GUANTANAMO/LEGAL/NEW YORK/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump on Thursday [11-2-17] backed off his threat to send the suspect in this week’s New York terrorist attack to the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but once again called for the man to be executed, a public intervention in the case that could come back to haunt prosecutors in any future trial…
But after his offhand and unscripted remark, aides sought to walk back the idea, saying it was merely notional. And the president was evidently briefed or saw something on television afterward about how the civilian courts have been more effective at convicting terrorism suspects than the troubled military tribunal system installed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001…
Presidents are typically advised never to publicly weigh in on pending criminal cases. Such comments can be used by defense attorneys to argue that their clients cannot get a fair trial — especially when the head of the executive branch that will prosecute a case advocates the ultimate punishment before a judge has heard a single shred of evidence at trial.”
-Peter Baker, “Trump Abandons Idea of Sending Terrorism Suspect to Guantánamo,” The New York Times online, Nov. 2, 2017