Watada with members of the treasonous neojohns Iraq Veterans Against the War

  Lawyers for Fort Lewis 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who in June 2006 went public with his refusal to serve in Iraq and said the war is illegal, asked the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday to halt his court-martial, which is only days away.

    Watada’s second court-martial is slated to begin Tuesday. His first court-martial earlier this year ended in a mistrial before a jury could deliberate.

    Watada’s lawyers said they hope for a decision Friday. Monday is a federal holiday, Columbus Day.

    Before Watada’s lawyers announced their move, Fort Lewis officials issued a news release saying the court-martial was slated for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

    Watada is charged with missing movement with his unit to Iraq and of conduct unbecoming an officer for anti-war statements he made in the media and as a speaker at the national convention of Veterans for Peace in Seattle in the summer of 2006. If convicted, he could face up to six years in prison.

    Watada’s case is being appealed on grounds that a second court-martial violates his constitutional protections against double jeopardy - being tried twice on the same charge - because he was court-martialed earlier this year on those charges. But, over his objection, a mistrial was declared "without there being the requisite manifest necessity for such declaration," said court papers filed Wednesday. The military judge, Lt. Col. John Head, ordered a second trial.

    The U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals and Head have ruled otherwise, dismissing the double-jeopardy claims. The issue last month was presented to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the military’s highest court and made up of civilian judges who hear military issues.

    "We believe we have a strong case and are looking forward to litigating the double-jeopardy issue in federal court," one of Watada’s lawyers, Ken Kagan, said.

    Kagan and Jim Lobsenz, both of the Seattle law firm Carney Badley Spellman, Wednesday filed a writ of habeas corpus and a request for an emergency stay in Seattle federal court because the Appeals Court for the Armed Forces has not ruled and the trial date is quickly approaching.

    Among other remedies, Watada’s lawyers have asked the federal court in Seattle "to issue a writ of habeas corpus releasing (Watada) from all restraint imposed by the pending court-martial charges, and declaring any trial on such charges to be barred and prohibited by the double-jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment."

    After learning of the new court challenge, Fort Lewis officials said in a statement that they had followed the law in scheduling a second court-martial.

    "We’ve not seen the filing or heard a ruling on it from the court, so we will not speculate on what effect it may have on next week’s scheduled trial. However, the government has followed the law and rules throughout the process of bringing this case to trial. The U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Balston, Va., determined that this case was not prohibited by double jeopardy and may properly proceed to trial. The court issued its ruling after considering comprehensive briefs and arguments from the parties."

    Kagan said he thinks that there’s a likelihood a federal judge will accept the case because military officers are federal officers who fall under the Seattle federal court’s jurisdiction.

    Kagan said he believes there is "a good chance" the court-martial will be delayed because local federal judges feel bound by precedents of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other higher civilian courts. "Those circuits have looked at this issue and concluded when there is a decent double-jeopardy claim, you have to stop the trial, and you’ve got to review it," Kagan said.

    Court documents show that Watada’s term of service as an active-duty military officer ended in December, but he has been held over because of the legal proceedings. He refused to go to Iraq in June 2006 with the 3rd Stryker Brigade.

Source

PHOENIX (AP) — The Pentagon has ordered an Army soldier temporarily housed in Maricopa County’s "tent city" jail for being absent without leave returned to military custody, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Friday.

"I think they want to review the program," Arpaio said.

"We are going to get him today, and he will come back here in Army custody," Fort Huachuca spokesman Maj. Matt Garner said in Sierra Vista.

Garner said the decision to return the soldier to Fort Huachuca was made between officials at the fort and at Army level.

Earlier this week, Arpaio announced that he had agreed to take prisoners serving sentences for being AWOL at the jail, which houses prisoners in old Army tents.

Officials at Fort Huachuca had said they hoped the soldiers’ experiences in the "tent city" would be close to the living accommodations of soldiers in Iraq.

Arpaio said the original decision was a good one, "and I still say it’s a good decision. Isn’t it amazing that the guy’s doing time in a Korean War tent?"

Fort officials were enthusiastic about sending the AWOL soldier to the jail and felt that "this soldier really learned a lot in the hot tent," the sheriff said.

Those officials believe that the heat "is a deterrence," Arpaio said. He added that he had talked to the soldier a few days ago in the tent, "and he said he sure did learn his lesson."

Arpaio said he hopes that the Pentagon will send him more AWOL soldiers.

"We have about 2,000 people, and we can talk a few more," he said.

Source

Speaking of shit…

The  treasonous Neojohns at Iraq Veterans Against The War (All of whom enlisted into the US military of their own volition while America is at war), are stepping up efforts to get onto US military bases to talk soldiers into going AWOL. The IVAW is claiming over 10,000 soldiers have gone AWOL in resistance to the Iraq war. Of course that’s a blatant lie, but the truth is a foreign concept to these treasonous bastards.