Defense Crumbles in Charles Graner Prisoner Abuse Trial
Financial Times reports on Charles Graner's defense and says it crumbled today when the Court wouldn't allow the jury to hear from his "expert." According to other foreign news accounts of the trial , Thomas Archambault, a "self-styled prisoner restraint expert" told the judge outside the presence of the jury that Graner used "good foresight" and that the stacking of prisoners was a "creative technique."
A witness at the trial of the alleged Abu Ghraib prison abuse ringleader hailed the stacking up of naked detainees as "a creative technique" and said he too would have photographed it. The strongest testimony in favor of the military policeman was not presented before the jury as the judge ruled after hearing it that it was not relevant.
Thomas Archambault, a self-styled prisoner restraint expert, said Graner, had "used good foresight" in the way he dealt with the detainees. He said piling the naked prisoners on top of each other was "a very creative technique," but admitted it did not appear in any training manual. In questioning the witness, defense lawyer Guy Womack referred to the human stack as "a cheerleader pyramid."
Archambault, who runs a consultancy, said that given the circumstances, he saw nothing wrong with the fact soldiers took pictures of the naked prisoners. "Based on the stress these soldiers had gone through, a filthy stinking environment and the fact these prisoners killed American soldiers, I think I would have done the same thing," the former police officer said.
According to the Financial Times article, the testimony was rejected because Mr Archambault "admitted that he knew of no manual on detention methods that included using human pyramids>"
Another prison officer told the court that when military intelligence officers told the guards to give "special treatment" to the detainees, they were referring only to "cold showers" and "shouting at them."
I would not be surprised if military intelligence officers did play a role in authorizing the torture. That doesn't save Graner. He has to show that even if such orders were given, he reasonably believed they were lawful. That's a stretch, to put it mildly.
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