8/22 Motions Session #1: Dislike of "Piecemeal Litigation"

Judge Pohl re-convenes the military commission, and tallies the show-ups and no-shows.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is in the house, as is Ammar al-Baluchi; their three co-accused are not.

That means a chat, as per usual, between prosecutor Robert Swann and our customary JTF witness, LCDR George Massucco, regarding presence.  The latter testifies that the three absentees were advised of, and yet voluntarily and knowingly waived, their rights to attend the day’s fun.  (The waiver group includes Bin Attash, who is reportedly not back at the detention facility but once more nearby, in the court building’s holding area.)  Apparently, one or more of the missing men may join later today, after lunch---but so far, it’s two of five guys only, inside the ELC courtroom.  The court finds the three others to be absent pursuant to a lawful waiver.

Then there’s a little more keeping of house, to lay out the court’s agenda for the remaining two days’ proceedings.  In particular, court and defense counsel discuss a filed-last-Friday, emergency defense motion regarding information technology matters, and the possibility of video conferencing in a few relevant witnesses on Friday.  But the Chief Prosecutor doubts the technical feasibility of a video conference, given the short notice; perhaps sensing a breakdown in the docket, the military judge expresses a distaste for what he calls “piecemeal litigation”---though it is unclear which of the upcoming motions, today’s or tomorrow’s or the next day’s, will give involve such litigation.  Then come a few lawyers more: among others, James Connell III puts in two cents on his client’s behalf, regarding the court’s review of summaries of classified evidence; there’s also some lingering uncertainty about precisely when (this session or the next) the parties will debate the protective order’s compatibility with the Convention Against Torture.  The court chides the parties for seeking argument on undocketed briefs, and, relatedly, for not being prepared to argue docketed ones.

But eventually, some clarity emerges from the muck---and then we're off, once more, to the storied realm of ... the rules for privileged written communications between accused and their counsel.