COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: General
Court-Martial Ends in Mistrial
Associated Press
February 08, 2007
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in thecourt-martial of an Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq,
saying the Soldier did not fully understand a document he signed in
which he admitted to elements of the charges.
Prosecutors said 1st Lt. Ehren Watada admitted in the document that he
had a duty to go to Iraq with his fellow Soldiers.
But Watada, under questioning with the military jury absent, said he had
intended to admit only that he had not gone to Iraq, not that he was
duty-bound to deploy to Iraq with his unit.
Military judge Lt. Col. John Head set a March 19 datefor a new trial
and dismissed the jurors. Watada's lawyer objected tothe mistrial and
said a second one would amount to double jeopardy -more than one
prosecution for the same alleged crime.
Watada, 28, of Honolulu, had been expected to testify
in his own defense Wednesday.
He is the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing
to go to Iraq, said Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute
of Military Justice in Washington, D.C.
In the 12-page stipulation of fact he signed last month, Watada
acknowledged that he refused to deploy last June with the 3rd Brigade,
2nd Infantry Division, and that he made public statements criticizing
the Iraq war. Watada has said he refused to go to Iraq because he
believes the war is illegal.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped two charges of conduct unbecoming an
officer against him. He remains charged with missing movement - for his
refusal to deploy - and two other allegations of conduct unbecoming an
officer for comments made about the case. He could receive four years in
prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted.
When the disagreement over Watada's admission surfaced, the judge
indicated he was unsure whether he could accept the
document. Since much of the Army's evidence was laid out in it, prosecutors
requested the mistrial. Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, opposed the
request.
After the mistrial was declared, Seitz said he didn't
think his client could be tried again because it would be the
equivalent of double jeopardy. Should the Army proceed with a second trial,
Seitz said he would seek dismissal of the charges with prejudice so
they could not be refiled.
If that request is not granted, he will appeal, hesaid.
"Our hope is, at this point, that the Army will
realize that this case is a hopeless mess," Seitz said.
Lt. Col. Robert Resnick of the Judge Advocate
General's office at Fort Lewis said double jeopardy does not apply.
In their opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors said
Watada abandoned his Soldiers and brought disgrace upon himself and the
service by accusing the Army of war crimes and denouncing the
Bush administration.
Seitz countered that Watada acted in good conscience,
based on his own
convictions.
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