Opinion
Civil Action No. 08-1923 (GK).
June 2, 2010
ORDER
A Status Conference was held in this case on June 2, 2010 for Petitioner Al-Ansi, part of which was closed to the public due to the discussion of classified information. Upon consideration of the representations of the parties, and the entire record herein, it is hereby
ORDERED, that the Government shall file a certification with the Court on or before September 30, 2010, stating that it has completed its review of all reasonably available information and disclosed all exculpatory evidence pursuant to the Case Management Order and subsequent discovery Orders; and it is further
ORDERED, that Motions for Judgment on the Record shall be submitted by October 28, 2010. The Oppositions are due by November 24, 2010. Petitioner may include any additional exculpatory materials not listed in the Traverse in the briefings without amending the Traverse; and it is further ORDERED, that a Pretrial Conference will take place in Chambers on December 2, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. In advance of that Conference, by November 24, 2010 at 5:00 p.m., parties shall submit their statements of the main issues in dispute; and it is further
ORDERED, that by December 1, 2010, parties shall submit their exhibit lists and exhibits. Parties should file with the Court a numbered list of Joint Exhibits, along with a bound and tabbed copy of those exhibits. They will be referred to as JE #__. This set of exhibits should include evidence that both parties expect will be referenced at the Merits Hearing.
In addition to this universe of key exhibits, each party shall submit a numbered list of those documents that will or might be referenced at the Hearing, along with a bound and tabbed copy of the documents. The Government's exhibits will be referred to as GE #__, and Petitioner's as PE #__. Should parties need to add exhibits after the Pre-Trial Conference, they must be submitted as part of the GE or PE universe, and not as a supplement to the Joint Exhibits.
The parties are on notice that any evidence that has not been identified in the above exhibit books on or before December 1, 2010, may be excluded from consideration by the Court. The two exceptions to the December 1, 2010 deadline shall be 1) documents offered solely for the rebuttal of arguments made at the Merits Hearing that could not reasonably have been anticipated, and 2) exculpatory information, as to which the Government has a continuing obligation to disclose to Petitioner; and it is further
ORDERED, that by November 8, 2010, Petitioner's counsel shall file a praecipe indicating whether or not the Petitioner wishes to listen to the unclassified portions of the Merits Hearing, and whether Petitioner will or will not testify at the Hearing; and it is further
ORDERED, that a Merits Hearing will be held December 6-10 and 13-17, 2010. ; and it is further
Counsel was advised at the Status Conference to also set aside January 4-7 and 10-14, 2011, as an alternative schedule for the Merits Hearing.
ORDERED, that the Merits Hearing shall proceed as follows:
(1) The parties shall begin with unclassified opening statements, with the Government presenting its unclassified opening statement first. The parties shall confer prior to the first day of the Hearing to determine whether there are any disagreements as to what information may be considered unclassified, and to resolve the same. If Petitioner chooses to listen to the unclassified opening statements, Petitioner shall be responsible for translators and the Government shall be responsible for all other logistical arrangements. Following the unclassified opening statements, the parties shall present classified opening statements, with the Government presenting its classified opening statement first.
(2) The Court shall require an issue-by-issue evidentiary presentation. Accordingly, the Government shall make a presentation on a contested issue relevant to Petitioner's detention. Petitioner shall then respond to the Government's presentation through a presentation of evidence and argument. Finally, the Government may respond to Petitioner's presentation in rebuttal. The Court expects that counsel for Petitioner and the Government will use electronic presentation devices to present their documentary evidence to the Court. The parties should contact John Cramer, Office of Information Technology, to discuss equipment available to the parties.
(3) The parties shall present classified closing statements. The Government shall present its closing argument first, followed by Petitioner. The Government shall be allowed a brief rebuttal closing argument.