The hearing included an extended debate between Ruiz and the military judge, Air Force Col. W. Shane Cohen, on Ruiz’s tactics. A prior judge in the case had thrown the confessions out, only to retire and have a subsequent judge reinstate them. “The reason I don’t use the word torture is because that’s a determination that is made by a judge in court,” Mitchell said. Ruiz asked if he also avoided the word torture because of fear of potential criminal liability. In the podcast, Mitchell rebutted the host’s use of the word: “We never use the word torture because torture’s a crime,” he said.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 25, 2020 03:02 UTC