* United States v. Ghailani (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 6, 2010)
Attached is a short memo from Judge Kaplan noting that he has decided to exclude a key government witness from testifying. Recall that the government apparently knew of the witness as a result of interrogation of Ghailani, and that the government conceded for the sake of argument that this interrogation was coercive—thus raising the taint question that resulted in exclusion today. If I recall correctly, there was talk earlier in the week that the government would seek interlocutory review from the Second Circuit in the event of this outcome, so stay tuned.
I’ve posted more extended thoughts on the ruling here. Note, though, that we do not yet have the full opinion.
GhailaniMemo.pdf
By Robert M. Chesney
Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.
View all of Robert M. Chesney's posts.
