One More Small Adjustment to the Schedule in the 9/11 Case

Judge James Pohl has tweaked the calendar in United States v. Mohammed a bit.  Earlier, the court had pushed back an upcoming August session, in light of Ramadan; that postponement left in place a separate hearing, which had been set for September 8.    The commission changed this back-to-back schedule in an order entered yesterday, according to a statement just released by defense lawyer James Connell III.  (The court's order is not yet available to the public.)  Now the August hearing will occupy six days over two discrete periods: August 22-24, and August 26-28.  The added hearing days presumably will account for the September session, which the court has cancelled.   During the August hearing, the commission will take up, among other things, two motions bearing on "presumptive classification" - the requirement that defense counsel treat all statements by the accused as presumptively classified, pending the completion of a classification review.  The government's proposed protective order seeks to impose this regime in the 9/11 case, in keeping with protective orders entered in earlier commission cases; the defense has filed its own motion to "end presumptive classification."