Court Martial Lawyer – Weapons were to be unloaded away from post, court martial told

Court Martial Lawyer – Weapons were to be unloaded away from post, court martial told

BY CHRIS SHANNON – The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — It’s unlikely this is how Cpl. Matthew Wilcox imagined celebrating his 24th birthday on Wednesday — listening to his former section commander give nearly five hours of testimony on day 14 of his manslaughter trial into the shooting death of fellow soldier Cpl. Kevin Megeney.

Sgt. Brad Joyce served as Section 3 commander for 1 Platoon during workup exercises and deployment to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in December 2006.
He had eight soldiers under his command who worked for force protection company at one of the main checkpoints into the NATO military base.
Known as Entry Control Point 3, Canadian Forces personnel had been told shortly after arriving at Kandahar Airfield that weapons were to be unloaded once soldiers left their post.

Wilcox’s platoon had been given force exemption status only because ECP3 was considered a part of Kandahar Airfield, and soldiers needed loaded and readied firearms since 1,500 locals and contractors entered the gate on a daily basis, Joyce testified.

At the court martial at the Victoria Park garrison, he called having force exemption status a “technicality.”

Although, Joyce testified, he couldn’t remember where and when the order came down forbidding Canadian soldiers who held force exemption cards from carrying around loaded weapons on base.

“I can’t specifically tell you what day it was, where it was, but I passed the order down (to Section 3),” he said, while under cross-examination by defence lawyer Maj. Stephen Turner.

“I’m not sure they understood the complexity of force exempt but they did know to unload their weapons before leaving ECP3.”

Joyce said he couldn’t be “100 per cent certain” that Wilcox was aware of the Canadian Forces policy on weapons.

Beside the manslaughter charge, Wilcox, a Glace Bay reservist, faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and negligent performance of duty in the death of Megeney, a resident of Stellarton.

The defence also questioned Joyce’s leadership by playing two video clips — one that showed his second in-charge Sgt. Nathan Crosby holding a Browning 9-millimetre pistol to Joyce’s head and pulling the trigger while on a pre-deployment training exercise at CFB Wainwright, Alta. in October 2006

“On that type of pistol the magazine had to be inserted to have the hammer fall forward to pull the trigger . . . so it was a loaded pistol?” Turner asked.
“Yes,” said Joyce, a member of the Halifax-based Princess Louise Fusiliers regiment.“As it developed, I did nothing to stop it.”

He said he had no recollection of laying a charge against Crosby for that incident. Later on during his testimony, Joyce said he disciplined one of the soldiers in Wainwright but couldn’t remember who it was.

Joyce, who shared a tent with other section commanders of 1 Platoon, was two tents down when he heard a gunshot come from Wilcox and Megeney’s tent on March 6, 2007.

Several soldiers entered the tent ahead of him to administer first aid to Megeney. Joyce said he decided to wait outside the tent because it would have been too crowded inside the U.S. military-style canvas tent.

Once Megeney was taken to hospital, Joyce entered the tent to find two 9-mm pistols, a loaded magazine and a loose round.

Joyce secured the weapons and ammunition in his personal locker before contacting Canadian military police.

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, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.