Air Force Colonel W. Shane Cohen
Colonel W. Shane Cohen, the military judge overseeing the trial of the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks and four other suspects, has decided that the death-penalty trial will begin on January 11, 2021.
The jury will comprise of military officers and selection is expected to last several months. 12 members and 4 alternates will be chosen.
Cohen is the third judge to oversee the case, which is playing out at Camp Justice at Guantanamo Bay. Prosecutors have been pushing since 2012 to get the trial rolling and Cohen is the first judge to actually set a date. He took over the handling of the case in June of 2019.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. The Five Suspects Were Arraigned in 2012 & The Next Several Months Will Involve Hearings Over What Evidence Will Be Allowed in Court
Judge Colonel W. Shane Cohen issued a 10-page scheduling order Thursday, giving prosecutors an October 10 deadline to provide materials for the case.
Colonel W. Shane Cohen is overseeing the trials of five people accused in the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans: alleged mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed; his nephew, Ammar al-Baluchi; deputies Walid bin Attash and Ramzi bin al-Shibh; and Mustafa al Hawsawi.
The five suspects were captured in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003. They all arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Their trial has been slated to begin in January of 2021. But Cohen will be overseeing a number of preliminary hearings before the trial can begin. The most pressing issue is about what evidence jury members will be allowed to see. Prosecutors have until October 1, 2019, to deliver discovery to the defense teams.
The lawyers also are in the process of determining how they will analyze whether the five suspects suffered brain damage while they were held at “black sites” between 2003 and 2006. As explained by the New York Times, the defense could argue against the death penalty if the defendants were found to have suffered permanent mental or physical damage as the result of harsh interrogation tactics.
Cohen has said before that he will not feel pressured to speed up the case. During a pretrial hearing in June, the questioning from the defense attorneys included whether he felt “inherent pressure… given outside criticisms of the length of this process.” Cohen answered “zero.”
He was also asked, “Does Judge Cohen understand that the parties will be arguing over whether Defendants have been tortured? Yes, but he has done zero independent study of the issue.”
2. Colonel Cohen Was Questioned By Lawyers For Potential Bias; Cohen Said He Felt Shock Over the 9/11 Attacks But Not Anger
Col. W. Shane Cohen is the third person since 2012 to preside over the slow-moving proceedings, which have been bogged down over how to handle what the U.S. did to the terrorist suspects from 2002 to 2006 in the C.I.A.’s secret network of black sites
Colonel W. Shane Cohen took over the handling of the challenging case in June of 2019. He was questioned by prosecutors and defense lawyers to determine whether he was biased during pretrial hearings the week of June 17, 2019.
Cohen told the lawyers that he had been “shocked” by the September 11, 2001 attacks. But he said he never felt anger, in part because he did not personally know anyone killed that day.
According to a memorandum filed by the Kirkland & Ellis law firm about those pre-trial hearings, Cohen explained that he had felt “no strong emotions at the time” other than “uncertainty.” On 9/11, he had been at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., which is a few miles from the Pentagon, attending a defense counsel orientation. He explained that he saw images of the World Trade Center during a break.
The New York Times reported that during this pretrial hearing, Cohen addressed the five defendants with politeness. He referred to them as “gentlemen” and the defense lawyers as “sir” and “ma’am.”
Cohen also admitted that during his years as a military lawyer, he had never overseen a death penalty case.
3. Colonel Cohen Is a Practicing Mormon
During those pretrial hearings the week of June 17, Colonel Cohen decided to talk about his religion. He was first asked about his views on Israel since certain opinions could indicate a bias against Islam in general.
Cohen responded that the state of Israel had been created before he was born and that he not harbor any strong feelings about it. He added that he does have Jewish relatives.
Unprompted, Cohen offered to the court that he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said he wished to clarify that he was a practicing Mormon because his name sounds Jewish. He reiterated that he felt “no ill will toward Islam.”
4. Colonel W. Shane Cohen Was Appointed as a Deputy Chief Circuit Military Judge in Virginia in 2018
Colonel W. Shane Cohen has been a career military lawyer and judge. His official biography from the Department of the Air Force shows that he received his first assignment in December of 1998 to serve as an attorney for the 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom.
Cohen’s assignments took him all over the world. He spent time as a defense counsel for the Air Force Legal Services Agency at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and then at the Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Cohen’s two most recent assignments brought him back near the nation’s capital. From June of 2016 through June of 2018, he served as the Chief of the Environmental Law and Litigation Division at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. He moved on from there to serve as the Deputy Chief Circuit Military Judge for the Eastern Circuit at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.
Cohen’s resume includes that he is “admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Utah and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.”
5. Cohen Has a Master of Laws Degree From George Washington University Law School
W. Shane Cohen attended Brigham Young University for his undergraduate education. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in Japanese language and literature.
Cohen remained at Brigham Young to study law. Cohen attended the J. Reuben Clark Law School and earned his law degree in 1998.
In 2005, Cohen was selected for a Master of Laws program at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. He obtained an LL.M. degree in Environmental Law in August of 2006.
A search of online records and social media accounts shows that Cohen is married with two adult children, a son and a daughter. His wife wrote on her Facebook page that she was originally from the city of Tottori in Japan.
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