who signs his emails “sf” — semper fi delis (always faithful) is the Marine Corps motto — sees it as a noble thing to stand up for someone who may have no one else on their side.

“Marines love underdogs, he says. “I’m a marine.”

From the P-I (Seattle) -

Gitmo win likely cost Navy lawyer his career - 'Fearless' defense of detainee a stinging loss for Bush

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift -- the Navy lawyer who beat the president of the United States in a pivotal Supreme Court battle over trying alleged terrorists -- figures he'll probably have to find a new job.

Of course, it's always risky to compare your boss to King George III.

Swift first represented Hamdan two years ago in U.S. District Court in Seattle... "I may be one of the most influential lawyers in America," the Seattle University Law School graduate said, "but I won't be in the military much longer. That irony did strike me..."

Swift clearly believes that his vigorous defense of Hamdan was, in a very real way, a vigorous defense of military justice and the Constitution.

"If they are calling the commissions (tribunals) military justice, it's got to live up to what military justice is. It means something. It's about the law, not what the leaders want. The greatest thing about the JAG Corps is ... I had the opportunity to work every day in a system I believe in..."

JAG defense counsel: the sound of freedom.