Stuart Couch

Stuart Couch (born April 20, 1965

Early life and education Couch graduated from Duke University on a Navy ROTC scholarship in 1987 and was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant. He was qualified as a naval aviator in November 1989 and flew KC-130 transport aircraft until he attended law school beginning in 1993. He graduated from the Campbell University School of Law with a J.D. in 1996 and was certified as a U.S. Marine Corps judge advocate officer. In 2008 he graduated with a Master of Laws in litigation and dispute resolution from George Washington University.

Career as military prosecutor

Cavalese cable car massacre

Couch was one of three prosecutors of U.S. Marine Corps pilots in three trials involving the collision of a military jet with a ski gondola system in Cavalese, Italy that caused the deaths of twenty European tourists. Couch successfully prosecuted Marine Captains Richard J. Ashby and Joseph Schweitze for obstruction of justice in 1999 related to the destruction of video recordings of the incident. "He needs to pay the price for his criminal conduct. Capt. Ashby needs to feel the sting for what he has done. He doesn't deserve to wear a uniform" Couch said to jurors at the trial. The MV-22 tiltrotor was in development for decades with continued mishaps. Increased costs led to scrutiny by Congress. Leberman had ordered his squadron to falsify maintenance records to make the failure prone tiltrotor seem more reliable before a congressional decision on funding. Leberman later accepted administrative punishment which effectively ended his military career.

Case of Mohamedou Ould Slahi In September 2003, Couch was assigned to prepare the prosecution of Mohamedou Ould Slahi after he joined the Office of Military Commissions in August 2003. At that time, Slahi was seen as one of the most important detainees at Guantanamo with allegations that he had helped organize the 9/11 attacks. Couch, as a veteran of the navy's SERE program, on a visit to Guantanamo in October 2003 by chance witnessed an interrogation of a detainee unrelated to his docket. The prisoner was chained to the floor, swaying back and forth, and blasted with heavy metal music and strobe lights. It reminded him of the SERE training he went through as a pilot. After being told by his escort that the procedure had been approved, it "started keeping me up at night ... I couldn't stop thinking about it." He was presented the American Bar Association's Maleng "Minister of Justice" award in 2007 as well as the German Bar Association Criminal Law Section's "Pro Reo" Award in 2009. In 2021, a feature film based on Slahi's detention The Mauritanian included the role of Lieutenant Colonel Couch as portrayed by the actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Congressional testimony Couch was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on November 8, 2007. An e-mail from the Department of Defense's General Counsel, William J. Haynes, II, informed him on November 7, 2007: "... as a sitting judge and former prosecutor, it is improper for you to testify about matters still pending in the military court system, and you are not to appear before the committee to testify tomorrow."

Congressional Representative Jerrold Nadler criticized the Bush administration for stonewalling by withholding Couch's testimony. In October 2010 he was appointed to be an immigration judge by Attorney General Eric Holder. He was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to the Board of Immigration Appeals in August 2019.