By Richard A. Serrano
Washington Bureau
FT. MEADE, Md. — Lawyers for five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators asked a judge Tuesday to allow them to spend 48 hours every six months inside the Guantanamo Bay prison to document conditions to persuade a jury not to recommend the death penalty if their clients are convicted of capital murder.
The highly unusual request came on the second day of weeklong pretrial hearings at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was challenged by military and government prosecutors who said they would permit just “one single visit,” control whom the lawyers talk to and what they see, and be in charge of the defense lawyers’ written notes, sketches and photographs of the prison.
Judge James L. Pohl, an Army colonel, said he would rule later. “It’s not my job to run a confinement facility,” he said. “It is my job to run a trial.”
The harsh conditions at the Guantanamo prison is one of several issues that the lawyers hope to use to win the sympathy of jurors and persuade them to spare the defendants from death if they are convicted. Other issues include conditions at secret “black site” locations overseas and the alleged use of torture after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Full story: Sept. 11 defendants’ lawyers request 48-hour prison visits