The military judge in the U.S.S. Cole bombing case has pushed jury selection to Oct. 19, more than 26 years after the terrorist attack killed 17 U.S. sailors off Yemen. Col. Matthew Fitzgerald said government agencies were unlikely to process classified evidence in time for the originally planned June 1 start at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This marks roughly the tenth delay in what would be the first capital trial at the detention facility.

Saudi citizen Abd-al Rahim al-Nashiri stands accused of orchestrating the Oct. 12, 2000 suicide bombing as an acolyte of Osama bin Laden. The case has been complicated by his time in CIA custody—roughly 1,390 days in secret prisons where he was waterboarded and subjected to other abuse. Defense lawyers have successfully challenged his confessions as contaminated by that brutal interrogation program.

The trial is expected to last at least six months, with the military shuttling 50 officers at a time from a pool of 350 to form a jury of 12 plus alternates. The 45-square-mile base's limited quarters create logistical challenges. Three previous judges and all initial lawyers have already retired from the case. Some survivors and victims' family members have died waiting for justice.