NEW YORK — I know you get tired of hearing me say it. Sean Fitzpatrick is presumed innocent. But in case after case, we convict defendants like this one, based on facts fed to us by police and prosecution, before the case even begins.

It’s easier to presume guilt. To blame someone, anyone, when innocent people die. Besides a good witch-hunt is as good for the ratings as it is for a prosecutor come election time. But the loser is the Sixth Amendment. The right to a fair trial. Because how many of us called to sit on a criminal jury can honestly say we have no presumption of guilt — no assumption that the guy sitting next to those defense attorneys must have done something wrong or he wouldn’t be sitting there at all.

If you think you can presume innocence, well then good for you. Because most of us can not. And that’s why I say it over and over again. And that’s why we’re going to cover this case like we cover all the others on Best Defense, with the presumption of innocence firmly in tact. And that’s the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

WASHINGTON — In the next few days a Military Commission at Guantanamo will issue a verdict in the first American war crimes trial since World War II, the case of Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan. To one who has observed the proceedings, it appears that Hamdan has been given a fair trial. But if he is convicted, much of the Arab world may disparage the verdict as a product of heavy-handed “Gitmo Justice.”

There is no persuasive reason why Military Commission trials should be held at Guantanamo. The U.S. detention and interrogation operation there has become a symbol of brutal excesses in America’s war on terror, a taint that is likely to rub off on the Military Commissions that are also currently located there. To avoid the taint, the Military Commission facility should be closed down, and future war crimes trials should be held in the United States.

There was some logic to locating the Military Commissions in Guantanamo when the Bush Administration believed the remote U.S. naval base would be beyond the supervision of the Supreme Court. But once the Justices declared that U.S. operations in Guantanamo were fully subject to judicial review by the civilian courts, it became illogical to hold court in such a misbegotten place.

Nobody who was not fleeing the stern gaze of the Supreme Court would have ever put a court in Guantanamo. Everything is inconvenient. Witnesses must be flown in from the mainland. Government flights are occasional, commercial air service almost nonexistent. So attorneys, jurors and court personnel are mostly isolated from their families on the mainland.

Gitmo is hot–hospitable to scorpions, mosquitoes and iguanas, but not to journalists packed into tents without hot food or running water. The Pentagon had hoped there would be wide coverage of this first test case, in hopes that the government could make its point to the public that the proceedings were just. But so far the only American television networks to broadcast live reports have been “In Session” (formerly Court TV), and CNN.

Despite the boot camp setting, journalists would have flocked to Guantanamo if the first defendant had been a bloodthirsty terrorist bigwig. Instead, the government inexplicably picked Hamdan, who never fired a shot in battle and never got around to actually joining Al Qaeda. Hamdan’s misfortune was that when US forces nabbed him in Taliban country there were two surface-to-air missiles in his car. The Americans didn’t believe his story that it was a borrowed vehicle and the missiles must have belonged to the car’s owner. So he probably will be convicted of giving material support to terrorists.

But the second charge against him is conspiracy, and he could actually be acquitted of that. The evidence shows that no al Qaeda heavyweight deigned to conspire with him, they just gave him orders about when and where to drive bin Laden’s car. The government may argue a novel legal theory, that Hamdan’s failure to leave al Qaeda after so many murderous attacks was tantamount to conspiring with the terrorists. But the jury—even this one made up of military officers–may not be willing to reach that far.

Ironically, the government could score a public relations coup if the jury should find Hamdan not guilty of one of the two counts. It would demonstrate that the Military Commission process is not stacked against the defendants. But if Hamdan is found guilty of both counts, the world’s reaction could be soured by the fact that it all happened in Guantanamo.

Why would a judicial proceeding be located in such a place? There is no rational answer, and future war crimes trials should be held in a place where people can at least drink the water.

–Fred Graham, In Session senior editor

NEW YORK — I’m not sure why the government decided to start these terror trials. Osama Bin Laden’s driver, a bit player if he was a player at all. But so they have and now Pentagon prosecutors are close to closing their case against Salim Hamdan.

They just have one last witness: A Navy investigator who was there for Hamdan’s interrogation in May 2003. He says Hamdan admitted his allegiance to bin Laden and Al Qaeda. And look, if Hamdan did, then I’m fine with a life sentence. But let’s not disgrace ourselves in the process.

Information is only as good as the interrogation. And that’s why, before this evidence can come in, the military judge wants prosecutors to prove their tactics were not unduly coercive. Judge Captain Keith Allred understands what prosecutors certainly should. That convicting terror suspects on grounds that they are un-American makes the war on terror a farce.

And that’s the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — The American link to some 45 square acres of arid land at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba dates back to 1903. We’re supposedly paying Fidel Castro about $4,000 a year in rent to lease the Naval base, but he never cashes the check. In Session’s stay on the island could only be described as surreal — passing iguanas the size of dogs walking up the courthouse steps at Camp Justice and being shooed away by some of the many well-armed soldiers patrolling the hilltop; sidestepping a scorpion outside the tents we sleep in.

Inside the court sits Salim Hamdan in traditional Yemeni white robes and a sport coat, seemingly involved and very aware of what’s taking place, even smiling. Leaning up against the judge’s bench is a military green surface-to-air missile, allegedly recovered from the trunk of a vehicle Hamdan was driving when he was arrested in Afghanistan. Court security is ready to pounce. We learned in testimony from interrogators that Hamdan has enjoyed some of the local fare on the base. Interrogators fed him McDonald’s fast food — yes they have a McDonald’s on the base. They also have Subway and Taco Bell.

The military attempts to accommodate the soldiers and their families at this remote outpost by providing an outdoor movie theater, schools, athletic fields, churches of all denominations, and they also have some excellent beaches for snorkeling. I also witnessed quite a few soldiers hoisting back a few cold ones at a new Irish bar called Ned O’Kelley’s. Next door over 100 soldiers were in an auditorium playing bingo for cash prizes. We have no freedom of movement on the base and must be escorted everywhere. Inside some of the military buses we listened to music from Radio GTMO, whose slogan is “Rockin’ in Fidel’s Backyard.”

It was interesting to see that the military generates its own power and water on the base without having to rely on Cuban municipal sources and is even somewhat green. A decent percentage of power is supplied by giant wind turbines — cutting down on emissions of greenhouse gases
Before the “enemy combatants” came, there are now approximately 270 of them, the primary mission was to serve as a strategic logistics base for the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, and to support counter drug operations in the Caribbean.

It’s fascinating to see what could be the beginning of the end as both presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, have promised to shut down this quirky little home for alleged terrorists and the many members of the Joint Task Force.

–Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

NEW YORK — Come September there’ll be a new show in town. It premieres on our sister network TNT and it’s called “Raising the Bar.” It’s all about criminal defense attorneys and their clients.

It’s about time, because for too long criminal defense attorneys have been the foil for Hollywood prosecutors and easy fodder for lazy writers who want to appeal to a law and order public. It may seem harmless at first, but over time playing defense attorneys as the bad guys has actually done damage to the criminal justice system. Add to that a bevy of blond talk show hosts out for blood and the presumption of innocence is a thing of the past.

Which is well and good until it’s your son or your husband or even you who is charged with a crime. Then you’ll want that presumption of innocence. You’ll want a good lawyer to take your case. If you’re lucky, a show like “Raising the Bar,” will help rebalance those scales of justice. Before it’s too late. That’s the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

NEW YORK–The Constitution requires that all criminal trials be speedy and public. But the trial of
Salim Hamdan, which got underway this week at GITMO has been anything but.

Speedy? Well it took four years for this thing to get underway. And yes, Mr. Hamdan, who admits that he was Osama Bin Laden’s driver, took his case to the U. S. Supreme Court three times. But that’s because the military commissions system under which he is being tried violates the Constitution.

As for the public part, well military tribunals simply are not. Sure, the Pentagon gives us just enough access to claim that they’re public. But not enough for any meaningful coverage. It’s one step better than a star chamber.

And here’s the irony. If Hamdan had been tried in a courtroom, this case would be history by now. After all, Zacarias Moussaoui, more than a bit player, was convicted years ago in a trial that was both speedy and public. No one doubts the legitimacy of that conviction. But in Hamdan’s case, even if the government wins, a trial that is neither speedy nor public undermines the very values we are supposed to be fighting to preserve.

And that is the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

NEW YORK–I want to take a moment to talk about black women. Because in our community we’ve always been the bedrock, it dates back to slavery when families were torn apart — the men sold off. The black women remained, left to sustain what was left of their families, all the while slaving, literally, for the master.

And so the strong black woman was born. And she’s still with us today — self-sufficient, increasingly we get an education, good jobs. Maybe that’s why so many black women are not married. I mean who needs a man, really?

Well, I’ll tell you who. Our children, because black children are at risk. And the studies show that families with two parents are stronger; the children fare better than single parent homes. Not always, but most of the time.

That legacy of slavery? Well it’s still with black men too. More black men are behind bars than in college. Fifty percent drop out of school altogether. And they die nearly 10 years earlier than whites. Why? Should you care? Well, watch “Black in America” tonight on CNN and find out.

And that’s the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

Jami Floyd is featured in Black in America, which airs on CNN tonight.

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba–The U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is the oldest U.S. base overseas and the only one in a communist country, with a climate that makes it suitable for banana rats and iguanas. But it will now be forever linked to something much more infamous — the first war crimes trial since World War II, involving Osama bin Laden’s driver Salim Hamdan.

In Session arrived by cargo plane and then ferried across a turqoise bay to what is now known as “Camp Justice.” The military has set up a press center in a giagantic cavernous hangar just below the courtroom, located atop a hill populated with several armed soldiers. The press is able to enter the courtroom in shifts or view it in the media office on a continuous closed-circuit feed. We are the only ones able to watch Hamdan and I was 15 feet away from the defendant inside the courtroom for what could be the most dramatic moment of the trial.

As prosecutors played an interrogation tape of Hamdan shortly after his arrest in Afghanistan, he rose from behind the defense table and was immediately surrounded by some four court guards. Hamdan was intent on leaving and told the judge that in his absence, the defense could not speak for him. He was eventually ushered out of the courtroom. The tape, which shows Hamdan kneeling on the ground, sometimes with a bag over his head and his hands tied, played on in Hamdan’s absence.

Some time later, a defense attorney notified the judge that Hamdan wanted to come back to the court. He reentered the courtroom and sat quietly until the tape was finished and the gavel went down. The commission of jurors left the court and Hamdan addressed the judge once again. This time he told the judge that he wanted the commission back because he wanted to apologize for his outburst.

The judge said he will now give Hamdan an opportunity to personally address the commission when court resumes. The judge has said, “”the eyes of the world are on Guantanamo Bay,” we hope he’s right. While the media room is abuzz with foreign tongues linked to Al Jazeera, Saudi Press Agency, Agence France-Presse and BBC Arabic TV, only In Session and CNN have been present from the American media.

Watch Senior Editor Fred Graham’s reports on this historic case on In Session.

–Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

NEW YORK–I woke one morning thinking about black men. I had dreamt about black men in the night, having been bombarded by images of them the day before.

At the airport, I’d read a long article about the fall television schedule, and then-NAACP President Kweisi Mfume’s calls for more black and brown faces on televison.

On the plane, I’d read also about Lawrence Russell Brewer, a white man who had been on trial in Texas for the dragging death – a lynching really – of James Byrd Jr., a black man. (He has since been convicted of murder and sentenced to death.)

That night, I turned on the television in my hotel room only to see actor-comedian Martin Lawrence, “steppin’ and fetchin’” on Fox. So, I turned off the tube and curled up into bed with Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize-winning “The Bluest Eye,” a book I’d enjoyed to that point. But this night I read a chapter about a black man raping his daughter. Another starkly hateful and negative image of the black man.

So I closed the book and went to sleep.

And I woke that next morning thinking of these black men – and those who hate them: white men who hate black men, black women who hate black men, black men who hate themselves.

That was 2004. It was a presidential election year. And so it is again, this year. But in 2008, there is something dramatically different: Barack Obama is in the race. Race notwithstanding.

I never thought my father would live to see a black man in the White House. I never thought I would see it in my own lifetime. But now, we may both live to see that day.

September will mark my father’s 82nd birthday. Born in 1926, he has lived through the Great Depression, a world war, the assassinations of some of our greatest leaders, his heroes. He served in Korea. He has been married for nearly 50 years, and has been a father for 40. He is a good, decent black man.
And I know so many other black men. None of them shuck and jive through their days. Where I work, there are many who put in long hard days producing television pieces, carrying heavy camera and sound equipment, and generally contributing to the business of broadcast journalism.

I just this morning visited a family where three generations — father, son and grandsons — live and work together, building strong families and businesses.

I even know my share of famous black men, having interviewed Danny Glover, Lenny Kravitz, and Don Cheadle among many others.

These are the black men I know.

Now, four years after that dream I had in that hotel room that night, I also have a son. His birthday falls five days before his grandfather’s. I can only hope that by the time he is my age – 35 years into the future – we will have come to know the full breadth of the black male experience. The good. The bad. And everything in between. Perhaps, all those years ago, even before he was born, I was dreaming of — and for — my son and the next generation of black men.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

Jami Floyd is featured in Black in America, which airs on CNN Wednesday, July 23^rd and Thursday, July 24^th. 

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — By staging the first Military Commission trial since World War II and banning television coverage of the proceedings, the U.S. Government is in danger of proving the old saying that a tree that falls unseen in the forest makes no sound.

The government had intended that the war crimes trial of Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, would be closely followed around the world. This was to be the first trial of an alleged terrorist by one of the Military Commissions created by Congress and the Bush Administration, and the government hoped that madia coverage of the trial would persuade the world that the process was fair and just.

In fact, for those of us who are observing the trial, it is clear that the government is ernestly attempting to conduct a fair trial that deserves the approval of the world. The proceedings are very similar to trials in the civilian courts. The military judge is even-handed, and has issued several rulings adverse to the prosecution. The defense lawyers are first-class. Hamdan is treated with the utmost respect. (The judge calls a break several times each day so the defendant can pray.)

The problem is, the case lacks pizzaz, and it is not being widely covered around the world. The major television networks are not here. CNN has a correspondent here, and we of “In Session” are the only other American television network to broadcast from the scene. A number of print journalists are here, but their dispatches are not being given prominent coverage.

The pity is that if this trial was being televised, it would be a huge hit with TV audiences around the world. As I sat in the courtroom yestereday, I kept thinking that if the multitudes could see it they would be fascinated–and pesuaded that the government was doing justice.

I recalled that I had written a letter years ago to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, asking that when the first trial was held, television should be permitted to present it to the world. The answer was no, and it was a mistake.

–Fred Graham, In Session senior editor