Guantanamo Conviction Upheld
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) unanimously affirmed the convictions and sentence of LCDR Matthew Diaz. The opinion by CAAF may be read here.The high-profile court-martial conviction of former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz, resulted in him being sentenced to six months of confinement for leaking classified information from Guantanamo Bay. The case arouse from Diaz’s service with the Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay. Diaz, as a deputy staff judge advocate, had provided to the Center for Constitutional Rights the names of some 551 detainees, inside a Valentine’s Day card.
The court rejected most of Diaz’s issues on appeal. The appellate judges did find the trial judge erred in denying Diaz the opportunity to present evidence about his motives in leaking the Guantanamo detention information, but concluded this error was essentially harmless.