Guantanamo/Detainees
Military Judge Delays Trial for Bin Laden Driver
Posted May 19, 2008, 05:44 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A military judge has delayed the trial of the former driver for Osama bin Laden.
The judge, Capt. Keith Allred, postponed the trial of Salim Hamdan until July 21 to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to rule in a case involving Guantanamo Bay detainees, the New York Times reports.
The Supreme Court is considering whether the detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their confinement through federal habeas actions, and if so, whether the military commissions created to hear the cases are an adequate substitute. A Supreme Court ruling in the case, Boumediene v. Bush, is expected by June 30, the Associated Press reports.
Allred wrote that a delayed trial in Hamdan’s case “permits all the parties to have the benefit of a decision that may well change the tenor or conduct of the trial, and avoids the potential embarrassment, waste of resources, and prejudice to the accused that would accompany an adverse decision mid-trial, or need to retry the case.”
In a separate ruling, Allred ordered a psychiatric examination to determine whether Hamdan is competent to stand trial.
Hamdan has said the military commission process is a sham and he will boycott his trial.
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