A Gitmo judge just threw a defense lawyer into 21 days of confinement over a contempt charge

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

published 1 November 2017

After nearly the entire defense team for the USS Cole bombing suspect resigned under the suspicion that the U.S. government was spying on their conversations with their client at Guantanamo Bay, the judge in the case on Wednesday sentenced chief defense counsel Brig. Gen. John Baker to 21 days in confinement in his quarters and a $1,000 fine for contempt, the Miami Herald's Carol Rosenberg reports.

The issue boiled down to the mid-October departure of three defense lawyers from the bombing suspect's case. Baker had released the attorneys, citing secret information. The judge, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, ruled Baker acted out of turn:

Spath ruled that only a judge, not Baker, had the authority to excuse lawyers of record — and ordered the general to swear an oath and answer questions about the episode.Baker stood three rows behind the defendant and refused, invoking a privilege.The judge then ordered the general to rescind his decision to excuse the three lawyers. "I'm definitely not doing that," the Marine general replied. Baker maintains that under the war court rule book he has the unchecked authority to release defense attorneys for "good cause." [Miami Herald]

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The defense's client, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri of Saudi Arabia, stands accused of organizing the 2000 al Qaeda suicide bombing on the USS Cole off of Yemen, which killed 17 Americans. After the departure of the attorneys in October, Nashiri was only represented by the legal team's most junior member, who has no death penalty experience. Legally, the case cannot move forward without an experienced capital punishment lawyer, although Spath ruled Wednesday for the case to proceed because no alternatives were available. Read more about the case at the Miami Herald.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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