A US military judge has rejected a motion to dismiss the case against Army Specialist Charles Graner, the suspected ringleader of abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
Lawyers for Specialist Graner argued that comments by President George W Bush, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military leaders condemning the abuses would make it impossible for him to get a fair military trial because of their influence on the chain of command.
"The court does not find any apparent unlawful command influence," Judge James Pohl said.
Senior Bush administration officials had taken pains in their comments to make sure that the presumption of innocence would be paramount in the Abu Ghraib trials, the judge said.
"If the taint exists, it will taint you, your honour, and everyone sitting in that [jury] box," Mr Guy Womack, a civilian lawyer for Specialist Graner said in a pretrial hearing.
Mr Womack said Specialist Graner was not guilty of charges against him that include conspiracy to mistreat detainees, dereliction of duties, maltreating detainees, assault and indecency. He said his client was following orders.
The judge also dismissed a defence request to call Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez as a witness. Lt Gen Sanchez was the top US military commander in Iraq at the time.
The trial date was set for January 7th. If convicted, Specialist Graner could receive up to 24 1/2 years in prison.
Specialist Graner appeared in several of the notorious photographs showing Iraqi prisoners in sexually humiliating positions, including one where he stood behind a human pyramid of naked detainees.
The scandal erupted last April when photographs depicting US soldiers taunting and humiliating naked prisoners became public, sparking worldwide condemnation. Seven soldiers from the Army's 372 Military Police Company and an intelligence officer have been charged.