Posted on 03/22/2009 7:12:00 AM PDT by kellynla
A military judge Friday refused to throw out Army Lt. Michael C. Behenna's murder conviction despite an 11th-hour claim by the prosecution’s own forensic expert that the infantry officer is likely innocent.
A military court on Feb. 27 found Behenna guilty of murdering al-Qaida operative Ali Mansur Mohammed in Iraq on May 16, 2008 during a field interrogation. Behenna, 25, an infantry platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division, maintains the shooting was in self-defense.
The seven-member panel that convicted the young officer rejected that claim, but new information indicates the court may not have heard the whole story. On the day the verdict came down, the government's own forensics expert, Dr. Herbert L. MacDonell, told Army prosecutor Capt. Meghan M. Poirier that he had changed his mind and now believes Behenna killed Ali Mansur in self-defense.
In a letter dated February 27, 2009, MacDonell told Poirier he was “concerned that I did not testify and have a chance to inform the court of the only logical explanation for this shooting.”
“From the evidence I feel that Ali Mansur had to have been shot in his chest when he was standing. As he dropped straight down he was shot again at the very instant that his head passed in front of the muzzle,” MacDonell wrote. “It fits the facts and I can not think of a more logical explanation.”
The Army lawyers prosecuting Behenna had a legal duty to reveal such “exculpatory evidence” that could clear Behenna to the defense and failed to do so, Behenna’s lawyer Jack Zimmermann tells Newsmax.
Military prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Behenna has already begun serving a 25-year sentence for unpremeditated murder. He will eventually be transferred from Kentucky to the Ft. Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
They'll tell you black is really white. The moon is just the sun at night.
What the average person/juror doesn't understand is that the American system of justice has been so completely corrupted that in many trials there is way too much that is left unsaid and too many people are wrongly convicted. The prosecution doesn't care about the truth. All they care about is winning. Another notch on their pistola. And there is the prevailing attitude that if a person has been alleged to have committed a crime, then they are guilty.
The problem the defense faces is partly not knowing the right question to ask. Most witnesses are not allowed to soliloquize.
And to somehow think that the military is any more honorable, more aligned to producing the truth, and thereby able to more fairly dispense justice is proving itself to be a fairy tale.
"I'll tell you after" the hanging is such complete bullsh!+.
The situation you have described is called "combat".
Here is the situation described by the prosecutor's charge:
That has described murder, not combat.
History says that the ancient Celts fought naked in combat. This man was not an ancient Celt.
A “you gotta be indicted to be invited” USDB ping.
I sure don’t.
The article says, “Military law mandates that murder sentences be automatically reviewed in the Army Court of Appeals in Washington.”
But interestingly enough, the article also states Behenna’s mom is a noted attorney.
You won’t believe this...Look at what a quick search revealed:
http://www.okcu.edu/law/facultyandadministration/adjunct_behenna.php
No sugar in your coffee this morning ? Veteran & son of a WWII Officer. All of my uncles served in WWII as well.
Did your dad or any of your uncles ever kill a naked ancient Celtic warrior in combat during World War II?
See Post 22.
Holy cow!!
Thank you for the clarification. I was wrong and I apologize.
“Breaker Morant, call your office.”
Just saw it last week. What a great movie. And a terrible miscarriage of justice.
That poem that was read at the end can be used by the brave Servicemen and women fighting the Muslims today.
Did your dad or any of your uncles ever kill a naked ancient Celtic warrior in combat during World War II?
My uncle (who was a combat engineer) would never talk about the war. But I know he would never buy any Japanese product If you review the history of the war in the Pacific, We are either at war and Al Qaeda is the enemyNo.
because of the Utter Brutality of the "J-ps" on the Pacific islands.
we burned many J-ps in combat in order to protect our troops.
or we are playing tiddlywinks being supervised by the ACLU.
You’re absolutely right.
Our troops are being sacrificed by the scumbag politicians to garner favor with our enemies. May hell be full of corrupt, treasonous politicians.
Regards from Germany,
Levante
If killing terrorists is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
I think it already is and they are sending us the overflow.
Rule # 1 When dealing with a Muslim is don’t believe him without good evidence. I don’t know which side the Iraqi police were on, so I don’t believe the evidence.
I think you are right.
Pains me to say that but many do not have the best interests of the service at heart. Obviously you don't want anyone to disregard the UCMJ or half step, but if the prosecution willfully withheld this information, this is the worst kind of treachery in my opinion.
A big problem, IMO, is there are a large number of people who think appeasement will solve the problem with Islam. Or that somehow “we” are above “murder” when dealing with the problem.
All that idealistic, moralistic sophistry won’t save them when they are dragged from their high horses and their freaking heads are hacked off.
Ours is not to wonder why—ours is to get our freaking heads chopped off because we failed to utterly destroy the ability of Islam to destroy us.
If that isn’t the answer you are looking for, maybe this one is:
It is chicken****.
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