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Presiding Officer (Guantanamo Military Commissions)
Presiding Officer (Guantanamo Military Commissions)
Fred Borch, promised his subordinates that only officers who could be counted on to convict suspects would be chose as Commission members, and that Prosecutors would not have to worry about exculpatory evidence -as it would all be classified so it could be withheld from the suspect’s attorneys on National Security grounds.[1][2][3] Peter Brownback -- the first Presiding Officer, was unexpectedly replaced in the summer of 2008.[4][5][6][7][8][4][9][10] Critics speculated that he had been fired because he kept trying to force Omar Khadr’s prosecution to release evidence to Khadr’s Defense attorneys.
Hearing room where low-security Guantanamo captives Military Commission hearings are held. Separate hearing rooms for high-security hearings isolate the press in a sound-proof booth, where the closed circuit audio can be killed by a mute switch when secrets are uttered. The United States of America has charged Guantanamo captives before "Military Commissions", each presided over by a Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer were initially to serve as the first among equals on bodies were the commission members served the roles similar to both judge and jury. In the first version of the Military Commissions the Presiding Officer was to be the only member of the Commission who was a lawyer. So the Presiding Officer would be making all the ruling similar to the rulings on points of law that a judge makes in courts of law. But the Presiding Officer would also be voting on the suspect’s guilt or innocence -unlike in a jury trial. The Commission system was extensively reformed in the summer of 2004. Several of the original Commission members of the first Commission were retired, because of their inherent bias. The structure of the Commissions were changed, so that the Presiding Officer would no long vote on the suspect’s guilt. In the summer of 2005 leaked memos were published that revealsed that prior to the reorganization the first Chief Prosecutor,
References
[1] Leigh Sales (2005-08-01), "Leaked emails claim Guantanamo trials rigged", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/ 200508/s1426797.htm, retrieved on 2008-08-14. mirror [2] Leigh Sales (2005-08-03), "Leaked emails claim Guantanamo trials rigged", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/ 200508/s1428749.htm, retrieved on 2008-08-14. mirror [3] "Chief Guantanamo Prosecutor Departs", National Public Radio, 2004-04-22, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/ story.php?storyId=1846734, retrieved on 2008-08-14. mirror [4] ^ Jane Sutton (May 29, 2008), "Guantanamo judge dismissed in Canadian’s case", Reuters, http://ca.reuters.com/article/ domesticNews/ idCANASU5290220080530?sp=true, retrieved on 2008-05-29. [5] Michael Melia (May 29, 2008), "Gitmo judge removed from Canadian’s case", Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/ world/AP/story/551526.html, retrieved on 2008-05-29.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Presiding Officer (Guantanamo Military Commissions)
[6] Omar El Akkad (May 29, 2008), "Khadr [8] Michael Melia (May 29, 2008), "Gitmo judge at Guantanamo Bay relieved of judge removed from Canadian’s case", duties", Globe and Mail, Kansas City Star, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/ story/RTGAM.20080529.wkhadr0529/ 641581.html, retrieved on 2008-05-29. BNStory/National/ [9] "Khadr judge fired, says his military ?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080529.wkhadr0529, lawyer", CBC News, May 29, 2008, retrieved on 2008-05-29. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/05/ [7] Steven Edwards (May 29, 2008), 29/judge-khadr.html, retrieved on "Pentagon fires Khadr judge: Col. Peter 2008-05-29. Brownback replaced after chastising [10] "U.S. military dumps judge in Khadr prosecution", National Post, terrorism case in surprise move", http://www.nationalpost.com/news/ Canadian Press, May 29, 2008, world/story.html?id=549763, retrieved http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ on 2008-05-29. ALeqM5gMFtTJrQcHknWUFeUfvS9Lo9_7zA, retrieved on 2008-05-29.
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