Article

2004-07-30 Iraq-Jordan

Military Weighs Immunity in Drowning Case

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Posted by Steve White 2004-07-30 12:54:33 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 ...Yeah, but the Article 15 also means their careers are toast, all over, stick-a-fork-in-'em done. For officers, the US military is pretty much a one-mistake culture.
Having said that, I would be inclined to agree with their insisting on immunity before testifying against the EMs. I ran across a couple of instances where someone thought they were getting away, only to find that they were about to be charged under a different article. Not knowing exactly what they were hit with in the first place, I'm guessing that they could have been - or may still be - charged under:

ART. 9. IMPOSITION OF RESTRAINT
ART. 10. RESTRAINT OF PERSONS CHARGED WITH OFFENSES
ART. 11. REPORTS AND RECEIVING OF PRISONERS
ART. 13 PUNISHMENT PROHIBITED BEFORE TRIAL
ART. 80. ATTEMPTS
ART. 81. CONSPIRACY
ART. 82. SOLICITATION (specifically part B)
ART. 92. FAILURE TO OBEY ORDER OR REGULATION
ART. 93. CRUELTY AND MALTREATMENT
ART. 97. UNLAWFUL DETENTION
ART. 99. MISBEHAVIOR BEFORE THE ENEMY (specifically #3)
ART. 191. MANSLAUGHTER
ART. 124. MAIMING
ART. 128. ASSAULT
ART. 131. PERJURY
ART. 133. CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

...As you can see, the UCMJ pretty much covers everything. That's one reason courts-martials have such high conviction rates (those twinkie prosecutors you see on JAG would last about three days losing that many cases) - if they can't get you on one thing, they'll do it on another.
And finally, when all else fails, you can be charged under Article 134, the General Article, to wit:

"Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court."

Hope those lads are reading the fine print VERY carefully.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2004-07-30 2:01:39 AM|| 2004-07-30 2:01:39 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 That's one reason courts-martials have such high conviction rates (those twinkie prosecutors you see on JAG would last about three days losing that many cases) - if they can't get you on one thing, they'll do it on another.

That's based on who's doing the prosecuting. In my now-admittedly ancient experience, Navy JAGs tend to be sticklers, and you didn't see "2 from Menu A, 3 from Menu B" charges. However, they got convictions because the evidence/testimony was solid enough to bring up multiple charges. A good JAGMAN investigation is thorough (also from experience).

Posted by Pappy 2004-07-30 7:54:31 PM|| 2004-07-30 7:54:31 PM|| Front Page Top

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