[JURIST] Military judge James Pohl ruled [Miami Herald report] on Friday that no wrongdoing occurred when the prosecution destroyed a CIA secret prison, or “black site,” on Pohl’s orders.

At the time Pohl gave the prosecution permission to destroy the site, the judge had a public protection order on any remains from the CIA black sites.

According to Pohl, the defense attorneys failed to show that “the physical evidence is of such central importance to an issue that is essential to a fair trial, or that there is no adequate substitute for the physical evidence.” The defense attorneys were given photographs and diagrams to use instead.

According to the Miami Herald, from 2002-2006, prisoners at the black site were subjected to waterboarding, sexual abuse, and other forms of torture.

Pohl previously rejected a request that he recuse himself from the case.

Pohl also postponed a pretrial hearing to determine when the “War on Terror” began and how long torture effects confessions. For national security reasons, neither one of these decisions is available yet on the Pentagon’s court website.

The 9/11 trials have met with numerous delays. In 2016 Pohl refused [JURIST report] to let a 9/11 defendant fire his entire defense team. In 2015 the Pentagon overturned [JURIST report] a rule that forced relocation of military judges to Guantánamo.