Should the 9/11 Defendants Be Tried Separately?
So asks Judge James Pohl, in an order he reportedly issued yesterday in United States v.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
So asks Judge James Pohl, in an order he reportedly issued yesterday in United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et al. A statement from James Connell, a lawyer for 9/11 defendant Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, describes the order in this way:
The court's order is still undergoing classification review and not yet available. But in the meantime, suffice it to say that Judge Pohl has concerns about trying the five men together.Yesterday afternoon, the Guantanamo Bay military commission issued an unusual order for the prosecution to show cause why defendants in the 9/11 case should not be severed. The commissions order noted the difficulties in scheduling five defendants and their defense teams as well as the possible conflicts between different defense strategies. The order did not specify how many separate trials the commission was considering.
The commission gave the prosecution until May 24 to present reasons why the trial should not be severed.
Wells C. Bennett was Managing Editor of Lawfare and a Fellow in National Security Law at the Brookings Institution. Before coming to Brookings, he was an Associate at Arnold & Porter LLP.
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