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Gentlemen,
I'm pleased to report that on Monday, Major Kaza received orders that make
him available to orally argue the Wuterich case for the defense. Neal, I
know that you wanted me to do the oral argument and I was planning to do so if
we couldn't get Maj Kaza into a status that would allow him to make the argument
in compliance with Article 70 and other applicable statutes. But in light
of Maj Kaza's orders, that concern has been resolved.
There is no doubt in my mind that Maj Kaza will make a better oral argument
than I could. I honestly don't believe I could master both the record and
the law before the oral argument next week. But Maj Kaza is already the
master of the law in this area, having argued the Hutchins case. And, not
insignificantly, Maj Kaza prevailed on the issue of the permissibility of
terminating representation in Hutchins, losing only on the prejudice
issue. Given the Wuterich case's current procedural posture, convincing
CAAF that there have been two erroneous terminations of representation is the
most important task for the defense on the writ appeal. Maj Kaza is
uniquely well qualified to make that argument.
As soon as Mr. DeCicco indicated that CAAF would likely hear oral argument
on the Wuterich writ appeal, I thought Maj Kaza was the best choice to make the
argument. From my conversations with him, I know Maj Sip agrees. I'm
now more confident than ever that Maj Kaza is the right choice. I have two
court filings that I must make this week. One is due on Tuesday, which I'm
still working on a bit after 0100 this evening. As if that's not enough,
my civilian office is moving from Bolling AFB to Andrews AFB next Tuesday,
the day before the Wuterich argument, so I need to remove everything I have from
my office by COB Monday. Those commitments would make it even harder for
me to prepare to make an effective argument in the Wuterich case next
Wednesday. But, again, even without those concerns, I have no question
that Maj Kaza would give a far better oral argument than would I.
The next issue is who should sit at the counsel table with Maj Kaza.
While Maj Sip and I haven't discussed this topic, I suggest that Neal sit
with Maj Kaza. It's quite likely that questions will arise concerning
details from the proceedings thus far. Neal would be best placed to help
Maj Kaza answer such questions.
Gentlemen, please let me know if you ave any questions or if you would like
to discuss further. I should be in the office about 0800 on Tuesday --
202-767-8885.
Semper Fi,
DHS |