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<h1><b>Ex-Prosecutor at Gitmo to Aid
Defense</b></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwTQkl5OMC2bd1ydFEoEwau_jaHgD8UUVTMG0" eudora="autourl">
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hwTQkl5OMC2bd1ydFEoEwau_jaHgD8UUVTMG0<br>
<br>
</a>By BEN FOX – 1 hour ago <br><br>
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) In a stunning turnaround, the former chief
military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay said Thursday he would be a defense
witness for the driver of Osama bin Laden.<br><br>
Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who resigned in October over alleged
political interference in the U.S. military tribunals, told The
Associated Press he will appear at a hearing for Salim Ahmed
Hamdan.<br><br>
"I expect to be called as a witness ... I'm more than happy to
testify," Davis said in a telephone interview from Washington. He
called it "an opportunity to tell the truth."<br><br>
At the April pretrial hearing inside the U.S. military base in southeast
Cuba, Hamdan's defense team plans to argue that alleged political
interference cited by Davis violates the Military Commissions Act,
Hamdan's military lawyer, Navy Lt. Brian Mizer, told the AP.<br><br>
Davis alleges, among other things, that Pentagon general counsel William
Haynes said in August 2005 that any acquittals of terrorism suspects at
Guantanamo would make the United States look bad, calling into question
the fairness of the proceedings.<br><br>
"He said 'We can't have acquittals, we've got to have
convictions,'" Davis recalled.<br><br>
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, denied that Haynes made
such a comment. Gordon also denied the former prosecutor's allegations of
political interference, which he has repeated in newspaper opinion
columns and in interviews in recent months.<br><br>
If the judge rejects the motion to dismiss, Mizer said the defense will
seek to remove two top officials in the military commissions system
legal adviser Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann and Convening
Authority Susan Crawford from Hamdan's case. This would likely result
in further delays to a trial that has been stalled by legal
challenges.<br><br>
It is not clear whether the Pentagon which defends the commission
system as fair will allow Davis to testify. In December, two months
after he resigned as the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo war crimes
tribunals, the Defense Department barred Davis from appearing before a
Senate Judiciary subcommittee.<br><br>
The U.S. holds about 275 men at Guantanamo and plans to prosecute about
80 before military commissions. The Pentagon this month charged six
detainees with murder and war crimes for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror
attacks and said they could be executed if convicted.<br><br>
Hamdan faces up to life in prison if the tribunal convicts him of
conspiracy and supporting terrorism. His lawyers admit he was a driver
for bin Laden, but say he had no significant role in planning or carrying
out attacks against the U.S.<br><br>
Davis, now head of the Air Force judiciary, said he believes "there
are some very bad men at Guantanamo and some of them deserve the death
penalty." But he says civilian political appointees have improperly
interfered with the work of military prosecutors.<br><br>
"I think the rules are fair," he said. "I think the
problem is having political appointees injected into the system. They are
looking for a political outcome, not justice."<br><br>
He alleges, for example, that senior officials pushed for a plea bargain
in March 2007 for Australian David Hicks, allowing him to serve a
nine-month sentence in his homeland for aiding the Taliban.<br><br>
Davis said the sentence was too lenient and was orchestrated to help
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was under criticism
domestically for his support of President Bush and U.S.
policies.<br><br>
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