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| Judge orders mental tests for Cole bombing suspect |
| 2013-02-05 |
| The military tribunal case stemming from the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole bogged down on Monday when prosecutors requested a mental health evaluation of the defendant, citing defense lawyers’ repeated assertions that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress because of torture by the CIA. The judge, Col. James L. Pohl, granted the request to have a medical board examine the defendant, a Saudi national named Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, to determine whether he is mentally incompetent to assist in his own defense. The decision means that most of the pretrial motions that had been scheduled for argument this week will be delayed for at least a month. “We will not proceed until said examination is completed,” Colonel Pohl said, and later added, “It appears we are not going to make too much progress this week.” The request was unusual because normally defense lawyers raise questions about whether a client is mentally competent to stand trial. But prosecutors asked for the review because they want an official pronouncement that Nashiri is mentally capable of participating in his own case in order to decrease the risk of a successful appeal. Defense lawyers, who aim to establish that Nashiri was tortured in order to argue that he should be spared execution if convicted, did not oppose the request, but argued about its details. They urged Colonel Pohl to hear from Vincent Iacopino, a torture victims specialist with Physicians for Human Rights, to ensure that the review did not “re-traumatize” their client, and the judge agreed to hear his testimony later this week. Colonel Pohl also ordered the government to allow a medical consultant for the defense, Sondra Crosby, to conduct a physical examination of Nashiri, unshackled and alone, but filmed by a surveillance camera without audio and with guards outside the door. The military had demanded that Nashiri either be shackled or that three guards be in the room when his body was examined for physical signs of torture. The hearing on Monday was Nashiri's first public appearance since October. He wore white clothing and listened quietly to a translation of the proceedings through earphones, sometimes stroking his chin and swiveling his chair back and forth. A feed from the high-security courtroom at Gitmo, was transmitted to several locations inside the United States, including Fort Meade. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 A feed from the high-security courtroom at Gitmo, was transmitted to several locations inside the United States, including Fort Meade, Brand new technology, didn't even exist before 9/12/2012. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-02-05 06:45 |
| #2 The military tribunal case stemming from the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole bogged down on Monday ... 2013-2000=> this is from the Onion, right? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2013-02-05 05:04 |
| #1 Hey isn't Islam a mental health condition in the DSM-V yet? |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2013-02-05 03:16 |