Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Article 32 hearing held in contractor case

An update on the case of Alaa Mohammad Ali, the civilian contractor charged under the UCMJ with aggravated assault: according to Reuters, the Article 32 hearing was convened (and apparently completed) today:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military held a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday for an interpreter accused of a stabbing in Iraq, the first attempt to apply military law to civilian contractors working for U.S. forces in Iraq.

... [Ali's] pre-trial hearing took place in a courtroom at a U.S. base in Baghdad with witnesses who were unable to be present testifying by video link, the military said in a statement.

4 comments:

Cloudesley Shovell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cloudesley Shovell said...

It would appear that US military bases in Baghdad have better-equipped courtrooms than those I am familiar with right here in the United States.

John O'Connor said...

Well, they might have a bigger problem with witnesses not wanting to travel to the situs of the court-martial than there is at your base.

Cloudesley Shovell said...

Well, there's that....and the fact that I have not litigated a court-martial trial since 2002, in a courtroom no longer exists. Does anyone know if they still use that crappy courtroom in that WWII-era shack at NAS Whidbey Island?

Speaking of courtrooms and such, I am sure that many readers of CAAFlog will be looking forward to the completion and opening of the new military justice building at the Navy Yard. Any gouge on that from readers at the Navy Yard?