August 1, 2005

Two senior prosecutors in 2004 war crimes trials against four detainees at Guantanamo Bay complained in confidential messages that trial system was secretly arranged to improve chance of conviction and to deprive defendants of material that could prove their innocence; their complaints echoed those made by military defense lawyers and outside groups like American Bar Assn; one prosecutor, Capt John Carr, claimed in e-mail message that Col Frederick L Borch, chief prosecutor, told subordinates that members of military commission that would try first four defendants would be 'handpicked' to ensure that all would be convicted; Borch has called this and other complaints about him 'monstrous lies'; Carr also said he was told that any exculpatory evidence would be withheld by CIA for security reasons, including evidence that at least one of four defendants had been brutalized; second prosecutor, Maj Robert Preston, said in message to another senior officer that he knew proceedings would not be 'full and fair'; Defense Dept says its formal investigation found no evidence to support two officers' accusations of legal or ethical problems; Preston and Carr left prosecution team weeks after sending their e-mail messages; trials, of Salim Ahmed Hamdan and David Hicks, were halted in Nov when federal judge ruled they violated military law and Geneva Conventions; that ruling was reversed in July and trials are expected to resume shortly; photo (L)

Aides say Gov George E Pataki will veto bill to make so-called morning-after pill available without prescription, mainly because bill lacks provision that would bar access to drug by minors; Pataki's decision comes as he lays groundwork for presidential run in 2008 and underscores forces he must negotiate as he steps onto national stage; national conservatives, whose support he will need, are adamantly opposed to emergency contraception; abortion rights group Naral Pro-Choice New York says it will start nationwide television advertising blitz that will note Pataki's long support for women's reproductive rights and accuse him of engaging in brazen effort to curry favor with right wing of Republican Party (M)

NASA debates whether two errant strips of heavy insulating cloth protruding by one inch from space shuttle Discovery may cause hazardous overheating as shuttle returns to Earth; if so, agency may order first spacewalk to underside of orbiter to correct problem; mission's lead flight director Paul Hill says evaluation of problem has provoked 'strong disagreement' among NASA analysts, with some engineers very concerned about situation and others who are not; this is latest problem in return-to-flight mission that is seeing its share of success and disappointment; photos (M)

Sources close to Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chairman, and his son Lachlan say Lachlan resigned from his job as corporation's deputy chief operating officer because he felt his father interfered in his business dealings and undermined him, particularly over last 18 to 24 months; say lesser factor might have been shifting family dynamics and question of how elder of Rupert Murdoch's two youngest children with his third wife, Wendi Deng, would be treated under family trusts that control company; Peter Chernin, News Corp president and chief operating officer, and Roger Ailes, who built Fox News unit, may get expanded roles at corporation; photo (M)

For the second day in a row, the Yankees were down by four runs in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels. And for the second day in a row, they came back for an 8-7 victory, with Hideki Matsui again delivering a pivotal hit. As the trading deadline passed yesterday without a major move, the Yankees are satisfied with their personality. Consecutive comebacks against a strong team like the Angels reinforced that feeling.