Detention policy questioned after soldier’s escape
By Steve Mraz and Seth Robbins, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, August 28, 2009
Army officials are investigating how a Special Forces soldier was able to simply disappear last week, a few hours after his conviction for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a German woman.
Kelly A. Stewart was not guarded, and legal experts point to a gray area in the U.S. Military Manual for Courts-Martial that leaves the securing of a convicted soldier to a judge’s discretion. It also requires that the government specifically demand the soldier be detained before sentencing.