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Soldier gets 7 months in deaths of 4 Iraqis Pretrial agreement results in reduction of court’s sentence of 40 years’ confinement VILSECK, Germany — A Germany-based soldier who testified Thursday that he pulled security while his fellow soldiers killed four Iraqi detainees and "didn’t care" at the time that they would end up dead will spend seven months in prison, for his role in the incident. He also will see his rank reduced to private and receive a dishonorable discharge. A military judge sentenced Spc. Belmor Ramos to 40 years’ confinement in the 2007 slayings after he pleaded guilty to...

When Pennsylvania Congressmen John Murtha charged eight Marines with “cold blooded murder” and “cover up” at Haditha more than two years ago, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld immediately formed a study group to counter the powerful Democrat’s accusations. The study group’s analysis of the political and legal situation was used to help decide what course of action to take against eight Marines accused of massacre and cover up by Murtha in the deaths of 24 Iraqis at Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005. The group was briefed by high ranking Marine Corps lawyers sent by Brigadier General Kevin Sandkuhler,...

Study says military justice lacks full transparency By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes European edition, Sunday, August 17, 2008 The full report ... For the full report on public access to military court proceedings, go to http://www.rcfp.org/militarydockets ARLINGTON, Va. — The military justice system is "not nearly as transparent as it should be" according to journalism professor Barbara Fought. Fought is the director of the Tully Free Speech Center at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Journalism, which conducted a recent study along with the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the press on media access to military court...

August 10, 2008 | pdf version Dearest Mitch, I recently read a tribute to First Lieutenant Andrew Grayson that was written by his uncle after charges were filed against him in the Haditha incident. I shed tears as I read it and I realized that often it is easy to allow words to go unsaid. Especially words that may be sentimental or words that may cause us more emotion than we are comfortable with. As I pondered the charges that have been made against you and again read the letter by Lieutenant Grayson’s uncle, I asked myself, “why?” I thought...

BRAGGS — Family members of one of two Oklahoma soldiers who are accused of killing an Iraqi detainee have rallied to his support and believe that he will be vindicated. The military announced Saturday that Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, 34, of Braggs and 1st. Lt. Michael C. Behenna, 25, of Edmond have been charged with premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of Ali Monsour Mohammed. In addition to the murder charges, both are accused of assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice. Warner also is charged with being an accessory after the fact. Warner was charged...

President Bush on Monday approved the execution of an Army private, administration officials said. It was the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military.

(CNSNews.com) – House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com on Wednesday that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military. Homosexual conduct is currently prohibited by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and is cause for removal from the service. Under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy instituted by President Clinton in 1993, however, the military does not ask recruits if they are homosexual, and homosexuals may serve as long as they do not talk their orientation or engage in conduct prohibited by the UCMJ. According to a February 2005 study by the Government...

While all the military services are concerned about operational security and compromising the mission, each branch has its own rules for servicemembers who want to sound off in the blogosphere. Army An April 2007 operational security policy mandated that soldier blogs get "eyes on" by a blogger’s immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer before publication. The policy also covered (but was not limited to) "letters, resumes, articles for publication, electronic mail, Web site postings, discussion in Internet information forums, discussion in Internet message boards or other forms of dissemination or documentation." The free-speech firestorm was fast and furious, and the Army...

Bloggers, such as Army Maj. Charles Ziegenfuss, a wounded combat veteran from Indiana, Pa., often see their Web posts as an exercise of their hard-won rights. "The 25-year-old sailor, who asked to remain anonymous, said the blog has influenced some positive changes in liberty policy, but he fears reprisals from the military for speaking publicly." "Ziegenfuss said he has been approached about the content of his blog site — "From My Position … On the Way!" — but refused to change or delete postings. "I will continue to exercise my freedom of speech, which I have literally given pounds of...

BAGHDAD, May 29, 2008 – A contractor in Iraq charged under military law with stabbing another contractor was scheduled to be arraigned today in Baghdad. Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali, a contractor charged with aggravated assault, was scheduled to be arraigned today at Camp Victory here. The charge against Ali stems from the Feb. 23 alleged stabbing of another contractor at a combat outpost near Hit. This is the first time a civilian will be tried by court-martial under a 2006 amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice contained in the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. military officials said....

BAGHDAD – A pre-trial hearing to consider the allegation of aggravated assault by Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali concluded April 16 at Liberty Court Room, Camp Liberty, Iraq. The charge stems from the Feb. 23 stabbing of another contractor at a combat outpost near Hit, Iraq. The contractor, a fellow translator, was stabbed during a physical altercation with Ali. The investigating officer for this case was Lt. Col. Charles E. Febus. His role was to look at the charges, weigh the evidence and make a recommendation based on his findings, said Maj. Kurt Takushi, Chief, Administrative Law, MNC-I. Once he does...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2008 – Multinational Corps Iraq announced yesterday that a civilian contractor accompanying the force has been charged with aggravated assault under military law. Multinational Corps Iraq announced yesterday that a civilian contractor accompanying the force has been charged with aggravated assault under military law. Alaa “Alex” Mohammad Ali, an interpreter, is the first contractor to be charged under a 2006 amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice – Section 552 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2007, MNC-I officials said. Ali, who holds Canadian and Iraqi citizenship, is accused of stabbing another contractor....

The Pentagon recently issued a memorandum with the less-than-snappy title "Uniform Code of Military Justice Jurisdiction Over Department of Defense Civilian Employees, Department of Defense Contractor Personnel, and Other Persons Serving With or Accompanying the Armed Forces Overseas During Declared War and in Contingency Operations." Despite the cumbersome title, the memo, which gives military commanders authority over civilian contractors in their areas of operation, is an effort to close what many see as an accountability loophole for private military contractors. Effectively, the new rules extend the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- the same military legal code U.S. forces personnel...

The tarnished image of the Marine Corps continues to darken as more trials, more aquittals and more scandals corrode the brightly burnished steel that armors America’s premier fighting force. Defense attorneys and beleaguered Marines say their cherished Corps’ surprise decision Friday to dismiss criminal charges against a Marine infantryman accused of mass murder at Haditha, Iraq, is just another billboard announcing the troubles plaguing Marine Corps morale today. Loyalty up and down the ranks, the bedrock on which the 232-year old fighting force was built, is under attack. “First the Corps takes their innocence, and then the enemy tries to...

"What happened is less important than what you do in response to the incident." -- LtCol Christopher I. Woodbridge, Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines from August 2003 through June 2005, commenting on his Operation Iraqi Freedom experience in "Law of War, Rules of Engagement, and Escalation of Force Guide". The remarkable success of the Al Qaeda engineered debacle at Haditha in December 2005 to diminish the effectiveness of its fiercest nemesis is illustrated in two documents reserved for "Official Use Only" and obtained by Defend Our Marines from flummoxed Marines. The documents detail the "new" thinking of the Marine...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2008 – The Defense Department announced today it has sworn criminal charges and is seeking the death penalty against six detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees charged include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and five others charged in connection with the attacks, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, legal advisor to the convening authority in DoD’s Office of Military Commissions, told reporters at the Pentagon. Besides Mohammed, those charged are: Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi,...

FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army sergeant charged with fatally shooting a wounded and unarmed Iraqi insurgent has been released from jail while awaiting trial. Sgt. Leonardo Trevino is now spending his days working at Fort Hood, after a military judge ruled late Tuesday that pretrial confinement was not warranted. Trevino, 30, of San Antonio, had been held since he was charged in September, first in Kuwait and then at the Bell County Jail in Belton after his unit returned in November. "There are no words to describe how overwhelmed I am with happiness," his wife, Veronica Trevino, told the...

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - An Army sergeant kicked and shot an Iraqi insurgent who lay bleeding from nearly two dozen gunshot wounds, then after he was dead told fellow soldiers to say the man had been armed, a private at the scene testified Tuesday. Sgt. Leonardo Trevino, 30, is charged with premeditated murder, attempted murder, assault and obstruction of justice in the suspected June incidents in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. After the Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, the investigating officer will decide whether there is enough evidence to support the charges and then recommend whether to refer...

The Bush administration is pushing to take control of the promotions of military lawyers, escalating a conflict over the independence of uniformed attorneys who have repeatedly raised objections to the White House's policies toward prisoners in the war on terrorism. The administration has proposed a regulation requiring "coordination" with politically appointed Pentagon lawyers before any member of the Judge Advocate General corps - the military's 4,000-member uniformed legal force - can be promoted. A Pentagon spokeswoman did not respond to questions.... But the requirement of coordination - which many former JAGs say would give the administration veto power over any...

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 29 (OneWorld) - U.S. war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have announced they're planning to descend on Washington, DC this March to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in Iraq. "The war in Iraq is not covered to its potential because of how dangerous it is for reporters to cover it," said Liam Madden, a former Marine and member of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War. "That's left a lot of misconceptions in the minds of the American public about what the true nature of military occupation looks like." Iraq Veterans Against the...

Pentagon officials suggested yesterday that U.S. civilian security contractors in Iraq fall under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice and could be prosecuted in military courts for offenses against Iraqis. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters that while U.S. civilians working in Iraq under Department of Defense contracts were not subject to Iraqi law, they could be held accountable under U.S. law. Iraqi officials have complained of their inability to prosecute civilian contractors, some of whom have been accused of shooting indiscriminately into crowds and killing innocent civilians. Questions have been raised whether the contractors are subject to any law...

Chaplain sentenced after harassing mistress By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Saturday, September 22, 2007 CAMP ZAMA, Japan — A married Army chaplain who was involved in an affair with an Arizona woman pleaded guilty Thursday to adultery, unbecoming conduct and four counts of cyberstalking at his court-martial. Capt. Mike Myers was sentenced to six months in prison after entering his plea in the courtroom of this Army post near Tokyo. The former chaplain for the 441st Military Intelligence Battalion, 500th Military Intelligence Brigade also will be dismissed from the Army and receive a reprimand stemming from his...

FReep This Poll! Actual poll question: Do you support the murder conviction of squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins in the Hamdania case? Yes No, too strong No, too lenient Go to the North County Times/The Californian link provided on this FR post. Scroll down a bit and look for the poll on the right hand side. Vote your choice.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is probing allegation that eight unarmed Iraqi men were murdered at Fallujah, Iraq in November, 2004. They allegedly died at the hands of Marines once in the same platoon as two Marines already under investigation for murdering 24 civilians in Haditha 18 months ago. The alleged murders were revealed last year by former Corporal Ryan Weemer, once a Marine rifleman from 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, Third Battalion, 1st Marines. Weemer fought valiantly at the Hell House during the Fallujah battle in November 2004 and sustained three gunshot wounds. He was a fire team leader in...

Washington June 8, 2007 - CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reported this evening that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace's departure from that post may be linked to his recent comments regarding lesbian and gay military personnel. According to Starr's report, Pace's comments, along with his role in planning the war in Iraq and his support for convicted Vice Presidential advisor I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, played key roles in Congressional opposition to Pace's re-nomination. "His recent statements that he believed homosexual statements are immoral" presented a "significant problem" for Pace according to Starr. "Congressional leaders, in warning Secretary...

The Bush administration sought to avert a political fight with such Senate Democrats as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carl Levin over Iraq and homosexuals in the military by not renominating Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace to a second term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. "The administration view was that this would not be helpful to protect America's security," said a defense official close to the debate. "People viewed a bruising Senate fight as not helpful in terms of public opinion, or in preparing for the interim report" expected in September from the top commander in Iraq, Gen. David H....

three-member board of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command has recommended an immediate discharge under general conditions for Cpl. Adam Kokesh. The recommendation is less severe than the “other than honorable” discharge sought by Corps officials against Kokesh, who was accused of disrespecting an officer and wearing a uniform to an Iraq War protest. The recommendation now goes to the commanding general of the command for a final decision, expected within the next two weeks.

The media has a new anti-war hero - Adam Kokesh the Iraq war veteran who is facing a June 4th hearing for violations of the UCMJ regarding wearing the uniform while protesting and disrespect to an officer. The headlines scream out for sympathy for Kokesh and outrage for the Marine Corps. "Iraq Vet Faces Penalty for War Protest" was the headline on CBS News online. The Daily Breeze says "Discharged Veteran May be Punished for Protesting". The Socialist Worker calls it "Marines Eating Their Own". All are couching this hearing in terms of free speech and punishing an anti-war...

I have a friend running for office in Virginia. He serves in the United States Navy Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander. He has used pictures of himself in uniform in some of his campaign literature, because he is proud of his service to our country. But a local blogger is claiming that doing so violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He has never appeared in uniform for any campaign activity -- everybody acknowledges that. It's also clear a person who is retired from the military can use pictures of themselves in military uniforms -- we have ample evidence of...

WUERZBURG, Germany -- A U.S. Army medic who refused to return to Iraq because he believes war is morally wrong was convicted of desertion Tuesday and sentenced to an eight-month prison term -- far short of the maximum seven-year sentence. Specialist Agustin Aguayo, 35, and his attorneys turned to each other and smiled after Judge Col. R. Peter Masterton read out the sentence. Aguayo, a U.S. citizen born in Guadalajara, Mexico, had been jailed for 161 days awaiting trial and his attorney, David Court, said he did not expect him to serve more than about six more weeks. "We're grateful...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The attorney for a Marine corporal who pleaded guilty last month to murder in the 2006 shooting death of an Iraqi man now wants his client to withdraw that plea and proceed to trial. Victor Kelley, the attorney for Cpl. Trent Thomas, told a military judge Thursday morning that he now believes that his client was "acting under the color of lawful authority." The defense move came on what was to be the third day of a sentencing hearing for the 25-year-old St. Louis native, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to murder, assault, kidnapping and related...

The U.S. Marines accused of murder and other charges in the case of the Haditha killings in Iraq cannot get a fair trial, says retired Air Force Lt. General Thomas McInerney.Commenting on Rep. John Murtha's outrageous charges that the Marines of Kilo Company had committed cold-blooded murder of civilians in Haditha on November 19, 2005, McInerney said that the Pennsylvania Democrat's declaration "has certainly prejudiced the case."In an exclusive interview with NewsMax.com, the general who served 35 years in the United States Air Force as a pilot, commander, and Joint Force Commander and retired from military service as Assistant Vice...

WASHINGTON -- A small number of active military troops will take part in Saturday's rally in Washington against the Iraq war, co-founders of an active-duty protest group say. One of the founders of Appeal for Redress, Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, said he planned to speak at the protest on the National Mall. Hutto is a sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently at Norfolk, Va. United For Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition of 1,400 organizations, said the protest could draw tens of thousands of demonstrators in all. Hutto and Liam Madden, a Marine sergeant who received...

Vocal opposition to President’s Bush’s strategy of sending more than 20,000 additional troops to help secure Iraq has grown to include some of the troops themselves. A group of more than 50 active-duty military officers will deliver a petition to Congress on Tuesday signed by about 1,000 troops calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. “Any troop increase over here will just produce more sitting ducks, more targets,” said Sergeant Ronn Cantu, who is serving in Iraq. Under the 1988 Military Whistleblower Protection Act, active duty military, National Guard, and Reservists may communicate with any member of...

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A sailor pleaded guilty Monday to abducting and killing a Marine corporal he thought had been involved in a gang rape. The rape turned out to be a lie, but the truth surfaced too late. Petty Officer 3rd Class Cooper Jackson, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to premeditated murder, kidnapping, impersonating a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Cpl. Justin L. Huff, 23. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to spare him a possible death sentence. Federal agents had testified at his Article 32 hearing, the...

Has anybody figured out yet that McCain's bill means we have to now read detainees their Miranda rights? He wants to give them full UCMJ rights, including the ability to lawyer up IMMEDIATELY, even IN COMBAT. I fell asleep thinking of this and had a dream... or nightmare... that I was back in my tour of Afghanistan exactly where I was in 2002-2003... except this time, in the version McCain wants. So it was really John McCain's dream, except that I was unlucky enough to be in it...which made it my nightmare. ACT I AFGHANISTAN is bleak and dusty, in...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A refusal by the Marine Corps to waive pretrial hearings for four of eight Camp Pendleton men accused in the April 26 slaying of an Iraqi has created uncertainty over when the first court sessions will begin. In his order denying the waiver request issued Tuesday, Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis said attorneys should be prepared for the first of those hearings to start Monday or to request a continuance to a later date. The hearing will be the first time that the government's case against the men will have been aired since they were charged June...

Remember this moonbat hero? When thousands of Fort Lewis troops prepared to deploy to Iraq this man refused to obey his orders and the anti-war groups rallied around him. A little flashback from the Seattle Times: 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's Stryker brigade is scheduled to make its first deployment to Iraq this month. His refusal to accompany these troops puts him at risk of court-martial and years of prison time. "I feel that we have been lied to and betrayed by this administration," Watada said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Fort Lewis. "It is the duty, the obligation of...

The military justice system is largely unknown to the American public. Other than an occasional, and usually inaccurate, depiction of a court-martial or other military proceeding on a TV show or movie, most people do not have an understanding of or appreciation for the military justice system. This is not surprising, since relatively few Americans have contact with the military, let alone the military justice system. By any measure, the military justice system compares very favorably to any civilian justice system. The cornerstone of the military justice system is the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Congressionally enacted after World War...

SGT Ricky Clousing at RDU on Friday. MORRISVILLE, N.C. -- A Fort Bragg soldier is in military custody after being AWOL for more than a year.Sergeant Ricky Clousing went absent without official leave from Fort Bragg in 2005. Last week he turned himself into military authorities at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington after attending a “Veterans for Peace” convention.Instead of wearing his military uniform, Clousing wore a T-shirt that said “Free Speech” and said it’s with a clear conscience that he turned himself into military custody."Because it was always my intention of turning myself in I decided that now...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The first in a series of hearings seeking the release of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman held in the base brig since May for the alleged killing of an Iraqi civilian in April is expected to take place Friday. Civilian attorneys for three of the accused men are seeking their clients' release pending further proceedings on the basis the men are not flight risks and pose no threats to others. The attorneys are also expected to raise questions about why the seven Marines and one Navy corpsman in the case are in the brig while Marines...

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (Army News Service, July 10, 2006) – Charges were preferred July 6 against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, for his refusal June 22 to accompany his unit to Iraq and for actions related to that refusal. The charges arose from an initial investigation conducted in the two weeks since the incident. According to Fort Lewis officials, Watada faces charges for three separate violations: missing movement, contempt toward officials and conduct unbecoming an officer. If found guilty on all charges, Watada faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, forfeiture of all...

Air University Graduation May 25, 2006 Remarks by General Charles G. Boyd, USAF (Ret.) It was some 29 years ago that I sat where you are now sitting, and waited as patiently as possible for the graduation speaker to finish so that I could get on with my move from Prattville, and my post Air War College life. My expectations were low, and my hope—singular—and fervent—was that the speaker would keep it --- mercifully short. I have no reason to believe your hopes and aspirations are different than mine on that long ago day. But, since your commandant has not...

The Army filed three charges today, including conduct unbecoming an officer, against a lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq last month because he believes the war there is illegal. Military lawyers calculated that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu. The other charges are missing movement and contempt toward officials.

1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada of Honolulu is expected to announce Wednesday that he will not be going to Iraq with his Fort Lewis Stryker brigade. Watada’s father, former Hawaii campaign spending commission executive director Bob Watada, made the announcement. Local anti-war groups working with the younger Watada previously would not release the man’s name to The Olympian. “My son has a great deal of courage, and clearly understands what is right, and what is wrong,” Bob Watada told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper. “He’s choosing to do the right thing, which is a hard course.” Ehren Watada, 28, is not...

If the Marines at Haditha started indiscriminately killing civilians, they should pay for their crimes. I want that clear right now. The point of this piece is not to defend their actions. However, there are those who never cease the chance to start throwing corpses at political opponents who are using this event to paint the military as a bunch of baby-killers or "prove" the policy of the United States is just to start killing people wherever they are. Unlike disgraced ex-Marine Murtha (he disgraced himself after his service), I'm willing to let the facts be heard and a fair...

Pennsylvania Democrat John 'cut and run' Murtha, the Congressman from Al-Qaeda, has once again opened his mouth and stirred a little controversy. He is accusing the United States Marines of killing Iraqi civilians...on purpose, in cold blood. This time he is referring to a March incident that was reported in Time magazine and one that the military is investigating.  The story goes that 15 Marines walked right into a civilian house throwing grenades and shooting...killing 15 Iraqis, including women and children.  That's right...the U.S. Marines go around killing innocent people for no reason.  That must be some military we have!...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The U.S. army has charged seven paratroopers from its elite 82nd Airborne Division with engaging in sex acts in video shown on a homosexual pornographic website, authorities said Friday. Three of the soldiers face courts-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex acts for money, said a statement released Friday by the military. Four other soldiers, whose names were not released, received non-judicial punishments. The army has recommended all be discharged. The charges do not mention the name of the site but the division has said previously it was investigating allegations soldiers appeared on...

The US Army has charged seven paratroopers from the celebrated 82nd Airborne Division with engaging in sex acts in video shown on a website. Three of the soldiers face courts-martial on charges of sodomy, pandering and engaging in sex acts for money, according to a statement released today by the military. Four other soldiers, whose names were not released, received non-judicial punishments. The army has recommended that all be discharged. The charges do not mention the name of the site, but the division has said previously it was investigating allegations that soldiers appeared on a gay pornography website. A spokesman...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A Fort Campbell soldier charged with opening fire on his comrades at a shooting range last year was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning on more than two dozen attempted murder and assault-related charges. Pvt. Nicholas D. Mikel, 21, is accused of shooting with a handgun into a physical training formation at the Army post in October. No one was hurt. On Tuesday, Fort Campbell officials announced that the case was referred to a general court-martial, meaning Mikel is moving closer to facing the charges in a military court. Mikel, of DeBary, Fla., was assigned to...