JAG CENTRAL

PFC Lynddie England, Reportedly Pleading Guilty (AP)

From the NY Times, U.N. to Establish Cambodia Tribunals ("The United Nations announced Friday that legal requirements had been met for trials of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, nearly three decades after Cambodia's genocide began. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians - around a third of the country's population - died of starvation, forced labor, disease or execution by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. But no Khmer Rouge leader has faced justice for the atrocities. The United Nations said in a statement that enough money had been raised to finance the tribunals, which will have international judges and prosecutors working alongside their Cambodian colleagues."); Plea Deal is Set for G.I. Pictured in Abuses in Iraq ("Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the 22-year-old woman who became a vivid symbol of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, will plead guilty on Monday to reduced charges, her lawyers said yesterday. Although the lawyers would not provide specifics about her plea agreement, two people close to the prosecution said she would face no more than 30 months in prison."); Hearing on Marine Officer is Suspended ("An investigative hearing into accusations that a Marine officer, Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, murdered two Iraqis was halted Friday after his lawyers demanded that a crucial prosecution witness be granted immunity so they could continue to cross-examine him. The witness, Sgt. Daniel Coburn, has told military authorities that the men were shot in the back while on their knees in April 2004. But questions about the sergeant's credibility took center stage on Friday when, on the advice of his own lawyer, he refused to allow the defense to complete cross-examination.").

From the Washington Post, England to Plead Guilty in Abu Ghraib Abuse Case.

From USA Today, Lynddie England to Plead Guilty to Abu Ghraib Abuses, the most in-depth story about the plea deal today:

Pfc. Lynndie England will plead guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, her lawyer said late Friday, months after photos of her sexually humiliating inmates made her the face of a scandal that damaged the credibility of the U.S. military.

England will plead guilty in a military court Monday to seven of the nine counts against her: two counts of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of dereliction of duty, said Rick Hernandez, her civilian lawyer.

England, a 22-year-old Army reservist who was a clerk at the Baghdad-area prison, was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday at Fort Hood.

Hernandez said the plea deal was reached Friday afternoon during a meeting with military prosecutors at Fort Hood.

"This is in her best interests," he said.

One count of committing indecent acts and one count of failure to obey a lawful order will be dismissed, Hernandez said. That will drop the maximum sentence she faces from 16.50 years to 11 years, he said.

The Devastation in Darfur (Reuters/NY Times)

From the NY Times, Sudan Poses First Big Trial for World Criminal Court ("Almost three years after the International Criminal Court opened over United States opposition, the United Nations Security Council asked it to investigate atrocities in Sudan and, in the process, placed the court squarely in the international spotlight. By any measure, the request was an important vote of confidence in the new tribunal. But at the court's glass-and-steel headquarters in The Hague, the reaction has been less than euphoric. Still wrestling with the mechanics of how to carry out its mandate to deal with large-scale human rights abuses, the new institution faces high expectations but lacks practical experience."); Inquiry Into (Afghan) Civilian Shootings ("The United States military said it was investigating the shooting and wounding of three civilians by coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan. The three were in a civilian minivan traveling behind a military convoy when it ran into an ambush on Tuesday. According to the military, American troops returned fire on insurgents and hit the civilians, caught in the middle. The government news agency Bakhtar said the troops fired on the civilian car, suspecting them of being behind the ambush."); Soldier Sentenced to Death for Grenade Attack (another story on SGT Akbar's death sentence which I wrote on extensively here); Accused Marine Hears Comrade Praise Him (another 2LT Pantano update).

From the Washington Post, Sergeant Sentenced to Death for Killing Two Officers in Iraq;.

From USA Today, Jurors Sentence Soldier to Death in Kuwait Attack.

From the AP (via KUTV.com), word that a military panel has sentenced convicted double murderer Army SGT Hasan Akbar to death:

The jury had reached a verdict at one point Thursday only to have one member request reconsideration. A military judge sent the 15-member panel back to vote early Thursday evening on whether to reconsider their decision.

The break came after six hours of deliberations in the sentencing phase of the trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a Muslim convert described by prosecutors as a religious ideologue and by his attorneys as mentally ill.

He faced either a death sentence, life in prison without parole, or life with parole for the March 2003 attack, which also wounded 14 fellow members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
....
Akbar would join five others on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The last U.S. military execution was in 1961.

ANALYSIS: Not a surprising verdict here. The last military death sentence was handed down against an Army soldier who shot and killed several unarmed Army Rangers while they were running in formation. This crime seems equally as heinous. Moreover, the defense team presented a paltry sentencing defense. There were virtually no witnesses who could humanize the defendant. His parents and family didn't testify; there was no testimony from even the most distant of acquaintances. Look for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim here.

What comes next? The case will be forwarded to the XVIII Airborne Staff Judge Advocate, who will make an independent review of the verdict and sentence. This document is called an SJAR. Once this is completed, the convening authority (the XVIII Aiborne Corps Commander) decides whether or not to approve, amend, or set aside the sentence. After this, an automatic appeal under Article 66, UCMJ, occurs in the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals. Most likely, the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will review the sentence as well, as they have for the other five military members on death row. UPDATE: As a reader correctly points out, both the CG and SJA of Fort Bragg are deployed to Iraq; therefore, the senior general at Ft. Bragg and the senior judge advocate will handle post trial matters.

How likely is it that Akbar will ever face the needle? It's hard to say. There hasn't been a military execution since 1961. Some of the soldiers on death row have been there for over 10 years while the appeals process continues.

Wrapup of all Akbar related posts:
1. AKBAR SORRY, PANEL CONSIDERS DEATH
2. AKBAR TO TAKE STAND (DAY THREE UPDATE)
3. AKBAR PENALTY PHASE DAY TWO
4. AKBAR PENALTY PHASE DAY ONE
5. AKBAR GUILTY OF "FRAGGING" MURDER
6. AKBAR TRIAL UPDATE #7
7. AKBAR TRIAL UPDATE #6
8. AKBAR TRIAL UPDATE #4
9. AKBAR TRIAL UPDATE #3
10. AKBAR TRIAL UPDATE #2
11. "FRAGGER" TRIAL OPENING ARGUMENTS
12. ALLEGED "FRAGGER" JURY SELECTED
13. "FRAGGER" TRIAL JURY SELECTION UPDATE
14. JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN ARMY SGT. AKBAR "FRAGGING" CASE
15. AKBAR COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL
16. FRAGGER TRIES TO ESCAPE
17. "FRAGGER" COURT-MARTIAL DATE SET (OLD BLOG)
18. ALLEGED "FRAGGER" FACES COURT-MARTIAL (OLD BLOG)

2LT Ilario Pantano, Wife, and Mother Returning to Courtroom (AP)

From the AP (via ABC News), an update on Day 3 of Marine 2LT Ilario Pantano's Article 32 Hearing to determine whether he should be tried for the double murder of two Iraqis. Defense witnesses testified on how he is a "model Marine":

Six defense witnesses spoke glowingly of 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano at a military pretrial hearing at one point moving him to tears after the prosecution closed its case with two Marines who described Pantano as sometimes overzealous or rough in his handling of prisoners.

"He's a great Marine," testified former Marine Martin McPherson, who served under Pantano in Iraq. "He had the attention to detail you need to bring back your men alive. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and he did it."
....
Defense witness Lt. Nathan Dmochowski, who trained with Pantano and served with him in Iraq, recalled one instructor who said hanging threatening signs could help Marines in hostile areas.

"If nothing else works, sir, when you've been in that environment … you have to figure out ways to enforce your will upon the enemy," Dmochowski said.

Dmochowski said Pantano embraced the humanitarian element of the military's mission "almost to the point he endangered himself." He recalled a time when Pantano went door-to-door shaking hands until he was pulled away by worried colleagues.

Lance Cpl. James Faleris, a machine gunner who worked under Pantano in Iraq, said the officer gave local children candy, toys and soccer balls, and made his platoon study Iraqi language and culture for an hour each day as they prepared to deploy.

"He's hands-down the best officer I've ever had the privilege to serve under," Faleris said.

ANALYSIS: Maybe...but he's probably going to trial. All the investigating officer needs to find is probable cause. The amount of bulletholes in the bodies of the Iraqis (2LT Pantano reportedly emptied two magazines into them), the sign hung around their necks after they were dead, and the anecdotal evidence that they were shot in the back lends plenty of probable cause to the prosecution. The character witnesses are fairly irrelevant at this stage of the trial; while the good soldier defense may create reasonable doubt, it has no place at a preliminary hearing.

From the AP (via MSNBC), an update on Day 4 of the SGT Hasan Akbar death penalty phase. Today, he read an extremely short unsworn statement to the panel:

“I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy, and I had other problems,” Akbar told the 15-person military jury.

Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear.

In closing arguments of the sentencing phase, chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan urged jurors to sentence Akbar to death and reject claims that the soldier's background caused his actions.

Mulligan described Akbar as a nearly lifelong religious ideologue. "He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer," the prosecutor said, adding that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed."

The military judge was to give jurors instructions before they begin deliberations.

From the NY Times, Army, in Manual, Limiting Tactics in Interrogation ("The Army is preparing to issue a new interrogations manual that expressly bars the harsh techniques disclosed in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, and incorporates safeguards devised to prevent such misconduct at military prison camps in the future, Army officials said Wednesday. The new manual, the first revision in 13 years, will specifically prohibit practices like stripping prisoners, keeping them in stressful positions for a long time, imposing dietary restrictions, employing police dogs to intimidate prisoners and using sleep deprivation as a tool to get them to talk, the officials said."); Prosecution Hits Snags at Hearing on Iraq Killings (another version of Wednesday's sudden halt of 2LT Pantano's Article 32 Hearing).

Army 1LT Mike Hall (Montgomery Advertiser)

From the AP (via CNN), word that New Jersey National Guard 1LT Mike Hall has been acquitted of rape and adultery:

First Lt. Mike Hall, 35, had testified in his court-martial that a night of dancing, flirting and kissing with 1st Lt. Jennifer Dyer, 26, last August led to consensual sex, not rape as she alleged.

He said Dyer invited him into her room at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and that, during two short episodes of intercourse, he stopped both times when she said "No."

Hall was also acquitted on an adultery charge but convicted of having sex without informing his partner that he had genital herpes. The sex transmission charge is part of the military justice code that refers to acts "unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman."

Prosecutors wanted Hall to be sentenced to a year in prison or dismissed from the military on the sex transmission charge. But the judge, Col. Richard Gordon, ordered Hall to forfeit $1,000 of his monthly pay of some $3,700 for four months. He said Hall would receive a written reprimand.

2LT Pantano and Defense Team Listening to Testimony (AP)

From the AP (via ABC News), word that a key prosecution witness was ordered off the stand after he "lawyered up" when being accused of breaking a gag order:

Marine Sgt. Daniel Coburn was testifying at a hearing in the case against 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano when the investigating officer, Maj. Mark E. Winn, read him his rights and told him he was suspected of violating orders from superior officers.

Coburn left the courtroom after requesting a lawyer.

Defense lawyers had complained Coburn had given interviews about the case to ABC News, the Daily News of New York and New York magazine even after being ordered not to do so.

"I knew that this was going to happen," defense attorney Charles Gittins said after the hearing ended. "I've been lying in wait for that for weeks."

SGT Hasan Akbar; Note the Bulletproof Vest (AP/Washington Post)

From, the AP (via the Washington Post, news that SGT Hasan Akbar will make an unsworn statement in his defense tomorrow:

Facing a possible death penalty for his fatal attack on fellow soldiers, Sgt. Hasan Akbar will make an unsworn statement to the jury in his own defense, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The statement by Akbar is to come Thursday, the fourth day of the sentencing phase of his court-martial, said the defense lawyer, Maj. David Coombs. Akbar was convicted last week of premeditated murder and attempted murder in the March 2003 attack on the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.

Akbar will speak from the witness box, and prosecutors will be able to call witnesses to rebut what he says, but will not be able to cross-examine him. Jurors will be warned that he is not speaking under oath.

Unsworn statements are pretty much standard operating procedure for military defense attorneys. They allow the defendant to make a personal statement and humanize his own image, without subjecting him to cross-examination. There was one defense witness today, SGT Akbar's former platoon leader:

Earlier Wednesday, Akbar's former platoon leader testified that officers had discussed removing Akbar from the Army before the attack but failed to act.

Capt. David Storch said Akbar's superiors in the 101st Airborne Division had talked about removing him through administrative procedures. He said they decided that such a move was too complicated to handle in a war zone, and there wasn't enough written documentation of Akbar's shortcomings.

"What he lacked was leadership," Storch said. "It took specific instructions. You really had to sit down and explain to him, do this and then do that."

However, he said he saw no signs of mental illness.

ANALYSIS: WOW...the guy is facing a firing squad, and the best his defense team can put up is one former disillusioned platoon leader and an unsworn statement. Where's his mother? Where's all his friends from high school saying what a great guy he was and how his life should be spared? Where's his islamic spiritual advisor saying what a spiritual guy he is and how he might be able to make his life somewhat worthwhile in prison? Is it me, or does it seem like the defense is "phoning it in" on this sentencing phase? THE GUY IS FACING DEATH. The defense should be drumming up anyone and everyone who ever said anything nice about him. Scott Peterson's lawyer did just that. It didn't work, but at least Garagos earned his money. But then, I guess you get what you pay for.

2LT Pantano with Wife and Mother (NY Times)

From the NY Times, Hearing Begins for Marine Accused of Killing 2 Iraqis. This story contains more information about the defense strategy:

Charles Gittins, Lieutenant Pantano's civilian lawyer, said after Tuesday's hearing that his defense was not affected by the number of times Lieutenant Pantano fired, and that the position of the bodies as seen by a military translator were not germane to the case.

The defense team began its case before testimony began, when it challenged the fitness of the hearing officer, Maj. Mark E. Winn, to preside.

Capt. Brandon Bolling, a defense team member, asked Major Winn whether he had made disparaging remarks about defense counsel in a conversation last week.

The major was also asked whether he had said that he did not want any part of hearing the case and that a military judge should be handling it.

The conversation, Mr. Gittins said, took place at a bar called Kelsey's and involved a military member of the defense team.

Major Winn denied having any such conversation and turned down a defense challenge to his authority.

From the AP (via The Kansas City Star), an update on the first day of the rape trial of Army 1LT Mike Hall, a New Jersey National Guard soldier:

Jennifer Dyer, a former first lieutenant in the New Jersey National Guard, told a military judge Monday that in August 2004, Hall tore off her clothes and raped her twice in her barracks room at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Miss.

During cross examination, Hall's attorney Victor Kelley pointed out that Dyer had submitted an unsuccessful request for resignation in November 2003. When she was mobilized and faced a tour of duty in Iraq in August, she made up the allegations as a "last resort," Kelley said.

ANALYSIS: At the Article 32 hearing, the investigating officer recommended that charges be dropped. However, the convening authority decided to press charges anyways. While not unheard of, it is extremely rare. Hall's attorneys claim that the current rape scandals in the military have put political pressure on the convening authority to overcharge this case.

Marine 2LT Ilario Pantano (WashingtonPost.com)

Today, 2LT Ilario Pantano had his Article 32 hearing (preliminary investigation). 2LT Pantano is accused of shooting two Iraqi soldiers in the back:

Lt. Samuel Cunningham testified that after seeing the sign, he told Pantano to remove it, then called to have the bodies taken away by Iraqi National Guardsmen because Pantano's unit was headed to another assignment.

"I was surprised," Cunningham said of the sign. "I told him it was inappropriate. ... It's just unprofessional." Cunningham called it "a death card."

A second Marine _ identified only as "Corporal O" _ later testified that he helped interrogate the two Iraqi men who'd been stopped as they tried to leave a home suspected of being a terrorist hideout.

"Corporal O," described as a cook working to be an Arabic linguist, said the men were scared and claimed to be visiting family in the residence. After the shooting, he testified, the men "looked like they were on their knees. They were shot in the backs."

The sign in question read, "No better friend, no worse enemy." The investigating officer was challenged by the defense team for bias, but he denied the request. Testimony continues tomorrow. Read about it in tomorrow's Washington Post.

UPDATE: New York magazine runs this profile on 2LT Pantano. Also, Philip Carter blogs about him here.

From the Los Angeles Times, an update on SGT Hasan Akbar's death penalty phase. Today, the final prosecution witnesses testified. The first, the mother of murder victim MAJ Greg Stone, testified about the heartache his son's murder caused:

"He was my life," she said of her son, who suffered 83 grenade wounds. "Now my life is gone.

"I never got a chance to see him in his casket," she said, recalling his burial at Arlington National Cemetery. "I look up instead and hope someday he will come home. I know he won't. But I hope he does.

"He was the heart of our family. He was our hero," she added. "That grenade tore him away from us."

MAJ Stone's father expressed similar heartache:

"You go through the grieving process and get on with life," he said. "But with Greg, there is not a day goes by I don't think about him. There's a broken link."

Similar laments from MAJ Stone's fiancee:

"I was angry. Livid," she said. "Greg had worked his whole life to defend our country. When 9/11 happened he was already in his uniform before I even got home.

"He fought to go to Iraq. That's what he wanted to do before he retired. And I was so angry that he was right there, just about to realize his dream, and it was taken from him. He never got to go into country, and he was so close."

The other murder victim, CPT Christopher Seifert, was represented in court by his mother and widow. His mother testified:

"I just could not believe that an American soldier could do this," she said. "....It was betrayal."

She said her son was buried near their home in Pennsylvania.

"At his grave, there's one of us there every day. In the summertime, people say it looks like a garden, because it's one of the things we can do for our son. When you lose a child, it's the hardest thing."

She said she has had a difficult time keeping her job and her husband has suffered a tumor — all after their son's death.

"I still look for the phone to ring because he always called, no matter where he was in the world," she said.

CPT Seifert's widow, Terri:

His widow, Terri Seifert, said their son Benjamin, now 2, refers to his father as his "first friend." Their home is filled with photos and other mementoes of him. She said she was still proud to call herself an Army wife, even though Akbar wears the uniform.

"A sacred trust was broken that night. That night that band of brothers was broken," she said. "And I am terribly lonely. I have a wonderful family and lots of friends, but I never knew you could be in a room filled with people and still feel alone."

Defense witnesses appear tomorrow.

From the AP (via Washington Times), an update on today's first day of testimony in the penalty phase of convicted murderer SGT Hasan Akbar's trial:

A sergeant's attack on his own colleagues in the 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait sidelined key personnel that the unit needed for its assignment in the invasion of Iraq, a commander testified yesterday.

"Everybody knew this would be a big fight," Col. Ben Hodges testified yesterday at a sentencing hearing for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who was convicted in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two service members and wounded 14. "I never dreamed my first casualties would occur inside Camp Pennsylvania, and they would be caused by one of my own soldiers."

Earlier today, the military judge refused to admit evidence of an attack by Akbar with a sharp object against a military policeman earlier this month, finding it to be more prejudicial than probative under Military Rule of Evidence 403. A sentence could come as early as tomorrow.

From the NY Times, word that the US Supreme Court has denied cert in the case involving a denial of Gulf War POW lawsuits:

Without comment, the justices refused to hear an appeal brought on behalf of 17 American prisoners of war from the Persian Gulf war of 1991. Along with their families, the 17, who were tortured in Iraqi prisons, sued Iraq under a federal law that permits such suits against officials of governments that have been designated as state sponsors of terrorism.

In 2003, after Iraq failed to respond to the lawsuit, a federal judge in the District of Columbia, Richard W. Roberts, awarded the plaintiffs nearly $1 billion. The federal government opposed the judgment and the United States Court of Appeals here overturned it last June, dismissing the suit on the ground that the plaintiffs lacked a proper basis for invoking the law.

In their appeal, Acree v. Republic of Iraq, No. 04-820, the plaintiffs said the decision, "if left uncorrected by this court, will pose a serious and potentially insurmountable obstacle for future victims of terror." But the solicitor general's office said a large monetary judgment against Iraq, now viewed as "a state subject to our protection" rather than an enemy, would "hinder crucial foreign policy objectives." The government's brief added, "After the new Iraqi regime has had time to become firmly established, the president may choose to espouse petitioners' claims through diplomatic means."

SCOTUSBlog writes about today's Order List here. Also, you can get a copy of the cert denial here.

The Washington Post has a more detailed story on the cert denial here.