Michael Chapman is an American lawyer, and former senior officer in the United States Army's Judge Advocate General corps, who was appointed the legal adviser to the Office of Military Commissions, in Guantanamo on September 19, 2008. [1] According to the official press release that announced his appointment his previous appointments included being:
Chapman sat on the appeal of William J. Kreutzer Jr.'s murder conviction while serving on the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. [2] Sergeant Kreutzer had been convicted of opening fire on his comrades at Fort Bragg, killing one, and injuring seventeen. Two of the officers who have presided over Omar Khadr's Guantanamo military commissions, Peter Brownback and Patrick Parrish, presided over Kreutzer's court-martial.
The Office of Military Commissions manages the Guantanamo military commissions, appointing the officers who judge, prosecute and defend the captives who are charged, as well as authorizing the final approval of those charges. The Office is headed by a civilian official called the "Appointing Authority", currently Susan J. Crawford. The Appointing Authority's deputy is called the Advisor to the appointing authority. In April 2005 Chapman was appointed deputy legal advisor, number three in the hierarchy. [1]
In July 2007 a new legal advisor was appointed, Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann. Hartmann and former Chief Prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis had an acrimonious relationship. [3] Davis had publicly aired his concerns that Hartmann had become too involved in managing the prosecution, including picking which captives should be prosecuted. Davis felt picking the captives to be charged was his job, and pointed out that Hartmann's role required him to be impartial, because he was also supposed to advise the Appointing Authority about the functioning of the Defense team.
While DoD authorities were conducting their inquiry into Morris's concerns Crawford directed that both Hartmann, and Chapman, his deputy, were temporarily removed from their responsibilities. A more junior official Ron White, was to take on the responsibilities of both men. [3]
When Chapman's was appointed to replace his superior, Thomas W. Hartmann, Hartmann was transferred to the position of director of operations, planning and development for the military commissions. [4] According to the Washington Post Morris Davis was critical of Hartmann and Chapman's new appointments, and noted:
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Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda. Qosi was held from January 2002 in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 54.
Omar Ahmed Said Khadr is a Canadian who, at the age of 15, was detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for ten years, during which he pleaded guilty to the murder of U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer and other charges. He later appealed his conviction, claiming that he falsely pleaded guilty so that he could return to Canada where he remained in custody for three additional years. Khadr sued the Canadian government for infringing his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; this lawsuit was settled in 2017 with a CA$10.5 million payment and an apology by the federal government.
Salim Ahmed Salim Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver and said he needed the money.
Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway is an American military lawyer who has served as a legal advisor to the Office of Military Commissions. Thomas Hemingway was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in November 1962 after earning his undergraduate degree at Willamette University. Upon graduation, he took an educational delay and earned his doctor of jurisprudence in 1965 at Willamette University College of Law. Hemingway entered active service in November 1965. He has also been an associate professor of law at the United States Air Force Academy and a senior judge on the Air Force Court of Military Review. He is a current member of the state bar in Oregon and the District of Columbia, and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. He retired from active service in October 1996. General Hemingway was recalled to active service in August 2003 to fill the position as Legal Adviser to the Convening Authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions, Washington, D.C. General. He was replaced by Thomas W. Hartmann in July 2007.
Peter E. Brownback III is a retired military officer and lawyer. He was appointed in 2004 by general John D. Altenburg as a Presiding Officer on the Guantanamo military commissions. The Washington Post reported: "...that Brownback and Altenburg have known each other since 1977, that Brownback's wife worked for Altenburg, and that Altenburg hosted Brownback's retirement party in 1999."
Morris Durham "Moe" Davis is an American retired U.S. Air Force colonel, attorney, educator, politician, and former administrative law judge.
William "Bill" C. Kuebler was an American lawyer and a Commander in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General, International and Operational Law Division. Kuebler was previously assigned to the Office of Military Commissions. Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, to overturn the then current version of the Guantanamo military commissions on constitutional grounds, Kuebler was detailed to defend Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi. Al Sharbi had insisted on representing himself and Kuebler refused superior orders to act as his lawyer.
Susan Jean Crawford is an American lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D. Altenburg.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that rulings from the Guantanamo military commissions could be appealed to a Court of Military Commission Review, which would sit in Washington D.C.
Thomas W. Hartmann is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in Asia-Pacific Region. From 1991 to 1996 he was an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications. In 1996 he became senior counsel for mergers & acquisitions for SBC Communications closing multiple deals worth several billion dollars in U.S., Europe, and South America as well as negotiating a strategic partnering agreement with a global internet service provider. From 1998 onwards he was general counsel for SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy Inc. (2005–2007) in domestic and international settings. In July 2007 Brigadier General Hartmann was appointed the legal adviser to the convening authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. In September 2008, as a result of the expansion of the commission efforts that Hartmann had led, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England elevated Hartmann to become the director of operations, planning, and development for the commissions. Hartmann reported to Susan J. Crawford, a retired judge, who was the convening authority until March 2010.
Attorney Lawrence J. Morris is the chief of staff and counselor to the president at The Catholic University of America and a retired United States Army colonel.
Ralph Harold Kohlmann is an American lawyer and retired United States Marine Corps officer.
Patrick Parrish is an officer in the United States Army.
David Frakt is an American lawyer, law professor, and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.
John Rolph is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General corps.
The Director of Operations, Planning and Development for Military Commissions serves as the point of contact between the Office of Military Commissions and other United States military and civilian agencies. The position was created on 19 September 2008.
Brian L. Mizer is a United States Navy JAG officer. He is from the State of Nebraska. He attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, for his undergraduate degree and Case Western Reserve University for his Juris Doctor.
Colonel Peter Masciola served as the Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions in 2008 and 2009. He was appointed in the fall of 2008. Masciola was President of the Judge Advocate Association in 2001–2002.
The Military Commissions Act of 2009, which amended the Military Commissions Act of 2006, was passed to address concerns by the United States Supreme Court. In Boumediene v. Bush (2008) the court had ruled that section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was unconstitutional in suspending the right of detainees to habeas corpus. The court ruled that detainees had the right to access US federal courts to challenge their detentions.
Sufyian Ibn Muhammad Barhoumi is an Algerian man who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on July 28, 1973, in Algiers, Algeria.
Chapman retired from the military as a colonel in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps after nearly 30 years of active duty service. He joined the Office of Military Commissions in April 2005 as the deputy legal advisor and staff director. Prior to working at OMC, Chapman was the senior judge for the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals. Some highlights from his career include service as the Army's Staff Judge Advocate for the Military District of Washington, deputy commandant and director of academics at the Army's JAG school in Charlottesville, Va., and a deployment as a senior military defense counsel during Operation Desert Storm.
On Friday, September 21, 2007, I met with Colonel Davis in my office at his request. Colonel Wendy Kelly was also present. At that meeting Colonel Davis informed me of the details of an amendment to his complaint against Brigadier General Hartmann. Since the matter had not yet been resolved, I did not comment. Colonel Davis also informed me that his office would not swear charges in any future cases until the matter was resolved. I advised him that I had removed BGen Hartmann and Mr. Michael Chapman (Office of Military Commissions StaffDirector, who also served as Deputy Legal Advisor) from involvement in providing legal advice to me until the matters that Colonel Davis raised were resolved; I intended to ask the General Counsel to appoint Mr. Ron White, also on the staff, to serve in that capacity in the meantime. Thus, and especially since the Court of Military Commission Review had already ruled in favor of the government on the issue of jurisdiction in United States v. Khadr, I advised Colonel Davis that there was no reason for his office not to charge cases if those cases were prepared.