Posted in Haditha, Law, Military Law on 31 August 2007 | No Comments »
After having his Article 32 investigation reopened, two additional charges for dereliction of duty have been add against Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani. LtCol Chessani was the battalion commander of the Marines involved in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in Hadita, Iraq.
The Investigating Officer, Col Conlin, in LtCol Chessani’s case had originally recommended three charges [...]
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Posted in Military Law on 28 August 2007 | No Comments »
On 28AUG07, a court-martial found Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, USA, not guilty of charges that he was responsible for the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail. LTCOL Jordan was found guilty of disobeying an order, UCMJ Article 92, not to talk about the investigation. This order was given by [...]
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The Article 32 investigation for Sgt Frank Wuterich, USMC, is set to begin on 30AUG07 aboard Camp Pendleton. LtCol Ware will be the investigating officer. LtCol Ware was the investigating officer for LCpl Stephen B. Tatum and and LCpl Justin L. Sharratt, in both cases he recommended no charges.
Sgt Wuterich’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, a retired [...]
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LtCol P.J. Ware, USMC, filed the report of his investigation into charges against LCpl Stephen B. Tatum, wherein he recommended no criminal charges. LtCol Ware characterized the shootings as tragedies, but LCpl Tatum did not violate the law.
LtCol Ware previously recommended no charges be brought against LCpl Justin L. Sharratt. LtGen [...]
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The first hearing of the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review is scheduled to hold its first hearing on 24AUG07. The hearing will hear argument regarding the dismissal of charges against Omar Ahmed Khadr because of a flaw in the Combatant Status Review Tribunals for Guantanamo Bay prisoners. See [...]
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Sgt Jerrod M. Glass, USMC, a Drill Instructors at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, was charged with 244 counts of abusing recruits. The accusations against Sgt Glass include striking almost every member of his platoon, a total of 60 recruits. The four officers who oversaw Sgt Glass have been relieved of their duties. [...]
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The Staff Judge Advocate, SJA, - the senior legal adviser, roughly equivalent to in-house counsel for a business - for LtGen Mattis removed himself form the case of LCpl Tatum. The SJA, LtCol Bill Riggs, contacted LtCol Ware and criticized him for holding the government to too high of a standard [...]
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The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals released U.S. v. Ledbetter, No. 200500009, unpublished op. (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. 14 Aug 2007). SPCM, military judge alone, guilty pleas, Arts 80, 81, 91, 95, 108, and 134. Sentence: 5 months, E-1, forfeiture of $500 pay per month for 6 months, and BCD. Appellant claimed (1) improvident [...]
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Posted in Military Law on 8 August 2007 | No Comments »
Two Marines, LCpl Tyler A. Jackson and LCpl Jerry Shumate Jr., were released from confinement by order of LtGen Mattis. Both Marines were members of the same unit as Sgt Hutchins, Cpl Magincalda, and Cpl Thomas. The two Marines had previously accepted deals for a 21-month cap on confinement in exchange [...]
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The Article 32 investigation into the actions of LtCol Chessani will be reopened on 8AUG07. The purpose of the hearing is to conduct further examination of evidence submitted during the original investigation in May 2007. The prosecutors recommended, to LtGen Mattis, that two additional charges of dereliction of duty [...]
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Posted in Military Law on 6 August 2007 | No Comments »
On 3 August 2007, Sgt Lawrence G. Hutchins III, was sentenced to 15 years confinement, reduction in rank to Pvt./E-1, a dishonorable discharge and a reprimand. For his involvement in the murder of an Iraqi civilian in April 2006, in Hamdania, Iraq. Sgt Hutchins had been found guilty of [...]
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If any of you use RSS readers or depend on the internet for news related to your profession (or simply for enjoyment), you should be familiar with Netvibes. Netvibes is perhaps one of the more elegant and streamlined RSS readers out there. It’s been my intention to post a full review of the [...]
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In five recent cases last week, two of which are by ex-military members , the Court of Federal Claims has dismissed the cases because “Plaintiff’s counsel has submitted filings which contain numerous errors and exhibit a fundamental misunderstanding of this Court’s jurisdiction.“ (emphasis added). The court referred the matters, along with three other cases, to the Chief [...]
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Corporal Marshall L. Magincalda, USMC, was found guilty of larceny, housebreaking and conspiracy to commit the following: murder,kidnapping, larceny,obstruction of justice, false official statement and housebreaking. The members returned the verdict on 1 August 2007.
On 3 August 2007, he was sentenced to 448 days confinement and reduction in rank to Private. [...]
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Sgt Lawrence G. Hutchins III.USMC, was found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement, and larceny. He was also acquitted of the greater charge of unpremeditated murder. Sentencing will likely continue tomorrow, 3AUG07.
Cpl Marshall L. Magincalda, USMC, was found guilty, on 1AUG07, of larceny, housebreaking and [...]
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