Evidence on terror suspect barred

Allred had been asked by Hamdan's defense team to suppress numerous statements the defendant made under questioning after his capture near Kandahar, including two videotaped interrogations. The judge said he would allow the videos to be played for the commissioners when testimony gets underway later this week. But he agreed to exclude other statements made before Hamdan's May 2002 transfer from Afghanistan field prisons to the Guantanamo detention center for terrorism suspects.

Aside from withholding judgment on the May 2003 interrogation pending the defense review, the judge said interrogation results would be allowed into evidence only if the interrogators who conducted the sessions were available for cross-examination. Much of the evidence the government wanted to introduce was drawn from interrogations in which the notes and records of those involved were destroyed.

The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said he hadn't decided whether to appeal the ruling.

"We need to evaluate . . . to what extent it has an impact on our ability to fully portray his criminality in this case, but also what it might set out for future cases," Morris told the Associated Press.

Hamdan's trial is expected to take about three weeks. He has indicated at times that he may boycott the proceedings, and has made conflicting statements as to what degree he will allow his Navy lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, to represent him in his absence.

Hamdan testified during pretrial hearings last week that he was subjected to sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and sexual humiliation during interrogations at Guantanamo. Allred largely rejected motions to dismiss statements made during interrogations there, saying the techniques employed by detention officials could be "rationally related to good order and discipline."

Officers of the Joint Task Force that runs the prison and interrogation network at Guantanamo said Hamdan was deprived of "comfort items" such as personal hygiene products as punishment for violating camp rules.

Hamdan is the first of nearly 800 men brought to Guantanamo over the last 6 1/2 years to face trial in the first U.S.-administered war crimes cases since World War II. About 265 remain at the sprawling compound of maximum-security prisons, open-air cells and a barracks-like facility for a few dozen of the most cooperative prisoners. Most of the others have been repatriated.

War crimes charges have been sworn out against 21 Guantanamo prisoners over the last 18 months. Of those prisoners, 11 have been arraigned. All but two, Hamdan and Canadian Omar Khadr, have indicated they will refuse to attend their trials as a show of contempt for a process they say is inherently stacked against them.

Thirteen potential jurors were brought to Guantanamo over the weekend. During questioning, several indicated that they carried emotional scars from the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed or endangered friends and colleagues. The Pentagon was one of the targets.

The six jurors and one alternate were sworn in Monday. At least two potential jurors appeared to have been excluded because of their raw feelings associated with Sept. 11.

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carol.williams@latimes.com