So Much For The Right To A Fair Trial
Libby's Bid for Classified Documents Opposed
The principles of having a fair trial and the right to confront one's accusers are at risk. The reason the Bush administration does not want to release the documents has to be more than national security. If there are legitimate national security concerns, then let the US Attorney, the Defense Council and the Judge review the matters "in camera" (in the judges chambers) to decide relevance, the degree of the national security interest, and how to proceed after the review. The actions that can be taken thereafter could be one (or any combination) of the following:
1. The judge can order that the documents be admitted as evidence.
2. The judge can order the documents be culled of all but the most pertinent evidence be culled from the documents and the remainder admitted into evidence.
3. The judge can determine that the evidence is exculpatory and if the government does not want to expose it to scrutiny, then dismiss the case. (But if the documents point to wrongdoing by others then they should be charged and brought to justice.)
4. The judge can determine that the documents bear no relevance and dismiss the motion to admit the documents.
5. The judge can temporarily transfer the case to a higher court where greater security can be put into effect and the evidence reviewed.
But in any case, Libby has the indisputable right to access potentially exculpatory evidence and present it as evidence in his trial. While I suspect that Libby is involved in some manner, no one at that level acts without being ordered to do so. We should be pursuing all of those that are involved in any wrongdoing.
"A former White House aide's wide-ranging demand for classified intelligence documents to aid his defense in the CIA leak case would sabotage the case if granted, the prosecutor is arguing. Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald suggested that lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were trying to torpedo the government's case by pressing for the documents, including nearly a year's worth of the President's Daily Brief, a summary of international intelligence and threats to the United States that the Bush administration has fiercely guarded in the past."
The principles of having a fair trial and the right to confront one's accusers are at risk. The reason the Bush administration does not want to release the documents has to be more than national security. If there are legitimate national security concerns, then let the US Attorney, the Defense Council and the Judge review the matters "in camera" (in the judges chambers) to decide relevance, the degree of the national security interest, and how to proceed after the review. The actions that can be taken thereafter could be one (or any combination) of the following:
1. The judge can order that the documents be admitted as evidence.
2. The judge can order the documents be culled of all but the most pertinent evidence be culled from the documents and the remainder admitted into evidence.
3. The judge can determine that the evidence is exculpatory and if the government does not want to expose it to scrutiny, then dismiss the case. (But if the documents point to wrongdoing by others then they should be charged and brought to justice.)
4. The judge can determine that the documents bear no relevance and dismiss the motion to admit the documents.
5. The judge can temporarily transfer the case to a higher court where greater security can be put into effect and the evidence reviewed.
But in any case, Libby has the indisputable right to access potentially exculpatory evidence and present it as evidence in his trial. While I suspect that Libby is involved in some manner, no one at that level acts without being ordered to do so. We should be pursuing all of those that are involved in any wrongdoing.
posted by Jim Downey at 12:39 PM
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