User:Geo Swan/Alaric A. Piette

Alaric Piette is an officer in the United States Navy. He is a former Navy SEAL, who went on to earn a law degree and become a military lawyer. When he was appointed a defense counsel for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in his Guantanamo Military Commission his lack of experience triggered comment. Multiple civilian lawyers volunteered to help defend Al Nashiri, but they all felt they had to resign, when they learned that clandestine listening devices had been used to eavesdrop on their privileged conversations with Al Nashiri. Their resignations left Piette as the Al Nashiri's sole counsel.

Since Al Nashiri might face the death penalty if he were convicted, at least one of his lawyers was supposed to be a "learned counsel" - a lawyer with special qualifications for death penalty cases. Piette filed a request for the pre-trial hearings be paused until another learned counsel could be found. The judge dismissed the request, until Emily Olson-Gault, the director of the American Bar Association testified. She assured the judge that a learned counsel was indeed necessary for even pre-trial hearings in a death penalty case.