Court Martial Attorney - Court martial weighs office politics, national security
By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
VICTORIA — The fate of two sailors who worked in National Defence headquarters in Ottawa will be decided Monday in a precedent-setting legal case linked to secret military computer systems and the security of information.
On one side is the argument by a military prosecutor that discipline must be maintained in the Canadian Forces.
On the other side are concerns by defence attorneys that what was an admittedly inappropriate reaction by the two sailors to a workplace conflict was blown out of proportion by military police.
The case involves Petty Officer 2nd Class Janet Sinclair and her spouse, Petty Officer 2nd Class Silvya Reid, who worked at the National Defence headquarters command centre at the time of the July 2007 incident and who both had access to classified databases.
The pair, now serving at CFB Esquimalt in B.C., made headlines last summer when the military issued a news release stating it had charged them each with one count of sabotage, one count of conspiracy, one count of mischief in relation to data and one count of wilful property damage. The charges, according to military police were related to the corruption of a Defence Department database.
In October, the sabotage and conspiracy charges were dropped and a charge of negligently performing a military duty was added for both.
But last week at the pair’s court martial in Victoria, the prosecution dropped charges of mischief and negligently performing a military duty.
The two have plead guilty to damaging military property, in this case a “database icon.”
Although similar incidents have happened in the U.S., Canadian Forces legal officials say this appears to be first for this country’s military.
“This is a precedent-setting case,” prosecutor Maj. Jason Samson told the court.
Lt.-Col. Theo Heuthorst, commander of the National Defence command centre, testified last week the incident reduced the effectiveness of the centre’s computer system used for missile-launch and space data and put national security at risk for a two-week period.
But Sinclair’s lawyer, Martin Reesink of Ottawa, challenges those claims. Actual data was not harmed and what was damaged was a database icon, he added.
“With all due respect there’s a lot of puffing going around about national security,” Reesink said. “The actual database was always safe.”
The court has heard Sinclair wanted to send a message to two Canadian Forces members she was training. She testified the pair often did not perform their jobs and her complaints about them were ignored.
The court also heard the incident was out of character for both of the accused.
But Samson suggested at the heart of the issue is the need for the Canadian Forces to maintain discipline and to be able to trust senior personnel. Without discipline and trust the military system is undercut, he suggested.
Samson suggested reduction in rank and dismissal from the military could be appropriate.
But Reesink asked Sinclair be fined $200 to $500. Reid’s lawyer, Lt.-Cmdr. Pascal Levesque asked that Reid be fined $2,000 to $3,000.
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.
Comments on this entry are closed.