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Court Martial Lawyer – Clemency is last hope for a more normal life

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The fates of three U.S. soldiers sentenced to long prison terms for the premeditated murder of four detainees in Baghdad in 2007 lie in the hands of Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg.

Earlier this year, Master Sgt. John Hatley, Sgt. Michael Leahy and Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo — all former Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment noncommissioned officers — were convicted in separate courts-martial in Vilseck, Germany. As the Joint Multinational Training Command chief, and convening authority in local courts-martial, Hogg must decide whether to grant clemency to the three soldiers, who were all reduced in rank to private.

Leahy was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on March 28. Hatley received the same sentence when his court martial ended on April 16. Under a pre-trial agreement, Mayo’s sentence was reduced to 35 years in prison when his conviction was handed down on Feb. 21.

According to the soldiers’ lawyers, Hatley and Leahy face 20 years in prison before they are eligible for parole, while Mayo must serve at least 10 years.

But Hogg has a wide discretion to either uphold, reduce or overturn the sentences.

The commander is expected to make clemency decisions within 120 days of the end of each soldier’s trial, according to the JMTC public affairs officer, Maj. Jennifer Johnson.

The clemency process includes the preparation of a written record of each trial, which is reviewed by lawyers from both sides before it is presented to the convening authority along with supporting material that defense lawyers think will help their clients, Johnson said. Supporting material might include letters from family, friends and other soldiers testifying to the soldiers’ good character and the effect their confinement will have on the families, according to a legal source.

Hatley’s wife, Kim, for example, wrote an eight-page letter to Hogg, pleading for clemency for her husband. Her letter can be read at Stripes.com.

There was evidence presented at the trials that the men suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, along with physical injuries, including brain trauma. Evidence also suggests that, at the time of the killings, they were sleep-deprived.

Testimony contended that the men they are accused of killing were most likely insurgents, caught with weapons shortly after an attack on U.S. troops. And there was evidence that dangerous detainees were being released for lack of evidence in the weeks before the incident.

However, Hogg will balance those factors with other considerations.

During the courts-martial, government lawyers made the point that, because the victims have never been identified, the impact on the victims’ families cannot be gauged.

Another consideration raised by prosecutors is the impact of the case on good order and discipline in the Army. Capt. John Riesenberg, assistant government trial counsel, told one jury that its sentence should be aimed at stopping other soldiers from doing what the Company A soldiers did.

“These facts have confronted American soldiers in past wars, they confront American soldiers in this war and they will confront them in the future,” he said.

Perhaps the most significant thing for Hogg to consider might be the message that the soldiers’ punishment will send to Iraqis and the world.

“Send a message to the world that this is an Army that recognizes that it is different, that American soldiers just don’t do this,” Riesenberg said during one of the trials. “They don’t execute detainees in the middle of the night by shooting them in the back of the head when they are bound and blindfolded and dump their bodies in a canal.”

Riesenberg told the court that the detainee killings had undermined America’s war effort in Iraq.

There is a precedent of at least one soldier being granted clemency for war-time crimes.

After the 1968 My Lai massacre of hundreds of civilians, including women and children, in the Vietnam War, there was an attempted coverup.

At the time, Stars and Stripes reported that “U.S. infantrymen had killed 128 Communists in a bloody day-long battle.”

Eventually, the killings were exposed by whistle-blowers and private media organizations.

In his book “A Soldier Reports,” the field commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam at the time of the massacre, Gen. William Westmoreland, described the killings as: “the conscious massacre of defenseless babies, children, mothers and old men in a kind of diabolical slow-motion nightmare that went on for the better part of a day, with a cold-blooded break for lunch.”

Westmoreland states in his book that only one person, a platoon leader by the name of 1st Lt. William Calley Jr., was convicted of premeditated murder of “at least” 22 people following the incident at My Lai. He was sentenced to life in prison.

In that case, Westmoreland writes, Calley was granted clemency that reduced his sentence to 10 years.

Ultimately, Calley served only three and a half years of house arrest at Fort Benning, Ga.

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.

Court Martial Lawyer - Airman acquitted of reckless driving in 2007 crash in Italy

By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes, European edition

No testimony about fatality presented at court martial

Military jurors hearing a case against Airman Ryan Hayden never learned about several key details.

Hayden was charged with reckless driving with injury for the injuries suffered by Airman 1st Class Travis Gonder. But Hayden wasn’t charged in military court with the death of another passenger, Vanessa Russo.

Russo, an 18-year-old Italian and senior at Aviano High School, was reportedly Gonder’s girlfriend. She was ejected from the vehicle and killed during the accident. But though her name was mentioned a few times as a passenger, the jury was never presented any evidence about her injuries. They also never heard any information regarding Hayden’s conviction in her death.

Italian authorities tried Hayden for negligent homicide and for drinking and driving and found him guilty in 2008, according to carabinieri detachment commander Giorgio Ferracin. Hayden spent 27 days in jail and received a suspended one-year sentence. He was also fined about 860 euros, Ferracin said.

The Italian accounts of the accident vary a bit from those mentioned at the court-martial. Italian authorities allege the vehicle was traveling at a higher rate of speed — up to 100 kilometers per hour — and that the legal speed on that stretch of road is 30 kilometers per hour (as opposed to the 50 mentioned at the court-martial).

Ferracin also said the three military passengers had blood-alcohol content levels about three times the legal limit in Italy. Testimony during the court-martial included witness statements about seeing Hayden drinking and a stipulation of expected testimony by an Italian doctor who said the accused’s blood-alcohol level was “consistent with the consequences of a large amount of alcohol.”

But jurors who asked about the alcohol level of the accused were told by the military judge, Lt. Col. Jennifer Cline, that it could not be presented “for various reasons.”

The Air Force asserts that trying Hayden in a court-martial for driving under the influence or Russo’s death would essentially be double jeopardy.

“The Italian authorities exercised their right related to Vanessa Russo,” according to a statement issued by the 31st Fighter Wing Staff Judge Advocate’s office. “That case has been finalized and the U.S. respects that outcome. The host nation waived its right to jurisdiction over the incident as it relates to the injuries sustained by A1C (retired) Gonder. The Air Force proceeded with this action against the accused in full compliance with U.S. and international law and procedures.”

— Kent Harris

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — More than two years after crashing his vehicle into the perimeter wall of Area 1, Airman Ryan Hayden’s entanglement with the law appears to be over.

Hayden, an Air Force firefighter assigned to the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, was found not guilty of reckless driving with injury during a general court-martial that ended Thursday. The eight-member military panel issued its verdict at around 9:45 p.m. after about 10 hours of deliberation and four days of hearing the case.

Hayden was charged with causing the serious injuries of one of the passengers — but not with the death of Vanessa Russo, 18, an Italian and senior at Aviano High School who was also in the car. He went through the Italian court system and served time for that case separately.

Hayden was driving his silver BMW on Via Pedemonte shortly after midnight on Jan. 7, 2007, when the accident occurred. Three other people were in the vehicle.

Three witnesses testified they had seen Hayden drinking alcoholic beverages that night either at a party in the Area 2 dorms or at the nearby California Bar. An expert witness whose job is to reconstruct vehicle accidents testified that he believed the vehicle was traveling between 76 and 82 kilometers per hour — or 47 to 50 mph —when Hayden lost control of the vehicle as it entered a sharp turn.

The car crashed into a wall on the opposite side of the road, slid along it until it struck a light pole, and spun around and hit the perimeter wall of Area 1, where it slid to a stop.

Airman 1st Class Travis Gonder and Vanessa Russo, riding in the back of the vehicle, were ejected. Russo was killed. Gonder sustained injuries to his kidney and spleen, a fractured hip, broken pelvis, nerve damage and severe brain injuries. He was in a coma following the accident, but testified at the trial. He has had to leave the Air Force due to the severity of the injuries he sustained and their lasting effects. He was presented as the main victim in the government’s case.

But David Court, Hayden’s civilian defense attorney, said during his closing arguments that the government hadn’t proved its case against his client in three areas.

He suggested that the airman riding in the passenger seat, Airman 1st Class Ryan Larson, who suffered a concussion, could have been the driver instead of Hayden. Larson — the only surviving witness who says he remembers the accident — was the only person to place Hayden in the driver’s seat. Hayden didn’t testify and Gonder said he doesn’t remember anything from that night.

Court also said it was possible his client’s car was in poor repair and that contributed to the accident. He pointed to the fact that the government didn’t present any evidence stating the vehicle was working properly.

And he implied that Gonder, who wasn’t wearing a seat belt and might have been telling Hayden to go faster, could have been somewhat responsible for his injuries.

Hayden was praised for his work ethic by two of his former supervisors during testimony. He also was supported throughout the trial by more than a dozen fellow firefighters and other members of the 31st CES.

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.

Court Martial Lawyer – SC rules field court martial can’t try civilians

LAHORE: The Supreme Court has held that a field court martial is not a proper forum to try a civilian.

The court held this while accepting an appeal of one Ghulam Abbad, who challenged his conviction by a field court martial. Abbad was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment, four-and-a-half years ago on account of certain criminal charges resulting from a contract he had for supply of lubricant oil to a section of the army. In addition to him, several soldiers were also charged and convicted to four years imprisonment each.

He challenged his conviction before the Supreme Court on the claim that a military forum was not competent to try him. He also pleaded that the quantum of sentencing difference between him and the other accused despite the nature of the alleged offence being the same, which was unjust under law.

The court, accepting his plea, also held that the appellant had already been imprisoned for a period of time equivalent to that of the other accused and the civil court could not proceed against him.

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.

Court Martial Lawyer – Relatives of murdered Iraqi girl demand execution of US soldier

Private guilty of raping and murdering 14-year-old and killing her family

By Kim Sengupta, Defence Correspondent

Relatives of a 14-year-old Iraqi schoolgirl who was raped and murdered by a US soldier yesterday called for her killer to be executed after a Kentucky court found him guilty of the crimes.

Private Steven Green, now 24, was the ringleader of one of the most shocking atrocities committed by US forces following the 2003 invasion. The crime sparked a wave of protests by the Iraqi public, brought angry condemnation from the government, and aggravated tensions between Baghdad and Washington.

A group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division plotted the raid, at Green’s instigation, over a game of cards and a session drinking whiskey. They donned black “ninja” outfits in an attempt to hide their identities and then broke into the family home of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi in Mahmudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.

The private, who was 19 at the time of the attack, shot Abeer’s father, mother and six-year-old sister to eliminate witnesses, while two colleagues raped the girl in an adjoining room. According to his accomplices, Green then joined them and said with a laugh: “I have shot them all, they are all dead”.

He went on to take his turn raping the schoolgirl before covering her face with a pillow and shooting her three times. The soldiers started to leave but paused to consider the corpse and after a discussion, decided to douse Abeer’s body with kerosene and set it alight. The men then went back to base and celebrated with a barbecue.

Before the investigation began into the multiple killings. Green was “honourably discharged” from the army, having been diagnosed with a personality disorder. He was the first ex-soldier to be charged under a US law that allows prosecution for crimes committed overseas.

After more than 10 hours of deliberations, a Kentucky jury on Thursday found Green, who hails from Midland, Texas, guilty on 16 charges including rape, premeditated murder and obstruction of justice. The jurors will reconvene on Monday to decide the penalty for his crimes. Yesterday relations of the murdered Iraqi family said they would only be satisfied that justice had been done if Green was given a death sentence and it was carried out.

“So they decided this criminal was guilty, but we don’t expect he’ll be executed. Only if he’s executed, will we know that the right thing was done,” a cousin, Yusuf Mohammed Janabi, told Reuters. The dead schoolgirl’s uncle, Karim Janabi, added: “By all measures, this was a very criminal act. We are just waiting for the court to sentence him so he gets justice and the court can change the image of Americans.”

An AK-47 rifle, the usual weapon of choice for militants, was found at the al-Janabi house. And initially, the soldiers claimed that the attack had been carried out by Sunni insurgents. When local people disputed this, the story was changed to the family, who were Sunnis, being murdered by a Shia death squad.

Green, however, repeatedly spoke about killing Iraqis to avenge fellow American soldiers who had been killed in the area – the so-called “Triangle of Death” – in clashes with militants. He also boasted about what he had done saying the experience was “awesome”, although he later maintained that he was not being serious.

What actually took place only emerged during a series of post-combat debriefings. At which point, an investigation was started by the military police. A few weeks after the killings in Mahmudiya, the mutilated bodies of two American soldiers were found in the area. A video showing the corpses was posted on a jihadist website with the message: “We present this as revenge for our sister who was dishonoured by soldiers of the same brigade. We have taken this revenge for the honour of our sister.”

The cold-blooded brutality at Mahmudiya led to comparison with atrocities committed by US forces in Vietnam. The Iraqi events became the subject a film, Redacted, directed by Brian De Palma, which won an award at the Venice Film Festival. The production was, however, strongly criticised by some right-wing columnists and shock jocks for supposedly undermining American forces in Iraq and putting them in danger.

The Mahmudiya rape and murder came at a time of several controversial incidents of Iraqi deaths involving the US military and private security contractors. The Baghdad government demanded the right to try those responsible before Iraqi courts, but the call was rejected by Washington.

Green admitted participating in the killings at his trial before a federal court in Padukah. His defence team maintained that he was suffering from combat stress due to the deaths of comrades and in a confused state of mind, he could not tell the difference between friend and foe.

“You have to understand the background that leads up to this perfect storm of insanity,” Patrick Bouldin, one of Green’s defence lawyers, told the court. “They couldn’t tell the village people and the farmers from the insurgents and the terrorists.”

But prosecutors gave that explanation short shrift, saying that Green was predisposed to the crime. “Who could have done these things? It wasn’t done by insurgents or terrorists. It was the work of this man, Steven Green,” argued federal prosecutor Brian Skaret. “Steven Green wanted to kill Iraqi civilians … he wanted to kill them all the time, nonstop.”

The defence also claimed that correct procedures had not been followed in Green’s discharge from the army, and that he had offered to re-enlist so he could be tried before a court martial like his accomplices and not in front of a civilian jury. His family said they believed that he would be less likely to face a death sentence from a military jury.

In August 2007, Private Jesse Spielman was convicted of conspiracy to rape and murder and sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in the incident. Two other soldiers, Specialist James Barker and Paul Cortez were also convicted and are serving 90 years and 100 years respectively in prison. A fourth was sentenced to 27 months for his role as a lookout.

Darren Wolff, one of Green’s defence lawyers, told the Associated Press: “Is this verdict a surprise to us? No. The goal has always been to save our client’s life. And, now we’re going to go to the most important phase, which is the sentencing phase and we’re going to accomplish that goal.”

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.

Court Martial Attorney - U.S. soldier faces death penalty for raping and killing Iraqi girl, 14, and murdering her family

By Mail Foreign Service

A former soldier faces the death penalty after being convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.

Steven Green, now 24, was also found guilty of killing her parents and six-year-old sister.

The ex-U.S. army private was tried as a civilian rather than given a court martial because he was discharged from the military before he was charged.

On Monday, the U.S. District Court in Paducah, Kentucky, will decide whether he should be executed by lethal injection or serve a lengthy jail term.

Green, who was discharged from the army because of a personality disorder, was charged with carrying out the brutal attack alongside four colleagues.

The court heard how the soldiers had decided to rape Abeer while they were playing cards and drinking whisky at a nearby checkpoint.

After the attack they torched the house and disguised their appearance in a bid to avoid being caught.

But they were charged after they had returned to the States.

Green, of Midland, Texas, was found guilty on 17 charges including rape, murder and obstruction of justice and faces the death penalty when he is sentenced on Monday.

The four other soldiers are serving sentences of between five and 110 years for their part in the crime.

‘This was a planned, premeditated crime which was carried out in cold blood,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford, prosecuting, told the court during Green’s trial.

However, his defence team blamed his psychological state and the stress of war for the atrocity.

Green was diagnosed with Combat Operational Stress Disorder three months before the attack.

Scott Wendelsdorf, defending, said: ‘Madness. Madness. That’s the only possible word’

Grief: The uncle of Abeer al-Janabi at her graveside where he has laid out death certificates and ID cards for the family
Green, who had been in the 101st Airborne Division, stared straight ahead as the verdict was read.

Defence lawyer Darren Wolff, speaking afterward, said they had never denied Green’s involvement.

‘Is this verdict a surprise to us? No. The goal has always been to save our client’s life,’ Wolff said.

‘And, now we’re going to go to the most important phase, which is the sentencing phase and we’re going to accomplish that goal.’

The trial began on April 27 and jurors deliberated for more than 10 hours before finding Green guilty.

Green’s father, John Green, declined to comment on the verdict.

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.

Court Martial Lawyer – Defense seeks court-martial delay for DNA evidence

By ESTES THOMPSON – Associated Press Writer

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Defense attorneys asked a military judge Friday to delay a court martial so they can have DNA evidence tested in the case of an Army sergeant facing his third trial in a 1985 triple homicide.

The evidence is central to the government’s case against Master Sgt. Timothy B. Hennis, who was reactivated from retirement and brought back to Fort Bragg to be tried in a 1985 triple murder. Hennis is charged with three counts of premeditated murder and faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Prosecutors contend a DNA swab connects Hennis to the 1985 slaying of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and her two daughters, 3-year-old Erin and 5-year-old Kara, at their home in Fayetteville. A 22-month-old girl was left unharmed in her crib. Investigators also believe Eastburn was raped.

Defense lawyer Frank Spinner asked the court authorize funds to pay an expert to do the test. He said the government had provided experts in the past, but cut off funding recently. Spinner said there is no evidence to connect Hennis to the crimes, and an examination of vacuumed debris, water samples and fingerprints may support that contention.

Prosecutor Maj. Tony Kim argued that the defense is “looking for the phantom killer” and has no justification for help beyond what it has received.

“The government is not obligated to fund a fishing expedition,” Kim said.

The judge, Col. Patrick Parrish, said he would rule later after each side filed written arguments. He also set another motions hearing for June 9.

Parrish asked each side when they thought the trial, originally scheduled for July, could start. Kim said early October and Spinner said January.

The judge also was asked to decide whether the criminal history of the government’s main witness could be explored by the defense during the trial to discredit him. The witness, Patrick Cone, who told authorities he saw someone who looked like Hennis leaving the Eastburn home.

Prosecutor Capt. Matt Scott asked that Cone’s convictions not be mentioned because they all were misdemeanors and none involved dishonesty. Parrish said he would rule later on that request as well.

Defense attorney Maj. Kris Poppe said Cone’s identification of Hennis wasn’t certain.

Hennis was convicted in state court and sentenced to death, but acquitted in a new trial ordered by an appeals court. Civilian authorities brought the case to the military after they said DNA linked Hennis to the case.

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.

Navy Midshipman to face court-martial

Published 04/26/09

Annapolis — A Naval Academy senior charged with theft, unlawful entry, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer is scheduled to face a court-martial in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, an academy spokesman said Friday.

Midshipman 1st Class Julia Kaelberer, 23, and a resident of Rialto, Calif., has entered into a plea arrangement, said academy spokeswoman Deborah Goode.

The academy declined to provide any additional details about the case.

Michael Waddington is a Navy 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.

Justice Dept. drops case against war resister Watada
Stephen C. Webster

Raw Story

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Department of Justice has dropped its case against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, a war resister who refused Iraq deployment in June 2006 and denounced President George W. Bush’s decision to invade as illegal and immoral.
In Feb. 2007, military judge Lieutenant Colonel John Head halted Watada’s case following possible inconsistencies concerning a “stipulation of fact” agreed before the hearing. The decision led to a mistrial, ending Watada’s court martial. The Army appealed, but a judge said Watada could not be tried again on the same charges, as it would violate his right to be free of double jeopardy.

The Justice Department is dropping its appeal of that judge’s decision.

“Because there are no longer any criminal charges pending against Lt. Watada, and because (his) military service has been extended far beyond his normal release date, he anticipates that he will soon be released from active duty,” Watada’s attorney, James Lobsenz, said in a media advisory published Wednesday. “He plans to return to civilian life and to attend law school.”
“Settle set aside two specifications of the same charge — conduct unbecoming an officer — which stemmed from public statements Watada made against the war and President Bush,” reported Vanessah Ho for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“Settle left the door open for the United States to pursue those charges later. Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek said he did not know if the Department of Justice intended to refile those charges.”

One of the charges was filed for statements Watada made during the 2006 convention of Veterans for Peace, held in Seattle.
“I could never conceive of our leader betraying the trust we had in him. As I read about the level of deception the Bush administration used to initiate and process this war, I was shocked. I became ashamed of wearing the uniform. If the president can betray my trust, it’s time for me to evaluate what he’s telling me to do,” Watada said, according to the court martial charge sheet.
“In the 2004 fiscal year, the Army court-martialed 176 deserters, just 7 percent of the total who fled for civilian life. Courts-martial, or military trials, must be held for prison sentences to be handed out,” reported Nina Shapiro in Seattle Weekly. “When they are, the standard ranges from three to five months, according to Bill Galvin, who has counseled hundreds of AWOL soldiers in his work for the Center on Conscience and War in Washington, D.C.

“‘The Army doesn’t have enough jail cells to accommodate all the people who go AWOL,’ says James M. Branum, an Oklahoma lawyer nationally known for his work with deserters. Nearly 7,000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007, according to figures from each branch of the military. (The military counts soldiers as deserters once they’ve been AWOL for more than 30 days.)
“While some branches, most notably the Navy, have seen the number of deserters drop since the beginning of the Iraq War, the total number has risen, largely in the Army, where roughly 4,700 people deserted in the last fiscal year—an 80 percent jump since the beginning of the war—amounting to just under one percent of the Army’s total manpower.”
Watada was the first high-profile resister of the Iraq war.

Michael Waddington is a San Diego 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.

Court Martial Attorney - Sergeant in court for hearing in murder case

The Associated Press

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Defense lawyers and military prosecutors will argue motions Friday in a military courtroom in the case of an Army sergeant on trial for the third time for a triple homicide.

The hearing at Bragg is for the case against Master Sgt. Timothy B. Hennis. He is charged with three counts of premeditated murder in the 1985 stabbing deaths of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and her two daughters, Erin, 3, and Kara, 5.

Investigators also said Eastburn was raped and a 22-month-old girl left unharmed in her crib. Eastburn’s husband was an Air Force officer attending a training school when the killings happened. Hennis was stationed at Bragg and had bought a dog from the Eastburns.

Hennis, 51, was tried once in state court, convicted and sentenced to death. That conviction was overturned and he was acquitted at a second civilian trial.

Local investigators found DNA evidence that they analyzed again. They said a DNA swab linked him to the deaths and the case was handed to military prosecutors.

Hennis retired in 2004 and was recalled to active duty in 2006 so he could be tried in the military system. State prosecutors couldn’t try him again.

A court martial was tentatively scheduled for July.

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.

Court Martial Lawyer – End the Watada case, discharge him

Let the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the Obama administration to drop a pending appeal of a mistrial at Fort Lewis be the end of the Army case against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. He refused to join his combat brigade in Iraq. Give him a general discharge and move on. Put the military’s energy into the welfare of others.

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The U.S. Justice Department will not pursue a second court martial against 1st. Lt. Ehren Watada.

QUESTIONS for the U.S. Army to ponder about 1st Lt. Ehren Watada have less to do with his loyalties than his judgment. He should not be in uniform.

Now is the time to part company. Use the opportunity created by the U.S. Justice Department’s decision not to pursue a second court-martial for his 2006 refusal to join his Stryker Brigade in Iraq. Most likely, that was for the best.

Watada considered the war to be illegal, and concluded that participation might make him a war criminal. His first court-martial ended in a mistrial over the meaning and content of a pretrial agreement.

A U.S. District Court Judge in Tacoma subsequently ruled that a second trail constituted double jeopardy. The Obama Justice Department later asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to withdraw a pending appeal, and the court agreed on Wednesday.

Watada remains in legal trouble because of media interviews in which he attacked President Bush and said the president’s behavior made him ashamed to wear the uniform.

Here is one of those conundrums of a free society. The finest traditions of the military have protected the rule of law that served Watada so well. His ability to articulate concern for his own prerogatives does not make him a fit leader of men and women willing to venture into harm’s way.

Cut Watada loose. Give him a general discharge for that catchall: unsuitability. Or make it an administrative discharge.

Any discharge with a stronger adjective such as dishonorable or bad requires more legal effort than this case deserves.

Watada got into the wrong line of work. He would leave the military neither disgraced nor celebrated, but a beneficiary of a system that played by the rules.

Wrap it up, move on.

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.