Many Say He’s the Least Qualified Lawyer Ever to Lead a Guantánamo Case. He Agrees.<br />I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing, but I don’t think I really had a choice." The dispute<br />that prompted the resignations of the rest of Lieutenant Piette’s team started this summer when the defense learned that conversations with their client — conversations that are typically strictly confidential — were likely being monitored by the government.<br />The prosecution declined requests for an interview,<br />but in court, an Air Force major on the team denounced Lieutenant Piette’s objections, calling them "shameless, disingenuous and conceited." The same day, though, Abbe Smith, a law professor at Georgetown who taught Lieutenant Piette criminal defense, put his photo up in her ethics class as an example of a "courageous and ethical representation." "He’s pretty gutsy.<br />roceedings continuing without learned counsel." Though he wanted to argue at length, challenging the very idea<br />that evidence could be admitted without a jury present, he said he knew it would be unethical to even try, and could sink the case. that Defense takes no position other than to object to these p<br />5, 2018<br />GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — For years, an expert legal team defended one of the most high-profile<br />accused terrorists in a death penalty case at the military tribunals here.<br />But after Mr. Kammen left, Judge Spath ruled that learned counsel were required only "to the extent practicable,"<br />and pushed forward with pretrial hearings with just the lieutenant at the helm.<br />Kammen said that I don’t know that all lawyers would do that.
