UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
______________________________
MOHAMMED AL-ADAHI, et al., :
:
Petitioners, :
:
v. : Civil Action No. 05-280 (GK)
:
BARACK H. OBAMA, et al., :
:
Respondents. :
_____________________________ :
ORDER
Upon consideration of the fact that a Pre-trial Conference is
scheduled in this case for Petitioner Bawazir on November 16, 2009,
it is hereby
ORDERED, that, in advance of that Conference, by November 12,
2009, at 4:00 p.m., parties shall submit their statements of the
main issues in dispute; and it is further
ORDERED, that by November 12, 2009, at 4:00 p.m., parties
shall 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 November 12,
2009, may be excluded from consideration by the Court. The two
exceptions to the November 12, 2009, deadline shall be 1) documents
offered solely for the rebuttal of arguments made at the Merits
Hearing that could not reasonably have been anticipated prior to
November 12, 2009, and 2) exculpatory information, as to which the
Government has a continuing obligation to disclose to Petitioner;
and it is further
ORDERED, that Petitioner’s counsel shall notify the Court on
or before November 12, 2009, as to whether Petitioner wants to
listen to the unclassified opening statements at the Merits
Hearing; and it is further
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 unclassified opening statements, the
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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 Petitioners’
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 to make a rebuttal
closing argument.
/s/
October 7, 2009 Gladys Kessler
United States District Judge
Copies to: Attorneys of Record via ECF
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