That's nice: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tru...cted-killing-iraqi-prisoner/story?id=62865395 Behenna, 35, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for "unpremeditated murder in a combat zone" after killing suspected al-Qaeda terrorist Ali Mansur. Behenna was paroled in 2014. While Behenna said he killed Mansur in self-defense, during the trial he admitted that he disobeyed orders to return Mansour to his village after he was released from military intelligence and questioned about his connection to an explosion that killed two U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors said Behenna instead interrogated and stripped Mansour naked before shooting him twice.
It's ugly, but the way the Army handled that case was also a nightmare. The Army's highest appellate court ruled that the lower court/tribunal failed to release exonerating evidence to the defendant- to the point that one of the expert witnesses complained about it to the court. The high court also ruled that the prosecutors instructions to the jury were totally whacked. Then the Appellate Court dealt with it by reducing his sentence from life or some high amount to fifteen years, and he did, I think, five. WTf?? The remedy for the findings of the Appellate court should have been either a dismissal or a re-trial, not a reduction in sentence. What kind of bullshit legal process is that. You don't say to a defendant "you got a shitty, unfair trial but we are going to compensate for it by giving you a lesser sentence." That dog don't hunt outside of a military tribunal. As I said above, it is ugly so I am not going to try to clean it up, but I have zero objection to seeing a defendant have a fair trial and access to all exonerating evidence and proper jury instructions are fundamental and a show stopper if violated. Oh, and while we are at it, I am also opposed to Canadians paying multi-million dollar settlements to terrorists who killed U.S soldiers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html Trump May Be Preparing Pardons for Servicemen Accused of War Crimes The White House on Friday requested paperwork needed to pardon several military members, including Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of the Navy SEALs President Trump has indicated that he is considering pardons for several American military members accused or convicted of war crimes, including high-profile cases of murder, attempted murder and desecration of a corpse, according to two United States officials. The officials said that the Trump administration had made expedited requests this week for paperwork needed to pardon the troops on or around Memorial Day. One request is for Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of the Navy SEALs, who is scheduled to stand trial in the coming weeks on charges of shooting unarmed civilians and killing an enemy captive with a knife while deployed in Iraq. The others are believed to include the case of a former Blackwater security contractor recently found guilty in the deadly 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis; the case of Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, the Army Green Beret accused of killing an unarmed Afghan in 2010; and the case of a group of Marine Corps snipers charged with urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters. The military branches referred questions to the Justice Department, which declined to comment on the matter. Mr. Trump has often bypassed traditional channels in granting pardons and wielded his power freely, sometimes in politically charged cases that resonate with him personally, such as the conviction of the former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Earlier this month, the president pardoned former Army First Lt. Michael Behenna, who had been convicted of killing an Iraqi during an interrogation in 2008. While the requests for pardon files are a strong sign of the president’s plans, Mr. Trump has been known to change his mind and it is not clear what the impetus was for the requests. But most of the troops who are positioned for a pardon have been championed by conservative lawmakers and media organizations, such as Fox News, which have portrayed them as being unfairly punished for trying to do their job. Many have pushed for the president to intervene. The White House declined to comment. Pardoning several accused and convicted war criminals at once, including some who have not yet gone to trial, has not been done in recent history, legal experts said. Some worried that it could erode the legitimacy of military law and undercut good order and discipline in the ranks. Other than violating military law, the cases the president is said to be considering defy easy categorization. Navy SEALs who served with Chief Gallagher told authorities he indiscriminately shot at civilians, gunning down a young woman in a flowered hijab and an unarmed old man. They also said he stabbed a teenage captive, then bragged about it in text messages. His trial is set to start at the end of this month. If convicted, he faces life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denies all charges. Major Golsteyn is charged with killing an Afghan man that he and other soldiers said had bomb-making materials. After an interrogation, the soldiers let the man go. Fearing that the man would return to making improvised explosives, which had already killed two Marines in the area, Major Golsteyn later said he killed the man. Mr. Trump has singled both men out on Twitter, calling Major Golsteyn a “U.S. Military hero,” and praising Chief Gallagher for his service to the country. The Blackwater contractor, Nicholas A. Slatten, is one of several Blackwater contractors charged in the killing of 17 Iraqis and the wounding of 20 more on a Baghdad street. After a number of mistrials and other delays, he is the only one who has been convicted.<<<<this one seems hazy as to whether he's on the pardon list The Marines charged in urinating on the corpse of a Taliban fighter were caught after a video of the act was found. The fact that the requests were sent from the White House to the Justice Department, instead of the other way around, is a reversal of long-established practices, said Margaret Love, who served as the United States pardon attorney during the first Bush administration and part of the Clinton administration. Long ago, presidents wielded clemency power directly, Ms. Love said, but that changed at the end of the Civil War when President Lincoln delegated review of clemency requests to his attorney general. Since then, cases have generally been vetted by Justice Department lawyers before being sent to the president. President Trump has upended that practice, often issuing pardons with little or no notice to the Justice Department, she said, adding that the fact the department is requesting files on men like Chief Gallagher at all suggests that Attorney General William P. Barr is trying to re-exert some authority over the process. Process aside, she said that pardoning the men would be an abrupt departure from the past. “Presidents use pardons to send messages. They recognize when a process wasn’t just or when punishments were too extreme, like for some nonviolent drug cases,” she said. “If this president is planning to pardon a bunch of people charged with war crimes, he will use the pardon power to send a far darker message.”
Remember who just took office during his court martial and the direction of the military during that time.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-a...lobbied-trump-to-pardon-accused-war-criminals Fox News Host Pete Hegseth Privately Lobbied Trump to Pardon Accused War Criminals The president isn’t just watching the network, he’s taking policy advice from its morning hosts. If the president pardons U.S. servicemen accused and convicted of war crimes, you can thank one of Donald Trump’s favorite cable-news hosts. Over the weekend, news broke that Trump is preparing to pardon several U.S. servicemen involved in high-profile cases of gunning down civilians or killing detainees, with the White House having already ordered that the necessary paperwork be drawn up ahead of the coming Memorial Day. The news came roughly two months after Trump publicly intervened in what the president called “restrictive” confinement conditions of one of the alleged war criminals. At the heart of both these moves has been a months-long lobbying campaign by Pete Hegseth, a Fox & Friends co-host and a buddy and informal adviser of the president’s. Since as early as January, Hegseth has repeatedly pressed the president to support the accused and convicted servicemen. Among those Hegseth, himself an Iraq War veteran and formerly the head of the conservative group Concerned Veterans for America, has advocated for include Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL platoon leader set to stand trial on May 28 for allegedly shooting civilians, including a school-age girl, and knifing to death a captured ISIS fighter receiving medical treatment in Iraq in 2017.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...oops-in-three-controversial-war-crimes-cases/ Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, convicted of second degree murder in the death of three Afghans, was given a full pardon from president for the crimes. Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who faced murder charges next year for a similar crime, was also given a full pardon for those alleged offenses. Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher, who earlier this fall was acquitted of a string of alleged war crimes, had his rank restored to Chief Petty Officer by the president. Pentagon leaders privately had expressed reservations about the moves, but Defense Secretary Mark Esper has declined comment on the rumored actions in recent days. Last week, he said that he had a “robust” conversation with Trump about the proposed pardons and clemency and that “I do have full confidence in the military justice system and we’ll let things play out as they play out.” "The Army has full confidence in our system of justice. The Uniform Code of Military Justice ensures good order and discipline for uniformed service members while holding accountable those who violate its provisions. The foundation of military law is the Constitution, and the Constitution establishes the President’s power to grant pardons. “The Army will review today’s executive actions in order to implement the presidential orders.” In the wake of Trump’s decision, the official twitter account of Rear Adm. Charles Brown, the Chief of Naval Information, indicated that Navy leaders “acknowledge his order and are implementing it.” While Gallagher was acquitted of murder and obstruction of justice charges in July, a panel of his peers recommended he be reduced in grade for posing with the body of a detainee, a crime he never denied. Lorance’s case dates back to a 2012 deployment to Afghanistan, when he ordered his soldiers to fire on three unarmed men riding a motorcycle near their patrol. Members of his platoon testified against him at a court-martial trial, describing Lorance as over-zealous and the Afghans as posing no real threat. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In recent years, Lorance and his family had waged a long campaign against his sentence, and found a receptive ear in Trump. Golsteyn’s case had not yet been decided. He was scheduled for a December trial on charges he murdered an alleged Taliban bomb maker, and burned his remains in a trash pit during a 2010 deployment with 3rd Special Forces Group. Trump’s action effectively puts an end to that legal case before any verdicts were rendered. https://www.military.com/daily-news...-clemency-soldiers-war-zone-crimes-cases.html Trump Restores Rank to SEAL, Grants Clemency for Soldiers in War Zone Crimes Cases President Trump has granted a full pardon to two soldiers who faced murder charges in war zone deaths, and reinstated the chief petty officer rank of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a dead detainee. In a statement released Friday by White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, Trump announced that former Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Matt Golsteyn would receive Executive Clemency, or a presidential pardon. Lorance is more than six years into a 19-year sentence received after being found guilty of ordering soldiers to fire on three men on a motorcycle during a 2012 patrol in Afghanistan. Golsteyn faced a February 2020 court-martial, accused of murder in connection with the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker in 2010. SEAL Eddie Gallagher was acquitted in July of killing a captive ISIS fighter, but found guilty of taking improper war zone photos and demoted to petty officer 1st class. Trump has ordered his reinstatement to chief. "The President, as Commander-in-Chief, is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the law is enforced and when appropriate, that mercy is granted," Grisham said in the White House statement. "For more than two hundred years, presidents have used their authority to offer second chances to deserving individuals, including those in uniform who have served our country. These actions are in keeping with this long history. As the President has stated, 'when our soldiers have to fight for our country, I want to give them the confidence to fight.'" Trump's Friday announcement had been expected for more than a week; Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran, announced in early November that Trump planned to intervene on behalf of the men. Golsteyn's attorney, Phil Stackhouse, said in a statement that Trump had called the major directly and spoken with him for several minutes to share the news of the pardon. "Our family is profoundly grateful for the President's action," Golsteyn said in a statement. "We have lived in constant fear of this runaway prosecution. Thanks to President Trump, we now have a chance to rebuild our family and lives. With time, I hope to regain my immense pride in having served in our military. In the meantime, we are so thankful for the support of family members, friends and supporters from around the nation, and our legal team." Gallagher's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said that both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had called the SEAL to tell him the news of his promotion. Gallagher, Parlatore said, was excited and grateful for their intervention, although he said some things, like the peace of relative anonymity, could not be restored. "Eddie Gallagher wasn't one of those SEALs you would expect to come out and write a book," Parlatore said. "He loved doing his job, he loved serving his country." Parlatore said the restoration of chief's rank made a "tremendous difference" to Gallagher, not only in the value of retirement pension, but also in the prestige that comes with the rank. Gallagher has submitted retirement paperwork, and hopes to complete the retirement process by the end of the month. "He's very grateful to be able to go into retirement as a chief," Parlatore said. Lorance, who has been serving his sentence at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, may be a free man as soon as tonight, his attorney, John Maher, told Military.com. "The Lorance family is jubilant, as you can imagine, as are we," Maher said. "We think the pardon is wonderful. Right now arrangements are being made for the release of Lt. Lorance, and we will receive him in the dark. It’s looking like that." While Golsteyn and Lorance now face no legal action, pardons do not wipe their records clean. Attorneys for both men had previously said they wanted Trump to assume authority over the cases in order to disapprove sentence and charges, which would allow them to retain military and veteran benefits to which they were entitled. John Maher said Lorance's record will still reflect his dismissal -- the officer equivalent of a dishonorable discharge. He indicated they planned to petition the U.S. Army Board for Correction of Military Records to upgrade Lorance's discharge status. "This is uncharted waters, because not too many folks get a presidential pardon," he said. The statement from the White House noted that many have advocated on behalf of the three men accused of war zone crimes and misbehavior. Some 124,000 signed a White House petition on behalf of Lorance, and 20 legislators have requested clemency for him, the statement noted. Lorance's sentence was upheld by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in 2017 despite attorney arguments that one or more of the men on the motorcycle had links to prior attacks on U.S. troops. The case, however, was set to be reviewed once more by a civilian federal court. Golsteyn's case was originally resolved administratively by the Army as amounting to conduct unbecoming an officer rather than murder. He was recalled to active duty in 2018 by U.S. Army Special Operations Command after it found sufficient evidence existed to charge him. Golsteyn admitted to killing the Afghan man in Marjah, but has maintained it was part of combat operations. "After nearly a decade-long inquiry and multiple investigations, a swift resolution to the case of Major Golsteyn is in the interests of justice," the White House announcement stated. "Clemency for Major Golsteyn has broad support, including from Representatives Louie Gohmert, Duncan Hunter, Mike Johnson, Ralph Abraham, and Clay Higgins, American author and Marine combat veteran Bing West, and Army combat veteran Pete Hegseth." While some have called all three of these cases extraordinary -- and government and prosecutorial misconduct has been alleged at various points in each -- others have alleged Trump's intervention in the workings of military justice sets a troubling precedent. "He is legally allowed to do this; he has the constitutional authority to pardon whomever he wants. So, at the end of the day, this is not a legal issue; this is a moral issue," Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, told Military.com earlier this month. "Trump is breaking his bond trust with the rest of those military members that have to live by those rules. ... He is destroying the difference between us and ISIS; he is destroying the difference between our troops and al-Qaida, between our troops and all of those extremist, anarchist groups that believe anything goes in war."