JAG CENTRAL

From the NY Times, Soldier Convicted in Deadly Attack on His Camp ("A military jury convicted an Army sergeant of premeditated murder and attempted murder on Thursday for killing two of his comrades and wounding 14 others in an attack on his own camp in Kuwait at the start of the Iraq war. The sergeant, Hasan Akbar, 34, could be sentenced to death when the 15-member jury reconvenes on Monday.").

From the Washington Post, Army Soldier is Convicted in Attack on Fellow Troops.

SGT Akbar After Testimony Concluded (News 14 Carolina)

News from NBC-17 (Raleigh, NC) that SGT Akbar has been convicted of murder and attempted murder:

A military jury on Thursday afternoon convicted an Army sergeant of murder in a grenade and rifle attack on his comrades two years ago in Kuwait.

The 15-member panel deliberated for less than three hours before returning the unanimous first-degree murder and attempted murder verdicts against Sgt. Hasan Akbar. He now faces a possible death sentence when the sentencing phase of the court-martial takes place next Monday.

Akbar, who celebrated his 34th birthday on Thursday, showed no emotion when the verdicts were read. His parents were also in the courtroom and likewise displayed little emotion.

ANALYSIS: The sentencing phase begins tomorrow. Sentencing is much more formal in courts-martial than in civilian courts. The court holds a "mini-trial" to actually prove any mitigating, extenuating, or aggrevating circumstances. Both sides must follow the Military Rules of Evidence, with some liberalizations. Furthermore, the panel (military equivalent of a jury) deliberates as to the sentence in all trials, not just ones involving the death penalty. A sentence of death must be unanimous among all panel members (one of the only times unanymity is required, another difference between military panels and civilian juries).

From the NY Times, U.S. Marine Charged in (Romanian) Rock Star's Death ("The United States Marine Corps charged a sergeant with negligent homicide in connection with a car accident that killed a Romanian rock star in December and set off protests by fans, the American Embassy in Bucharest said. The marine, Staff Sgt. Christopher Van Goethem, from Michigan, an embassy guard, left the country immediately after the accident, in which the embassy car he was driving collided with a taxi, killing Teofil Peter, 50, of the band Compact. A breath test indicated that the marine had been drinking, the police said."); and the big military justice story of the day, Pentagon Considers Changing the Legal Definition of Sodomy:

Under Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it is a crime to engage in "unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex," even with mutual consent.

The changes proposed by the Pentagon's lawyers would narrow the definition to prohibit acts of sodomy with a person under age 16 or acts "committed by force." Their memorandum says this would "conform more closely to other federal laws and regulations."

Recent rulings by the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Criminal Appeals for the Armed Forces have raised questions about the constitutionality of the military's ban on consensual sodomy.

ANALYSIS: From a policy perspective, this makes sense. Under Article 125, even if you have consensual oral or anal sex with a member of the opposite sex, you can be charged with sodomy. It simply doesn't make sense to criminalize behavior that such a large percentage of the population engages in.

That said, the article's assertion that recent opinions of the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces have brought the constitutionality of Article 125 into question is simply inaccurate. In U.S. v. Marcum, 60 M.J. 198 (2004), the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces refused to allow a facial constitutional challenge to Article 125 and upheld its constitutional application to the defendant. To date, no opinion from any service court has found that Article 125, as applied to that defendant, was unconstitutional.

From the Washington Post, Soldier's Father Seeks Harassment Probe (another Akbar Trial Story).

From the AP (via Lexington Herald-Leader)--testimony concluded today in the SGT Akbar "Fragging" murder trial:

After the defense rested, prosecutors called rebuttal witnesses, including Akbar's former company commander. Capt. Darman Place said Akbar told him he didn't have a problem fighting in the Iraq war as a Muslim and added that Akbar was "mediocre at best" as a soldier.

Place was followed by an Army psychiatrist, Lt. Col. Carroll Diebold, who testified that a sanity investigation showed Akbar suffered no mental problems other than low-grade depression, or a case of "the blues."

In related news, the father of SGT Akbar sent a letter to the AP calling Akbar's unit "racist":

The elder Akbar said his son had complained to superiors about the threats, slurs and taunts he faced as the only black and Muslim in his platoon, but little was done before the March 2003 attack in Kuwait against fellow members of the 101st Airborne Division.

"As a father seeking justice, I want all of these things thoroughly investigated," his statement said." I want to know why my son's complaints were not taken seriously and why he was kept in such a racist platoon. He deserved to be with a supportive platoon and superior officers, which I believe, would have prevented my son from being part of this horrible tragedy."

Yes, I'm sure that's why he killed two soldiers and injured 14 more, because his unit wasn't "supportive" enough. That's a good reason for fragging your CO's. Closing arguments begin tomorrow; the case could be to the jury by Friday.

From the NY Times, 17 Afghans Freed from Guantanamo Prison ("Seventeen Afghan detainees released from the American prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, were formally handed over to Afghan authorities here on Tuesday. Some of the men publicly denounced their imprisonment as unjust and condemned the American and Afghan governments for a system that is holding hundreds of prisoners in limbo outside their home countries. In a brief ceremony, Chief Justice Fazil Hadi Shinwari told the 17 men that they were free to return home and he tried to reconcile them to the idea their imprisonment was something sent from God. Some prisoners in Guantánamo were guilty and deserved to be imprisoned, he said, but others were innocent victims of false accusations or military mistakes, or were duped into supporting terrorism."); Complaints of Religious Harassment at Air Force Academy ("Less than two years after it was plunged into a rape scandal, the Air Force Academy is scrambling to address complaints that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the academy that religious harassment has become pervasive. There have been 55 complaints of religious discrimination in the last four years, including cases in which one Jewish cadet said he was told that the Holocaust was revenge for the death of Jesus and another said he was called a Christ killer. The 4,300-student academy recently started requiring staff members and cadets to take a 50-minute class in religious tolerance. More than 90 percent of the cadets identify themselves as Christian.").

From the Washington Post, 18 More Detainees Leave Guantanamo.

From the AP (via Lexington Herald-Leader): News that Akbar's insanity defense has backfired. Turns out that the defense psychiatrist doesn't think he's crazy after all...

A defense psychiatrist testified Tuesday that Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sane and knew the consequences of his actions when he threw grenades into tents occupied by fellow soldiers during a 2003 attack in Kuwait.

Dr. George Woods Jr. initially testified under direct questioning that Akbar may have suffered from schizophrenia and depression at the time of the attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 14.

But under cross-examination by lead Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan, Woods acknowledged he had ruled out a diagnosis of insanity.

Woods reluctantly said "yes" when asked if Akbar "understood the natural consequences of the act" when he threw grenades into three tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in March 2003. Woods attempted to explain, but Mulligan pressed simply for the yes or no answer.

Woods also said Akbar understood that a hand grenade was a lethal weapon and exhibited an ability to make plans, although he noted that Akbar's plans were frequently unsuccessful.

The backfired testimony could hurt the defense's effort to spare Akbar a death sentence. Defense lawyers are not disputing that Akbar carried out the attack but are seeking to show he was mentally incapable of premeditating it.