Stuart Couch

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Couch is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Marine Corps.cite news
url=http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117529704337355155-lMyQjAxMDE3NzM1MTIzOTE3Wj.html
publisher=Wall Street Journal
date=March 31, 2007
title=The Conscience of the Colonel
author=Jess Bravin
accessdate=2007-04-11] cite web
url=http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/wf040107.htm
publisher=mirror of the Wall Street Journal article
date=March 31, 2007
title=The Conscience of the Colonel
author=Jess Bravin
accessdate=April 11
accessyear=2007] cite news
url=http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/opinion/17042823.htm
date= April 7, 2007
publisher=Monterey Herald
title=Three tales of Gitmo 'taint'
accessdate=2007-04-11]

Reaction to the attacks of September 11, 2001

Couch had a friend, from his Marine Corps service, Michael Horrocks, who was a co-pilot of one of the jets hijacked on September 11, 2001.cite news
publisher=The Nation
url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/scheer
date=April 4, 2007
title=Leave Your Morals at the Border
author=Robert Scheer
accessdate=2007-04-11] Couch is reported to have returned to service, following the attacks, so he could"get a crack at the guys who attacked the United States."

ervice as a prosecutor at the Guantanamo Military Commissions

Couch was assigned to serve as one of the prosecutors of Mohamedou Ould Slahi.He is reported to have called Slahi a captive "with blood on his hands."cite news
url=http://harpers.org/archive/2007/04/horton-colonel-with-a-conscience
title=Colonel with a Conscience
author=Scott Horton
publisher=Harpers
date=April 2] 2007
accessdate=2007-04-11]

Couch withdrew from Slahi's procecution team, although he believed Slahi was guilty, because he believed he was asked to use evidence that had been obtained through means of interrogation that violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, U.S. laws, and the Unites States' treaty obligations.

On July 19, 2007 the "Globe and Mail"quoted an email from Couch:quotation|"I would not characterize my decision re: Slahi as 'comfortable' but in retrospect would still make the same decision,"cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070717.wxslahi17/BNStory/International/home
title=Tortuous tale of Guantanamo captive: A declassified transcript reveals how a former Montreal resident crossed four continents and the paths of key al-Qaeda personalities
author=Colin Freeze
publisher=Globe and Mail
date=July 17, 2007
accessdate=2007-07-20]

Testimony before Congress

Couch was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on ThursdayNovember 8, 2007.cite news
url=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/11/08/upi_newstrack_topnews/6673/
title=U.S. Marine lawyer barred from testifying
publisher=United Press International
date=November 8, 2007
accessdate=2007-11-08] cite news
url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5285468.html
title=Waterboarding is torture, ex-Navy interrogator says
publisher=Houston Chronicle
author=Laurie Kellman
date=November 8, 2007
accessdate=2007-11-08] cite news
url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/national/main3473795.shtml
title=House Panel Gets Earful On Waterboarding: In Spite Of Bickering In D.C., Experts Say Interrogation Method Is Torture, Must Never Be Used
publisher=CBS News
date=November 8, 2007
accessdate=2007-11-08] An e-mail from the Department of Defense's General Counsel, William J. Haynes, II, informed him on November 7, 2007: quotation|"...as a sitting judge and former prosecutor, it is improper for you to testify about matters still pending in the military court system, and you are not to appear before the committee to testify tomorrow."

Congressional Representative Jerrold Nadler criticized the Bush Presidency for stonewalling by withholding Couch's testimony. quotation|"I find it outrageous that the administration has again chosen to stonewall an investigation into some very serious charges,"

ee also

*Robert Preston (military lawyer)
*Carrie Wolf
*John Carr (military lawyer)
*Stephen Abraham

References