The Chief Defense Counsel: Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker If you go to Guantanamo Bay to observe the military tribunal against the five Sept. 11 defendants, you won’t see the Chief Defense Counsel arguing any of the motions at the podium or sitting at the defendant tables during the proceedings. Instead, you’ll find Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker at the back of the courtroom, directly in front of the glass separating the highly secure court from its viewing gallery. In his supervisory role, Baker does not represent any of the detainees. Rather, he provides advice to the defense teams and helps them get the resources they need from the military commissions Convening Authority, which is responsible for overall management of the commissions system as well as referring charges for trial. Baker was a supply and logistics officer in the Marines before attending law school at the University of Pittsburgh through the Marine Corps Law Education Program. Since graduating in 1997, he has served as a defense attorney, prosecutor and judge. He says he found his true calling – managing defense lawyers – as the Regional Defense Counsel for the Eastern Region of the Marine Corps, a position he held from 2008 to 2010 before serving three years as Chief Defense Counsel of the Marines Corps. In that top job, he oversaw the establishment of the Marine Corps Defense Services Organization, which reformed how defense lawyers were supervised and assigned to cases. Lawdragon: Can you discuss why you changed the name of the defense office, and how that plays into what your role is here? Brig. Gen. John Baker: When I took over, this office was referred to as the Office of the Chief Defense Counsel. The reason why I changed the title to the Military Commissions Defense Organization is that the focus of this office shouldn’t be on me. We are an organization that is comprised of defense teams, and when someone thinks about what we do, it is not the Chief Defense Counsel that is doing the litigation. The litigation is done by the defense teams. What I do is provide them with oversight and supervision, and advocate on their behalf for resources. What I don’t do is tell them how to litigate their cases. That is a big difference between my role and General
Photo by the U.S Marine Corps.
Martins’ role. General Martins decides what the government is doing with its litigation strategy and has an active role in court. The Chief Defense Counsel absolutely does not decide the litigation strategy for any particular case and cannot represent individual clients. The defense teams talk to me about their cases, but what they do with my advice is up to them. LD: What did you think when you were promoted and assigned to this position? Did you know what you were getting into? BGJB: I knew about the position and was excited about the possibility when being considered for it. But what I thought the commissions were, and what the commissions are, is like night and day. I just didn’t appreciate the depth and breadth of the legal work that is involved in the commissions. I had no idea how much work is involved. I didn’t know the amount of resources that were put into it. I had no idea how often they came down here. I had no idea how many motions they filed. I had no idea how much discovery would be involved. I also did not have an appreciation for how committed to the mission people here are. The quality of lawyers that are assigned to this, the paralegals and all the staff – everybody here is really, really impressive. I guess the other thing I didn’t appreciate was how under-resourced the defense teams are, even
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