Patrick Parrish is an officer in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

.

Case of William J. Kreutzer Jr

Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

Parrish presided over the case of Sergeant

Sergeant

Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 William J. Kreutzer Jr.
Kreutzer had been convicted of murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 for a 1995 shooting.

Case of Alberto Martinez

Colonel
Parrish presided over the case of Staff Sergeant

Staff Sergeant

Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...

 Alberto Martinez, a GI who was accused of murdering two officers with a grenade.

Guantanamo assignment

On May 29, 2008 Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Peter Brownback

Peter Brownback

Peter E. Brownback III is a retired military officer and lawyer.He was appointed to be a Presiding Officer on the Guantanamo military commissions, by retired general John D. Altenburg....

, the Presiding Officer

Presiding Officer (Guantanamo Military Commissions)

The United States of America has charged Guantanamo captives before "Military Commissions", each presided over by a Presiding Officer.The Presiding Officer were initially to serve as the first among equals on bodies were the commission members served the roles similar to both judge and jury.In the...

 over Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr

Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...

's Guantanamo military commission

Guantanamo military commission

The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...

 was removed, and Parrish was appointed to take his place.
Brownback's replacement was described as "surprising".

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 William Keubler, one of Khadr's Defense attorneys, speculated that Brownback's unexpected replacement was due to his insistence that the Prosecution complete the process of discovery

Discovery (law)

In U.S.law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the opposing party by means of discovery devices including requests for answers to interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for...

, before he set a trial date.

On Thursday September 4, 2008 Parrish barred the 2nd in command at the Office of Military Commissions, Brigadier General

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 Thomas W. Hartmann

Thomas W. Hartmann

Thomas W. Hartmann is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in...

, from participating in Khadr's Tribunal because of his "undue command influence".
Khadr's Tribunal is the third that Hartmann has been barred from participating in.

Parrish's Guantanamo hitch, under the Obama administration

President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 issued executive orders following his inauguration. He ordered the Guantanamo commissions to be suspended, while his own team could assess whether they should be preserved, modified, or closed. James Pohl, another Presiding Officer, took the position that the President didn't have the authority to order him to suspend the commissions. But Parrish complied.

A dispute arose between Khadr's lead Defense Counsel, William Keubler, and Peter Masciola

Peter Masciola

Colonel Peter Masciola served as the Chief Defense Counsel for the Office of Military Commissions in 2008 and 2009.He was appointed in the fall of 2008.Masciola was President of the Judge Advocate Association in 2001-2002....

, the new Chief Defense Counsel.
He told Keubler he was fired, because he was not obeying orders. He locked him out of his office, and stopped his access to Khadr, and to the case file. Keubler said the dispute arose because Masciola wanted to continue to play a role in modified commissions, moved to the continental United States, while Keubler wanted to see the charges against Khadr dropped, and see him repatriated to a kind of parole—rehabilitation program in Canada.

Parrish ruled that the rules of the Guantanamo commission system did not give Masciola the authority to fire Keubler.
He ruled that only a Presiding Officer could order a defense counsel's replacement. In late May Parrish scheduled a hearing for June 1, 2009—even though Obama's suspension was still in effect, to consider the issue of whether Keubler should be allowed to continue to represent Khadr.