Judge Boyle
U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle presided. The media cast doubt on Judge Boyle’s impartiality because of a
well publicized and lengthy fight in which he was solidly in the middle. His Bush administration nomination for the
Federal Appeals Court was turned down constantly over a decade by a Democratic Congress. The reasons given
described a jurist with an agenda.
Whether this assessment was accurate or not, Judge Boyle’s decisions during the trial certainly colored aspects of
the trial’s gravity, including his decision not to introduce discussions of the definition of torture and disallowing the
defense to subpoena George Tenet, J, Cofer Black and John Yoo.
The judge had disallowed for the release of any images of Abdul Wali, (other than a small mug shot) i.e. a virtual black-out of photographs of the victim. The media filed a legal action to force the court to reconsider. |