Just a follow up to this thread:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...rue#Post1703991
Quote:
Navy SEALs' trials moved to Iraq
Updated: Monday, 11 Jan 2010, 7:59 PM EST
Published : Monday, 11 Jan 2010, 8:19 AM EST
Two of the three Navy SEALs accused in the mistreatment of an Iraqi detainee will have their military trials take place in Iraq, a military judge ruled Monday.
Both Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan E. Keefe appeared in military court at Naval Station Norfolk in separate hearings. In each case, the presiding judge decided to move the sailor's trial to Camp Victory in Iraq.
Cmdr. Tierney Carlos moved the trials after government prosecutors said they would make the detainee available for deposition at Camp Victory in Baghdad but would not bring him to Naval Station Norfolk to testify. The judge ruled that Keefe and Huertas have a right to face their accuser in open court.
The charges against the three SEALs involve Ahmed Hashim Abed, who has been linked to the 2004 deaths of four Blackwater contractors who were mutilated before their bodies were hung from a bridge.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, of Perrysburg, Ohio, is accused of striking the detainee in the midsection, dereliction of duty for failing to safeguard the detainee, and lying to investigators. A hearing for McCabe is tentatively set for Wednesday before a different judge.
Huertas of Blue Island, Ill., faces charges of dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and impeding an investigation.
Keefe, of Yorktown, faces charges of dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.
Huertas and Keefe have pleaded not guilty. Their trials are planned for April.
The SEALs have received an outpouring of support from people who consider them heroes for capturing Abed. Several members of Congress have asked that the charges be dropped, and more than 100,000 people have joined a Facebook page created to support the SEALs.
Huertas' attorney, Monica Lombardi, said she welcomed the judge's decision.
"We were going to have to travel there to do the deposition anyway, but the government said the witness wasn't going to be available for trial," Lombardi told The Associated Press. "The judge said, 'I'm thinking they should all be moved there.' I can see the logic in his ruling."
Phil Cave, a former Navy judge advocate now in private practice but not involved in the SEALs case, said that in his 31 years of experience with the military justice system he cannot recall any court-martial being moved from here to overseas, although there have been many moved from foreign countries to the U.S.
Military officials originally wanted to handle the case through a process known as "nonjudicial punishment," but the SEALs insisted on going to trial in an effort to clear their names and save their careers. If convicted by a six-person military jury, they could face up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge or loss of pay.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/Navy-SEAL-due-in-military-court-Monday
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...rue#Post1703991
Quote:
Navy SEALs' trials moved to Iraq
Updated: Monday, 11 Jan 2010, 7:59 PM EST
Published : Monday, 11 Jan 2010, 8:19 AM EST
Two of the three Navy SEALs accused in the mistreatment of an Iraqi detainee will have their military trials take place in Iraq, a military judge ruled Monday.
Both Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan E. Keefe appeared in military court at Naval Station Norfolk in separate hearings. In each case, the presiding judge decided to move the sailor's trial to Camp Victory in Iraq.
Cmdr. Tierney Carlos moved the trials after government prosecutors said they would make the detainee available for deposition at Camp Victory in Baghdad but would not bring him to Naval Station Norfolk to testify. The judge ruled that Keefe and Huertas have a right to face their accuser in open court.
The charges against the three SEALs involve Ahmed Hashim Abed, who has been linked to the 2004 deaths of four Blackwater contractors who were mutilated before their bodies were hung from a bridge.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, of Perrysburg, Ohio, is accused of striking the detainee in the midsection, dereliction of duty for failing to safeguard the detainee, and lying to investigators. A hearing for McCabe is tentatively set for Wednesday before a different judge.
Huertas of Blue Island, Ill., faces charges of dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and impeding an investigation.
Keefe, of Yorktown, faces charges of dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.
Huertas and Keefe have pleaded not guilty. Their trials are planned for April.
The SEALs have received an outpouring of support from people who consider them heroes for capturing Abed. Several members of Congress have asked that the charges be dropped, and more than 100,000 people have joined a Facebook page created to support the SEALs.
Huertas' attorney, Monica Lombardi, said she welcomed the judge's decision.
"We were going to have to travel there to do the deposition anyway, but the government said the witness wasn't going to be available for trial," Lombardi told The Associated Press. "The judge said, 'I'm thinking they should all be moved there.' I can see the logic in his ruling."
Phil Cave, a former Navy judge advocate now in private practice but not involved in the SEALs case, said that in his 31 years of experience with the military justice system he cannot recall any court-martial being moved from here to overseas, although there have been many moved from foreign countries to the U.S.
Military officials originally wanted to handle the case through a process known as "nonjudicial punishment," but the SEALs insisted on going to trial in an effort to clear their names and save their careers. If convicted by a six-person military jury, they could face up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge or loss of pay.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/Navy-SEAL-due-in-military-court-Monday
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