Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
June 3, 2008
Pg. 7
A Marine colonel defended the war-court dismissal of a Guantánamo judge who is considered a maverick.
By Carol Rosenberg
In an extraordinary defense of a military commissions decision, the chief of the Guantánamo court on Monday blamed Army bureaucracy for the need to replace a judge at the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr -- not pressure to proceed by Pentagon prosecutors.
But, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann added that, contrary to an earlier Defense Department announcement, Army Col. Peter E. Brownback III did not voluntarily retire from active-duty status and had sought to see the trial to completion.
Khadr, now 21, is accused of the July 2002 grenade killing of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. He was 15. Brownback, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army, was the longest serving commissions judge, until he was relieved last week.
Kohlman's abrupt replacement of the judge without explanation stirred controversy at a time when defense lawyers are accusing the Pentagon of rushing cases to trial at the height of the presidential campaign season.
Brownback has emerged as a maverick at the remote war court in southeast Cuba. Last year, he dismissed the murder and terror charges against Khadr on a technicality, only to see an appeals panel reinstate them.
Other decision
Recently, he threatened to suspend the Khadr trial, effectively refusing to seat a jury of military officers, over the prison camp's refusal to release some of Khadr's detention records.
Defense lawyers last week announced a new trial judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, in a statement.
'Beaten and bruised'
It noted that Brownback had complained in open court that he had been ''badgered and beaten and bruised'' by the trial prosecutor, Marine Maj. Jeffrey Groharing, to set a court date, even before all discovery evidence was complete.
Monday, Kohlmann said that he chose to replace Brownback before pre-trial arguments on what evidence could be brought to trial because the Army had independently elected not to extend Brownback beyond a June 29 retirement date for ``manpower management considerations unrelated to the Military Commissions process.''
He did not elaborate, and commissions' spokesmen did not respond to a question on what ''manpower management considerations'' might mean.
Notably, however, Kohlmann's 704-word statement swatted aside suggestions that Brownback's rulings had become an obstacle to a speedy trial. ''Any suggestion that my detailing of another military judge was driven by or prompted by any decisions or rulings made by Colonel Brownback is incorrect,'' the Marine colonel wrote.
'Incorrect'
``Any suggestion that Colonel Brownback asked to return to retired status before the case of U.S. v Khadr was completed was also incorrect.''
Kohlmann also noted that he was providing the unusual explanation of the inner workings to the still evolving war court because it ``has generated discussion about the independence of the judiciary.''
June 3, 2008
Pg. 7
A Marine colonel defended the war-court dismissal of a Guantánamo judge who is considered a maverick.
By Carol Rosenberg
In an extraordinary defense of a military commissions decision, the chief of the Guantánamo court on Monday blamed Army bureaucracy for the need to replace a judge at the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr -- not pressure to proceed by Pentagon prosecutors.
But, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann added that, contrary to an earlier Defense Department announcement, Army Col. Peter E. Brownback III did not voluntarily retire from active-duty status and had sought to see the trial to completion.
Khadr, now 21, is accused of the July 2002 grenade killing of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. He was 15. Brownback, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army, was the longest serving commissions judge, until he was relieved last week.
Kohlman's abrupt replacement of the judge without explanation stirred controversy at a time when defense lawyers are accusing the Pentagon of rushing cases to trial at the height of the presidential campaign season.
Brownback has emerged as a maverick at the remote war court in southeast Cuba. Last year, he dismissed the murder and terror charges against Khadr on a technicality, only to see an appeals panel reinstate them.
Other decision
Recently, he threatened to suspend the Khadr trial, effectively refusing to seat a jury of military officers, over the prison camp's refusal to release some of Khadr's detention records.
Defense lawyers last week announced a new trial judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, in a statement.
'Beaten and bruised'
It noted that Brownback had complained in open court that he had been ''badgered and beaten and bruised'' by the trial prosecutor, Marine Maj. Jeffrey Groharing, to set a court date, even before all discovery evidence was complete.
Monday, Kohlmann said that he chose to replace Brownback before pre-trial arguments on what evidence could be brought to trial because the Army had independently elected not to extend Brownback beyond a June 29 retirement date for ``manpower management considerations unrelated to the Military Commissions process.''
He did not elaborate, and commissions' spokesmen did not respond to a question on what ''manpower management considerations'' might mean.
Notably, however, Kohlmann's 704-word statement swatted aside suggestions that Brownback's rulings had become an obstacle to a speedy trial. ''Any suggestion that my detailing of another military judge was driven by or prompted by any decisions or rulings made by Colonel Brownback is incorrect,'' the Marine colonel wrote.
'Incorrect'
``Any suggestion that Colonel Brownback asked to return to retired status before the case of U.S. v Khadr was completed was also incorrect.''
Kohlmann also noted that he was providing the unusual explanation of the inner workings to the still evolving war court because it ``has generated discussion about the independence of the judiciary.''