Alleged soldier killer would face Fort Lewis court martial
Associated Press
Posted at http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091021/NEWS02/710219771
FORT LEWIS — The U.S. soldier accused of killing five fellow troops at a counseling center in Iraq would face court martial at Fort Lewis, the military said Tuesday.
Maj. Mike Garcia said Sgt. John M. Russell was a member of a unit attached to the 555th “Triple Nickel” Engineer Brigade, and the headquarters returned in September to the Army base.
The 44-year-old radio communications specialist is charged with premeditated murder and aggravated assault for the shooting in May at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Control Clinic. He was on his third deployment, with less than two months to go.
Russell is confined at the Butner Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C., and he’ll be assessed to determine if he mentally capable of assisting in his own defense.
He was assessed by a panel of doctors, found to be incapable of assisting in his own defense and is being treated so he can eventually participate in a court martial, Garcia said.
Russell had been unraveling for nearly two weeks but the U.S. military lacked clear procedures to monitor him or deal with the deadly shooting spree once it began to unfold, said a military report obained Tuesday.
The report describes a man whose problems were known and who received some counseling, yet at critical times did not appear to get the help he needed.
Russell was on his fourth visit to a mental health clinic in Iraq when the appointment was cut short because he became “verbally noncompliant,” the report stated.
Clinic personnel then called the military police, who declined to arrest him and ordered him returned to his unit.
Less than an hour later, the report said, he managed to grab a loaded M-16 rifle from a fellow soldier and steal a white Ford Explorer SUV before going back to the counseling facility.-----------------
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer - court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
Asia Court Martial - 1975 'army mutiny' should be tried by court martial
1975 'Army mutiny' should be tried by court martial
Thu, Oct 22nd, 2009 8:08 pm BdST
Dial 2324 from your mobile for latest news
Dhaka, Oct 22 (bdnews24.com)—A military coup was orchestrated on Aug 15, 1975, defence counsel for one of the death convicts in the Bangabandhu murder case said on Thursday during the appeals hearings.
Khan Saifur Rahman, lawyer for death convict Syed Faruk Rahman, said the trial of the mutiny should be held under court martial and the trial and verdicts in the case held under civil law should be nullified.
He said, "The killing was part of a mutiny and cannot be viewed from any other perspective."
The five-judge Appellate Division bench headed by Justice Mohammed Tafazzal Islam had resumed hearings on arguments for a sixth day Thursday morning, ending for the day at 1:30pm.
On the 14th day of the appeals proceedings, advocate Khan Saifur Rahman said Gen Ziaur Rahman's killing was a part of military coup and its trial was held under court martial.
"The trial of August 15 cannot be held under ordinary law and the trial verdict given under existing law must be nullified," Rahman said in his argument.
Citing an example, Saifur said if killing takes place during a robbery, the offence of robbery and killing are held simultaneously.
"Aug 15 was a part of a coup and the killing and coup must be tried simultaneously by court martial," he argued
Opposing him, state counsel Toufiq Newaj said the trial of Gen Zia's killing was held under a state of emergency.
"All the fundamental rights were frozen during the period," Newaj said. -----------------
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer - court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
Thu, Oct 22nd, 2009 8:08 pm BdST
Dial 2324 from your mobile for latest news
Dhaka, Oct 22 (bdnews24.com)—A military coup was orchestrated on Aug 15, 1975, defence counsel for one of the death convicts in the Bangabandhu murder case said on Thursday during the appeals hearings.
Khan Saifur Rahman, lawyer for death convict Syed Faruk Rahman, said the trial of the mutiny should be held under court martial and the trial and verdicts in the case held under civil law should be nullified.
He said, "The killing was part of a mutiny and cannot be viewed from any other perspective."
The five-judge Appellate Division bench headed by Justice Mohammed Tafazzal Islam had resumed hearings on arguments for a sixth day Thursday morning, ending for the day at 1:30pm.
On the 14th day of the appeals proceedings, advocate Khan Saifur Rahman said Gen Ziaur Rahman's killing was a part of military coup and its trial was held under court martial.
"The trial of August 15 cannot be held under ordinary law and the trial verdict given under existing law must be nullified," Rahman said in his argument.
Citing an example, Saifur said if killing takes place during a robbery, the offence of robbery and killing are held simultaneously.
"Aug 15 was a part of a coup and the killing and coup must be tried simultaneously by court martial," he argued
Opposing him, state counsel Toufiq Newaj said the trial of Gen Zia's killing was held under a state of emergency.
"All the fundamental rights were frozen during the period," Newaj said. -----------------
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer - court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
Famous War Crime Court Martial: The fight to clear Breaker Morant's name
Get it right, you bastards: the fight to clear Breaker Morant's name
Written by STEVE MEACHAM
The entire article is posted at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/get-it-right-you-bastards-the-fight-to-clear-breaker-morants-name-20091018-h2ym.html
October 19, 2009
A photograph from the Boer War showing Lieutenant Handcock, left, and Lieutenant Morant, second from left.
IT IS more than a century since Harry ''Breaker'' Morant told the Boer War firing squad about to execute him: ''Shoot straight, you bastards.''
But today, a petition will be presented to Parliament calling on the Attorney-General to order an official legal review.
Commander James Unkles, a serving Australian Royal Naval Reserve lawyer who is an expert in courts martial, has also sent a second petition to the Queen formally laying out grounds for a royal pardon for both Morant and the man executed alongside him, Peter Handcock.
After a comprehensive review of the military law under which they were sentenced to death, Commander Unkles has concluded both Australians were victims of a gross miscarriage of justice orchestrated by their superior officers - particularly the British war hero Lord Kitchener.
Commander Unkles's interest in the celebrated case - the subject of Bruce Beresford's 1980 film starring Edward Woodward as Morant - began when he decided to investigate (for academic interest and in his spare time) the role of their defending officer, Major James Francis Thomas, played by Jack Thompson in the film.
Had Thomas, a former Tenterfield solicitor clearly out of his depth, made critical mistakes?
''There has been a lot written about Morant, and a lot written about Lord Kitchener and his methods of dealing with the Boers,'' says Commander Unkles. ''But not much about the defending officer.''
In 1902, Morant was already well known in Australia as a expert horseman and bush poet. He, Handcock and a third officer, George Witton, were convicted of killing eight Boer guerillas and a Boer prisoner called Visser. Morant and Handcock were acquitted of murdering a missionary of German descent, and Witton's death sentence was commuted by Kitchener to life imprisonment. But the trio believed they had been acting on Kitchener's orders - to shoot any Boer prisoners.
Commander Unkles has now written a 6000-word article explaining why he believes Morant and Handcock should be posthumously pardoned.
-----------------
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer - court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
Written by STEVE MEACHAM
The entire article is posted at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/get-it-right-you-bastards-the-fight-to-clear-breaker-morants-name-20091018-h2ym.html
October 19, 2009
A photograph from the Boer War showing Lieutenant Handcock, left, and Lieutenant Morant, second from left.
IT IS more than a century since Harry ''Breaker'' Morant told the Boer War firing squad about to execute him: ''Shoot straight, you bastards.''
But today, a petition will be presented to Parliament calling on the Attorney-General to order an official legal review.
Commander James Unkles, a serving Australian Royal Naval Reserve lawyer who is an expert in courts martial, has also sent a second petition to the Queen formally laying out grounds for a royal pardon for both Morant and the man executed alongside him, Peter Handcock.
After a comprehensive review of the military law under which they were sentenced to death, Commander Unkles has concluded both Australians were victims of a gross miscarriage of justice orchestrated by their superior officers - particularly the British war hero Lord Kitchener.
Commander Unkles's interest in the celebrated case - the subject of Bruce Beresford's 1980 film starring Edward Woodward as Morant - began when he decided to investigate (for academic interest and in his spare time) the role of their defending officer, Major James Francis Thomas, played by Jack Thompson in the film.
Had Thomas, a former Tenterfield solicitor clearly out of his depth, made critical mistakes?
''There has been a lot written about Morant, and a lot written about Lord Kitchener and his methods of dealing with the Boers,'' says Commander Unkles. ''But not much about the defending officer.''
In 1902, Morant was already well known in Australia as a expert horseman and bush poet. He, Handcock and a third officer, George Witton, were convicted of killing eight Boer guerillas and a Boer prisoner called Visser. Morant and Handcock were acquitted of murdering a missionary of German descent, and Witton's death sentence was commuted by Kitchener to life imprisonment. But the trio believed they had been acting on Kitchener's orders - to shoot any Boer prisoners.
Commander Unkles has now written a 6000-word article explaining why he believes Morant and Handcock should be posthumously pardoned.
-----------------
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer - court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
