Posted on 10/05/2007 8:51:57 PM PDT by BuckyKat
Posted on: Friday, October 5, 2007 2:54 PM HST
Associated Press
TACOMA, Wash. >> A federal court judge has temporarily blocked a court-martial scheduled for an Iraq war objector based at Fort Lewis.
The court-martial of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii had been scheduled to start Tuesday. Watada’s lawyers argue the Army is violating his constitutional rights by trying him twice for the same crime.
Watada is charged with missing his unit’s deployment to Iraq in June 2006 and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma has decided his court has jurisdiction to issue the stay and that Watada’s double jeopardy claim is not frivolous. Now the judge has asked for more briefs by both sides on the issue.
ping....da*n
Why not just disband the government and give all control to these judges? Seems they are taking it any way.
Ping
I just post a quickie on my blog over this. This case is going to end up going beyond the 9th circus.
Da*n, I’ll bet he looked good on paper when Bush appointed him. Goes to show you never can tell, though the fact that he was confirmed in June of this year makes me wonder how much leeway Bush has had in appointing judges since the leftist takeover.
Judge blocks war objector court-martial
Oct 5, 10:41 PM EDT
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- A federal court judge on Friday temporarily blocked a court-martial scheduled for an Iraq war objector based at Fort Lewis.
The court-martial of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada had been scheduled to start Tuesday. Watada's lawyers argue the Army is violating his constitutional rights by trying him twice for the same crime.
Watada is charged with missing his unit's deployment to Iraq in June 2006 and with conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President Bush and the war.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle concluded his court had jurisdiction on the request for an emergency stay because Watada "has exhausted his available military court remedies with respect to his double jeopardy claim ..."
Settle also decided that claim was "not frivolous."
The judge has asked for a response by the Army by Oct. 12 and additional briefs from Watada's lawyers by Oct. 17. The earliest the judge might rule, based on those arguments, is Oct. 19. His stay will remain in effect until Oct. 26 or until further action by the court.
Jim Lobsenz, one of Watada's lawyers, noted that in Thursday's arguments, the judge primarily wanted to know if he had jurisdiction "so we talked about that." The newly requested briefs will deal in more detail with the double jeopardy issue.
Lobsenz said Watada had been informed of the stay and "he's very happy - and I'm very happy too."
"Every soldier is entitled to due process in answering charges made against him, and this case is no different. 1st Lt. Watada has always been, and will continue to be, treated fairly and according to law and military justice procedures," the Army said Friday night in a statement issued by Fort Lewis.
Settle noted that "the Court has not been presented any evidence showing that Petitioner's double jeopardy claim lacks merit. On the contrary, the record indicates that Petitioner's double jeopardy claim is meritorious."
The judge added that the harm of being tried twice in violation of the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment includes the harm of undergoing a second trial proceeding. "Having preliminarily decided that Petitioner's double jeopardy claim is not frivolous, a stay of the military court-martial proceeding is justified," he wrote.
Watada contends the war is illegal and that he would be party to war crimes if he served in Iraq. The Army, which refused his request to be posted in Afghanistan or elsewhere, declared his first court-martial a mistrial in February, over the lieutenant's objections.
If convicted, Watada could be sentenced to six years in prison and be dishonorably discharged.
The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that Watada can be court-martialed again, but Watada appealed that decision to the U.S. Circuit Court for the Armed Forces, which has not ruled, his attorneys wrote in their emergency motion for a stay.
Watada's attorneys are also asking that he be allowed to leave the Army. Watada's term of service ended in December, but the pending legal proceedings have prevented his discharge. He lives in Olympia and continues to perform administrative duties at Fort Lewis, south of Seattle.
Which unfortunately is most likely what he’s been grooming for (the publicity) since he was a kid, what with Daddy playing politics all his life.
I hope those administrative duties include cleaning toilet bowls with tooth brushes.
How many divisions does the judge have?
Not a legal beagle (but I did sleep at a ...) but this will not go far, IMHO.
His civilian lawyers got a civilian judge to make a judgemnet.....yawn.
If one is in the military, one is subject to two sets of laws...the Civilian side...AND the military side, called the UCMJ.
As San Francisco'ized the 9th Circus is.....the military "owns" this POS.....the UCMJ will have it's way with this turd.
The turkey has been pushing papers since his unit deployed to Iraq and he can travel up to 250 miles from Ft. Lewis on his off duty time without permission, last I heard.
He should be in the brig, IMO.
Although this judge is a former JAG for the US Army, he is taking jurisdiction on a case the US Army Court of Appeals has already ruled can go forward.
The Army’s response to this judge should be “NUTS”.
The jusge is putting Lt. Watada is double jeopardy by subjecting him to two systems of justice.
I don’t know anything about this judge. This is the first federal court the case has gone to.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The Judge is a recent Bush appointment, and he has had military experience, according to the capsule bio you posted:
Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Army, 1973-1976
Maybe he’s a lefty. Or maybe he just wants to resolve some sort of legal issue.
Was it double jeopardy? I have no idea. It’s possible that somebody screwed up in the first trial.
That said, I think it’s normally inadvisable for civilian courts to interfere in military justice concerns.
Besides that, I don't see how charging him with multiple charges for different infractions is double jeopardy. As for the "unbecoming of an officer" charge, hell thats the catch all.
Burgess was a corrupt idiot. Heard he is a nephew of the now deceased Jack Tanner.
I’ll say it again...John Kerry redux:
U.S. Senator Ehren Watada (D) HI.
I hope I’m wrong, but I think the chances of this are greater than his chances of going to Leavenworth like he deserves.
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