Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
Lot here today. Catching up after a contested trial at Fort Bragg. I’ll update the Lakin page after today’s “events.”
Kate Wiltrout reports the retrial of Richard Mott at NOB, NorVA.
Almost two years after a Navy judge found Seaman Richard Mott guilty of attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, he got a second chance this week to plead his case before a new judge and a military jury.
Like last time, Mott’s lawyers argued that he should not be held criminally responsible for attacking a fellow sailor because he was suffering from paranoid delusions at the time of the attack.
Here is a link to United States v. Mott, NMCCA 200900115 (N-M.C. Ct. Crim. App. 24 November 2009).
Kitsap Sun reports that:
A doctor who is being expelled from the Navy was charged by Kitsap County prosecutors Thursday with failing to register as a sex offender, according to attorneys familiar with the case.
Here is a piece by the Island Packet which follows up on the two MCAS Beaufort Marines pending civilian charges.
Air station officials are awaiting the case’s outcome before proceeding with possible military charges against the Marines, who have been under barracks restriction since the incident.
Seems like the R.C.M. 707 clock is running, and perhaps the Article 13, UCMJ consideration? Remember, Liberty Risk programs do not apply in CONUS, they are an overseas practice only.
Fort Scott Tribune has this reminder about falling asleep on post.
To fall asleep on guard duty in a combat zone could be FATAL for the soldier and or his comrades in arms, especially if the area is known to be SWARMING WITH ENEMY GUERRILLAS!
A little more about the moss growing on Rolling Stone from AP.
The U.S. Army inspector general is investigating whether aides to former Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal were insubordinate when they made a series of derogatory comments about top civilian leaders to a Rolling Stone reporter, McClatchy Newspapers has learned.
I also heard on my drive back from Fort Bragg last night that the reporter has had his 101st ABN embed revoked based on a lack of trust and concern he will not follow pre-established ground rules.
Air Force Times reports that:
The former top enlisted airman at Air Force Materiel Command will defend himself against 19 charges that include adultery and misuse of his government position at a December court-martial.
Here’s another piece (in military.com) on the reinstatement move for MajGen Lavelle:
In an Aug. 4 statement, the Pentagon said that President Obama had posthumously nominated Maj. Gen. John D. Lavelle to the rank of general after the Air Force Board for the Correction of Military Records found the former commander of the 7th Air Force had rightfully executed his orders and had not participated in falsifying records. “In 2007, newly released and declassified information resulted in evidence that Lavelle was authorized by President Richard Nixon to conduct the bombing missions,” the Pentagon release stated.
When Soldiers Become Killers is a piece in Gulf News.
“I came over here because I wanted to kill people.”
–Private First Class Steven Green, US Army; interview given to Washington Post reporter Andrew Tilghman; Iraq, February 2006
“I am truly sorry for what I did in Iraq and I am sorry for the pain my actions, and the actions of my co-defendants, have caused you and your family … I helped to destroy a family and end the lives of four of my fellow human beings …”
-Steven Green, ex-US Army; addressing the Al Janabi family in US Court, 2009.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has advised immigration officers that military deserters seeking permanent residence should be treated as “high profile, contentious and sensitive cases,” and kicked upstairs for resolution.
I posted the other day about Fricke, here is some more reporting on his death:
The Virginia Pilot reports that:
Former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Fricke, 54, was about a month away from being released for the crime when he died Thursday after being beaten with a baseball bat in a fight.
The high-profile case went on for about 15 years, starting with the investigation of the murder and wending its way through military and civilian courts.
Who is that phantom Justice Thomas (Ledger-Enquirer)?
On July 20, Taitz posted a motion requesting that she be allowed to verify that it is, in fact, Thomas’ signature on the denial of her application. She’s also sent her request for stay to Justice Samuel Alito, though she said a clerk told her it had been returned because of a small technical issue.
There are some things even a bank won’t do:
As he sits in the Bell County Jail, accused in the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shootings that left 13 dead, Maj. Nidal Hasan continues to receive his monthly U.S. Army paycheck; based on his rank and experience, it is probably more than $6,000.
But Hasan, who is charged with 13 counts of murder in the attack, is not a standard defendant. And he’s having a hard time finding a bank to take his money.
According to his civilian attorney John Galligan, Bank of America notified Hasan last month that it was closing his account and no area bank has agreed to open an account for the Army psychiatrist.