This is a highly fragmentary report, but it seems that recusal of a military commission judge is being sought by KSM's lawyers on the basis that classified evidence that was to have been preserved was destroyed without notice to the defense. KSM defense counsel are also challenging a number of prosecutors.
Another here http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/us/evidence-in-khalid-shaikh-mohammed-9-11-case.html?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting and potentially very troubling.
Still, the defense lawyers offered several clues from the unclassified portion of their filing, which they submitted on Tuesday but is not yet publicly available. They said the issue traced back to several years ago, when the question of the evidence’s fate first arose. Colonel Pohl eventually issued an public order, at the defense’s request, requiring it to be preserved, and they thought that had settled the matter.
But they learned in February, they said, that about 20 months earlier, and without their knowledge, prosecutors had obtained from Colonel Pohl a secret order that reversed his previous decision. By the time they found out, the government had already destroyed the evidence, giving them no opportunity to challenge the move.
Agreeing to a "no notice," ex parte order, which in turn allowed a "secret" destruction of evidence, is the antithesis of "due process." It may be time to see what the State Bar grievance committees think about all of this! It is particularly egregious that this happened after the MJ publicly ordered the evidence preserved.
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