Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Capital court-martial sitrep

According to this article from the lower Hudson Valley's Journal News, the ongoing capital court-martial of Army Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez is mired in the member selection stage. While the trial on the merits was expected to start at Fort Bragg this week, opening statements have now "been postponed until further notice." Staff Sergeant Martinez is charged with two specifications of premeditated murder arising from the deaths of his company commander and another officer from the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq.

In other Fort Bragg capital court-martial news, the Fayetteville Observer reports here that the retrial of Sergeant William Kreutzer, expected to start in January, will likely be pushed back further. When ACCA originally reviewed the case, it affirmed the findings of guilty to offenses to which Kreutzer had pleaded guilty and set aside the findings of guilty to premeditated murder and 18 specs of attempted premeditated murder and set aside the death sentence. United States v. Kreutzer, 59 M.J. 773, 784 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 2004). CAAF affirmed. United States v. Kreutzer, 61 M.J. 293 (C.A.A.F. 2005). From the Observer article, it appears that the issue of whether Sgt Kreutzer should be allowed to withdraw his pleas of guilty that ACCA has already affirmed is somehow back before ACCA. But the article doesn't suggest what procedural mechanism returned the case to ACCA. Can anyone shed further light on this? Army Lurker? Bueller? Bueller?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The defense moved to have the pleas dismissed as inprovident and, as a result, the military judge at the retrial allowed the acused to withdraw his pleas. Reported back to ACCA under RCM 810(a)(2)(B).

Anonymous said...

Any updates on the other capital cases sent back for rehearings such as Quintilla and Walker?