Judge Drops General From Trial of Detainee

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/us/10gitmo.html?ref=us">Judge Drops General From Trial of Detainee

By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: May 10, 2008

In a new blow to the Bush administration’s troubled
military commission system, a military judge has
disqualified a Pentagon general who has been centrally
involved in overseeing Guantánamo war crimes tribunals
from any role in the first case headed for trial.

The judge said the general was too closely aligned with
the prosecution, raising questions about whether he could
carry out his role with the required neutrality and
objectivity.

Military defense lawyers said that although the ruling
was limited to one case, they expected the issue to be
raised in other cases, potentially delaying prosecutions,
including the death-penalty prosecution of six detainees
at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for the Sept. 11 attacks.

-snip-

The judge, Capt. Keith J. Allred of the Navy, directed
that Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann of the Air Force
Reserve, a senior Pentagon official of the Office of
Military Commissions, which runs the war crimes system,
have no further role in the first prosecution, scheduled
for trial this month.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/us/10gitmo.html?ref=us

[PSPS]

1. This may delay the premiere episode of bush's election season special beyond its "best by" date

If there's a negative political consequence because of this, bush will probably have this judge whacked. Or, instead, the prisoners could be "shot while trying to escape."

[Supersedeas]

2. objectivity? -- was that why he was sent?