Chief Gitmo Prosecutor Steps Down

Chain-of-command issue leads to resignation at controversial military jail

By John Barley, Newser User

Posted Oct 5, 2007 7:50 PM CDT

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Chief Gitmo Prosecutor Steps Down — In this Dec. 5, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a U.S. Dept of Defense official, a detainee sits alone inside a fenced area during his daily outside period, at Camp 5 maximum security detention prison, Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo... (Associated Press)

The US military’s lead prosecutor in trials of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay has resigned, the Pentagon announced today. Air Force Col. Davis sought a new post after the Pentagon rejected his complaint that an officer supervising his work did not have the authority to do so. “Clearly, there was a disagreement with respect to roles and authorities,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Davis stepped down following the finding of a Pentagon-directed team of military experts who concluded that it was proper for Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, legal adviser to the body that will run the trials, to maintain oversight. The trials were suspended in June, Reuters notes, when military judges dismissed charges against the two detainees who had been charged; the charges were reinstated last month. (More military stories.)

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