In the military justice realm, we have two new developments in the Manning case and the conclusion of US v. Hatley.
PFC Bradley Manning has spent almost 900 days in Pre-Trial Confinement. His legal counsel, Jeffrey Coombs has filed his third Motion To Dismiss. This one is 117 pages long. PDF of the brief. I don’t know very much about the Uniform Code of Military Justice in regards to this kind of thing, but 900 days is excruciatingly ridiculous.
The other development is that the case Center for Constitutional Rights, et al. v. United States and Colonel Denise Lind, MJ, No. 12-8027/AR is set to be heard by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF.) COL Lind is the Military Judge who is presiding over the Manning Court Martial which is scheduled for February next year. The instant case refers to these third party news organizations and reporters, among them Jeremy Scahill, Amy Goodman, and Glenn Greenwald, as well as Julian Assange and the Wikileaks organization (styling themselves as a news organization) to be given, among other things including daily trial records, unfettered access to all of the evidence regardless of classification level, as well as any in camera proceedings called RCM 802 conferences in the UCMJ. One issue that news organizations have covering Courts-Martial is that the military does not produce daily trial records nor does it make exhibits and other materials available without a FOIA request, which can take a long time to go through the system. Judge Lind already ruled against this request, as did the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA). The case will be heard at CAAF in the first week of the new session beginning later this month. COL Lind was the Military Judge who presided over the Court Martial of Terry Lakin, the birther doctor who refused to deploy to Afghanistan.
The other military justice development of interest to Balloon-Juicers, US v. Hatley has concluded. You may remember the case of Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the young Soldier who wrote some articles for the New Republic in 2007 which were successfully mau-mau’ed by the right-wingers including Gun Counter Gomer (h/t TBogg) and his famous claim to have dis-proven Beauchamp’s version of one story through the use of a toy in a sand box. While this whole drama was playing out, several of the major players in it, among them the Company First Sergeant John Hatley and three other Soldiers of the unit murdered at least four known Iraqi men who may or may not have been insurgents but were definitely detainees for whom Hatley and his men bore responsibility to protect and care. All of the participants except Hatley plead guilty, and testified at his trial in 2009. Hatley was convicted of four specifications of Murder, and four specifications of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. During the “Shock Troops” episode, when he wasn’t murdering bound and gagged detainees in cold blood, Hatley was communicating with several conservative bloggers and from there his claims went to Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard (who later worked for the McCain for President campaign.) After his conviction, Hatley was sentenced to life in confinement without parole, but this was modified by the Army Clemency Board to 40 years without parole. The case was automatically appealed to the ACCA under Art. 66, UCMJ, which affirmed the conviction and sentence in toto. Hatley then appealed to CAAF, which denied review. Article 67, UCMJ forecloses certoriari appeal to SCOTUS if CAAF denies review, as it did here. Hatley’s cert request posed the question of whether or not Art. 67 UCMJ violates the Accused’s 5th Amendment right to due process, and additionally claimed judicial misconduct. SCOTUS denied cert without comment on October 1st. Hatley’s appeals are exhausted.
dollared
I’m sure Hatley will be pardoned by President Russert.
poco
Emphatic GOOD!! Re Hatley. Thanks for keeping on top of this letting us know.
Todd
My vote is for a drone attack on Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange, with the drawn and quartered parts of Bradley Manning to be in the nosecones of the drone missiles.
Just because….
Villago Delenda Est
Hatley definitely deserves to rot in prison.
The only catch of course is that the taxpayers will continue to provide him with three squares and a cot for those 40 years.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Thank you for the update, Soonergrunt.
Arclite
@Todd:
Hmm, Balloon Juice must be redirecting me to Red State. Someone must have hacked a DNS server somewhere along the line.
Corner Stone
@Todd: Fuck yeah! Co-sign like a motherfucker!
Spatula
And yet, the retarded monster George W Bush, who set the stage for ALL of this with falsehoods and various deceptions at the highest levels, is feted at the White House by now President Obama.
The U.S. justice system is a horrendous thing.
Todd
@Corner Stone:
Hush. I’m trolling.
Spatula
@Todd:
Say Todd…how do you feel about GWB? I haven’t seen you advocating for his arrest, detention, and trial. Thoughts?
Spatula
Damn, you trolled me! :P :D
Todd
@Spatula:
Um, no, I wouldn’t. You know that is impossible and likely to inspire great violence, right?
Yutsano
Are you sure you’re not a JAG? :)
Corner Stone
@Todd: What? I’m with you dawg! Let’s drone those motherfuckers using dead parts of other dead people we’ve summarily killed because we don’t like them. It’ll be like a whole circle of life thing!
Or death. Whatever.
PeakVT
900 days is an awfully long time. Has a service member ever been held that long before?
Corner Stone
I agree. Why are we even counting this til it gets to at least like 1800? Like a basic entry Jose Cuervo tequila.
Todd
@Corner Stone:
Picturing an Andrew Lloyd Webber/Elton John collaboration on the musical score.
Soonergrunt
@Yutsano: No, but I played one on TV.
Actually, when I worked at Tinker AFB as a computer tech, the Defense Counsel’s office was part of my work area, and I also know some civilian DCs for whom I’ve done some tech support work. That, and my unfortunate (but thankfully aborted) brush with the military justice system contributes to my interest in these issues.
ericblair
Thanks, Soonergrunt, for the update. I’ve also learned that an article where every commenter is trolling every other commenter is indistinguishable from Yahoo message boards.
MikeJ
@ericblair:
You only think that because LIEberals can’t et their heads out of their asses.
Anne Laurie
Thanks for doing this, Sooner. Seriously!
Publius39
@Spatula:
You do realize that the military justice system and the criminal justice system are two totally separate things, right?
Publius39
Ummm, hopefully Judge Lind told them to go fuck themselves on some of these items in the denial order. Unfettered access to evidence, regardless of classification level? What type of drugs was that lawyer taking before s/he drafted that motion?
kindness
So what are the reichtwing sites saying about Hartley?
Soonergrunt
@Publius39: The Center for Constitutional Rights apparently has a TS/SCI-cleared lawyer on retainer whom they wish to represent them in such circumstances as the viewing and review of classified information.
Obviously ANY accommodation for the CCR would necessarily not include Wikileaks or Mr. Assange or his agents, given their history and the expressed goals of that organization.
I haven’t actually seen Judge Lind’s ruling, so other than the fact that she denied every part of their motion, I know nothing about it. ACCA simply issued a summary denial.
Soonergrunt
@kindness: He and nine other convicted murderers of detainees and civilians are referred to as “The Leavenworth Ten”. It’s quite disgusting.
shortstop
I wish Sooner or Cassidy would untangle this for me: what exactly were the circumstances of Allen West leaving the military? I understand exactly what he did leading up to the discharge, but I’ve always heard various explanations about the mechanics of it: he could have been court martialed but they chose to let him resign, vs. a court martial was never even a possibility for someone of his rank, vs. various other permutations. How did/does this stuff really go down…and while you’re at it, tell me if you think they ever wish now that they hadn’t let him retire with an honorable discharge and bennies!
karen marie
@Publius39: You may not like the people involved (I’m agnostic) but it’s called negotiating. You start out asking for the moon and hope you end up with more than nothing. To wish the motion be summarily dismissed because you personally dislike the proponents is just silly.
burnspbesq
Docs re CCR v. US.
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/ccr-et-al-v-usa-and-lind-chief-judge#files
Soonergrunt
@shortstop: Mr. West was a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) assigned as an Artillery Battalion Commander in the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson. During the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his battalion was given the task of securing a particular area and patrolling that area to prevent and deter attacks against US and coalition forces.
Now, I am unclear on the details, but the following is what I’ve been able to piece together:
During these operations, an Iraqi police officer living in West’s Area of Operations was identified by an intelligence unit as a probable insurgent. West’s men detained the man and for reasons that remain unclear (some claimed he reached for a weapon, others claimed that West ordered them to do so) he was beaten pretty badly during interrogation. West apparently entered the interrogation room and through an interpreter he threatened the man’s life. When the detainee didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, West discharged his side arm, a 9mm pistol next to the man’s head. The detainee then gave the interrogators some information that later produced no actionable intelligence. Intelligence staff from the parent unit determined that it was useless information, and under reinterrogation, the man admitted as much. He was relieved of his command, effectively ending his military career.
The Article 32 Investigating Officer recommended that he be subjected to a General Court-Martial with charges and specifications for Art. 93 (Cruelty and Maltreatment) Art. 128 (Assault,) and Article 133 (Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman), UCMJ.
He was allowed by Commanding General, 4th ID, who was the General Court-Martial Convening Authority, instead allowed him to plead guilty to charges and specifications of Art. 128 and Art. 134 (Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Discipline) at an Article 15, UCMJ hearing. He was fined $5,000 and allowed to retire with benefits.
Soonergrunt
@burnspbesq: Thanks!
shortstop
Sooner, thanks. I did already know the details of the circumstances leading to his discharge, including the specific charges. What I wanted to know, and had always heard competing stories about, was the specifics of how he was allowed to retire, and whether he could have been (officially as well as practically) subject to a CM. You answered the official part, so thanks. (I’m still wondering whether someone at his level would be likely in practice to be CMed…again, something I hear different answers to.)
So when West is going around this week insisting that a court martial was never in the offing, that’s a shading that translates to: never in the offing because I pled guilty to lesser charges and bugged out for the dugout.
It is rather galling that he’s entitled to brag about an honorable discharge and keeping his benefits, but fine, those were the terms of the plea, so he gets to describe it that way. I have been stunned that his campaign would think it advisable to publicize a college-aged barroom brawl involving his opponent in the same year West allegedly committed these crimes and not expect the other guys to push back by bringing up the circumstances of West’s departure from the military. More GOP bubble mentality, I suppose.
Soonergrunt
@shortstop: Essentially, his Commanding General, who was trying to prosecute the Division’s operations, gave him an out with a pension so that he didn’t have to tie up half of this Battalion Commanders and Brigade Commanders doing a Court-Martial in the middle of a shooting war that was transitioning to an insurgency.
If he had refused the Article 15, which would be within his rights to do, he almost certainly would have been Court-Martialed.
shortstop
@Soonergrunt: I get it. Understandable. But I do wonder if they’re gritting their teeth now when they watch West’s public antics. ;)
Soonergrunt
@shortstop: It would certainly be correct to state that his retirement and being allowed to resign his commission (officers are not discharged, honorable or otherwise) were part of his plea agreement with his Convening Authority.
shortstop
@Soonergrunt: Right. Here is how he’s describing it on his Facebook page, however, (intentionally) confusing the issue (boldface mine):
“Today my opponent, behind in the polls and desperate, launched a false tv ad attempting to smear my military record. I stand by the actions I took to protect the lives of my men in Iraq in 2003. I did not face a court martial. I paid a small fine for breaking rules in an effort to save the lives of my soldiers. I have an honorable discharge certificate as a Lieutenant Colonel and I voluntarily submitted my retirement paperwork upon redeploying from Iraq…something that Patrick Murphy has never done. If put in that situation, it is obvious that Patrick Murphy would not risk his life or endanger his career for those he was entrusted to lead. What kind of man believes he can equate or somehow excuse his drunken brawling and a verbal assault on a police officer by attempting to smear a combat veteran who retired honorably after 22 years of service? “
Mart
The Gov. has rounded up nearly all the anti-national security state media types that exist in this country (and Brazil). Heaven forbid they get off Scot free. They have had such a huge impact on changing our opinions on the perpetual war machine. Or not. Assume the Gov. is just hassling the “anti-state” media types to scare the mainstream away.
Thanks Soonergut for all the above, get well soon.