Court-Martial roundup . . . The Rest of the Story

Thanks to Dew Process for noting some additional court-martial news. And now, the rest of the story:

As Dew noted, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo faces an Art. 32 on Wed., Dec. 3, 2008. See Stars and Stripes report here. Mayo, Sgt. Leahy and 1st Sgt. Hatley are "accused of shooting four unarmed Iraqi detainees near a canal in southwest Baghdad in March or April 2007."

Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich has apparently retained Charles Gittins to defend him in a case involving the death of two senior NCOs in Bozicevich's Company. See Coastal Courier report here. According to the report, Sgt. Boz. has been in pretrial confinement since the incident on Sept. 14 and is now held at Fort Stewart. No word on an Art. 32 date. According to a US Army Special Forces Command news release, here, MSgt Joseph Newell was arraigned back in Sep 2008 for "charges stemming from the alleged murder and desecration of an unidentified Afghan male encountered by U.S. forces during combat operations near Hyderabad, Afghanistan in March of [2008]." The press release said the trial was set to begin on January 7, 2009 at Fort Bragg. For those not familiar with the case, this is the severed ear case, see prior post. No indication of a capital referral.

The case of 1st Lt Michael Behenna and Staff Sgt Warner, accused of murdering a detainee in Iraq, has fallen off the radar since their September 2008 Art. 32 hearings. See Newsmax report here. Let us know if you have any inside scoop. The Newsmax story reported that the cases might be moved stateside (the 32s were held in Iraq) when the soldiers' unit returned home. Send tips to noman@caaflog.com or caaflog@caaflog.com. Interesting aside, Behenna's mother was one of the AUSAs responsible for prosecuting Timothy McVeigh.

The Weemer and Nelson non-capital courts-martial at Camp Pendleton appear to be heading into 2009. The pair are accused of killing a detainee during the Battle for Fallujah in 2004, along with Sgt. Luis Nazario who was acquitted in a MEJA prosecution after Weemer and Nelson refused to testify against him. See CAAFlog coverage here. Motions hearings were held in the Nelson court martial on Nov. 9, 2008, according to a Pendleton press release, here. Here is a great page hosted by Camp Pendleton with one stop shopping on Marine Corps Iraq prosecutions, at least those at Camp Pendleton.