Al Nashiri

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday issued its opinion in In Re: Abd al-Rahim Muhammed al-Nashiri. The court held that Col. Vance Spath, the judge in the al-Nashiri case, should have been disqualified from his position while seeking a job as an immigration judge with the U.S. Department of Justice. The court vacated every order Spath has issued since Nov. 2015 as well as related rulings by the Court of Military Commissions Review.

Following the events of Nov. 13 summarized in the last post in this series, the military commission in United States v. al-Nashiri reconvened on Tuesday, Nov.

Pretrial activities in United States v. al-Nashiri shifted focus Nov. 8 and 10, as the prosecution began presenting witnesses and physical evidence from the USS Cole for preadmission by presiding judge Col. Vance Spath. Judge Advocate General Lt. Alaric Piette represented al-Nashiri in the courtroom and continued to assert that the defense cannot proceed without death penalty counsel.

Continuing with pretrial proceedings in United States v. al-Nashiri—which relates to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole—military judge Col. Vance Spath called the commission to order Nov. 3 at 9:00 am. Defendant Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and his military judge advocate general, Navy Lt. Alaric Piette, were present for the defense.