Posted on 05/19/2004 8:42:31 PM PDT by 68skylark
FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- During a pretrial hearing May 10, the defense for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, the Soldier accused of a grenade attack which killed two 101st Airborne Division Soldiers and wounded 14 others last year in Kuwait, requested a change of venue to place the court martial outside the Army.
Calling the military a “specialized society” and the Army an even more “specialized subset,” defense attorney Capt. David Coombs also asked the court to strike the entire panel for the trial which was scheduled for mid-July at Fort Bragg.
Coombs, speaking on behalf of the four-man defense team, said that the defense had to “presume prejudice based on the advance pretrial publicity surrounding the attack.” Coombs argued that the government’s position that publicity had to “permeate the entire area and jury pool” did not apply in this case because of the specialized nature of the Army and Soldiers who serve in it.
Coombs added that the “eyes of the world” were focused on what was happening in Iraq and Kuwait prior to the ground war. “What happened at Camp Pennsylvania goes directly to the Army values we hold dear,” said Coombs. “Because of the military focus, we can presume that prejudice would be in any panel.”
He argued that the trial should be moved from Fort Bragg, and that the panel should be selected from other branches of the military. Military Judge Patrick Parrish, presiding at the motion hearings, asked the defense to provide examples of pretrial publicity that would have prejudiced the jury. Coombs responded that the mere fact that the offense received worldwide coverage was enough to presume prejudice, adding that Akbar’s case lent itself to prejudice.
“This is a case about an Army sergeant allegedly attacking other Soldiers in his unit,” said Coombs. “Any Army member had a visceral response to what happened and prejudice can be assumed.”
Capt. Rob McGovern, arguing for the prosecution, said “the government’s position is that changing the place of the trial is not appropriate or right. There is no evidence that pretrial publicity has influenced a single panel member,” he said.
McGovern went on to cite cases where the government has ruled that the “mere existence of pre-trial publicity doesn’t mean influence.” He added that the trial had already been moved 600 miles away from Fort Campbell, Ky., the community most affected the by the attacks.
He said that the court had already issued an order barring panel members from listening to, discussing or reading anything about the trial.
In regards to the make-up of the panel, McGovern noted that the law dictates that the panel must consist of members of the accused’s branch of service.
As to the second motion — a motion to disqualify the panel — Coombs said, “This is the first of many ‘trust us’ arguments by the government. This panel is filled with colonels, lieutenant colonels and commanders. The government says trust us when the Department of Defense looked at the issue of selection. Take a look at what we have, trust isn’t good enough. Trust has been violated.”
Coombs went on to site a number of cases where the government has molded a panel to achieve a desired outcome by doing things like ensuring females are on the panel of sexual assault cases and by placing higher ranking officers on panels because they are presumed the most mature.
“The government says trust us, what evidence do you have that we haven’t chosen correctly,” continued Coombs. “We have a panel with colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, some captains and a chief warrant officer 4. The first time you get to any enlisted grade Soldier is after 15 excusals or challenges. The proof is in the pudding.”
Coombs argued that the panel should be stricken and that the new panel should be chosen by random selection following nominations by the command. “This is a big installation. Somewhere on post there must be an E-5, E-6, E-7 or lieutenant who meets the criteria for the panel,” he said. “We cannot get into the mind of the convening authority, and while everything looks proper, it is ultimately the convening authority who picked this panel.”
Capt. John Benson argued for the prosecution. “Trust is an argument to be made on the part of the defense,” he said. “The defense has offered no proof that there is a problem with the selection process, they say ‘trust us, there’s a problem so do something different. The defense doesn’t have the right to pick the selection process, they can’t say we think we have a better system.
“In their eyes it’s not due process, it’s defense process, and they are not entitled to that.”
Other motions argued before the court included sequestering the panel, barring or limiting victim impact statements, changes in the Bench Book (rules for court martial), polling of members and a pretrial questionnaire for all panel members. Another 16 motions were submitted to the court and will be taken up when the court reconvenes May 24.
An additional motion came up prior to the court’s adjournment and revolved around a health issue. In the morning session of court, Parrish interrupted arguments to wake Akbar up.
“Sgt. Akbar, Sgt. Akbar, are you with us?’ asked Parrish.
Akbar responded that he had sleep apnea and was prone to fall asleep randomly. Later that afternoon, the newest member of Akbar’s counsel, civilian attorney Wazir Ali Muhammad Al-Haqq, interrupted arguments to note that Akbar was again asleep, asking the court to order medical treaatment.
The judge chastised the defense for not bringing the issue forward before the hearing, but ordered the prosecution to ensure that Akbar get the “proper treatment so that he can stay awake during the trial.”
(Editor’s note: Janice Burton writes for the Paraglide newspaper at Fort Bragg, N.C.)
Artist's rendering of Sgt. Hassan Akbar and defense attorney at pretrial hearing.
I thought freepers might like an update. Looks like the Army is taking their time on this one -- I think we're all hoping they do this one right by reaching a correct verdict in a way that will withstand any later appeals.
I'm not sure what you mean. I was making some comments on the thread you posted when it seemed to me that freepers would be interested in reading the actual report from the Army News Service -- not just a summary of what happened. So I posted this article to give more background on the hearing.
Good Grief! What a load this SOB is.
I hope it hurts when they kill him.
What I want to know is will this jerkoff be subject to the death penalty? Again, my guess is no. If this occured in WWII, there would have been a summary court-martial in the field, with the outcome being a firing squad. Too bad this is a kinder, gentler Army today.
I hope it hurts when they kill him.
Indeed. I'd like to change his venue....
As for the jury, if I were innocent I think I'd want the wisest, most seasoned and sophisticated jurors I could get. Wouldn't you? And if I were guilty, I'd want people who were less bright are more easily swayed by youthful emotions. Wouldn't you? (I'm not saying young NCO's aren't bright, by the way -- far from it. But compared to the age and education and experience of an O-5 or O-6 I think you see my point.)
"Your honor, my client can't get a fair trial in any jurisdiction, on account of his being guilty as sin. I therefore move for dismissal."
I couldn't agree more.
Firing squad with BB guns.
DO agree--HAve beenopen for any updates.Were it up to me I
would settle Ally Akbars sleep apnia by random grenade
rolls through his cell.As with roulette a vast majority
of the frags would be practice grenades--but to be fair
there would have to be a possible big bang for the theory
to work.them 72 white raisens ol'Ally must have been promissed before he started his personal Jihad might get
tired and sleep with some Christian.-OR maybe even a Jew,
then poor Ally Akbar would be left to his circle jerk momma
and her four daughters.
Pat Tilman's death was an accident. What this man did was no accident. Why should Americans be lulled into forgetting what this man did to American soldiers?
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