Lt. Watada court-martial ends in mistrial.

The_Zergling · Feb 11, 2007

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Fort Lewis, Washington - The court-martial of First Lt. Ehren Watada, a commissioned US Army officer who refused deployment to Iraq on the basis that he believed the war was illegal, has ended in a mistrial, a military court judge ruled Wednesday.

In a stunning defeat for military prosecutors, Lt. Col. John Head, the military judge presiding over Watada's court-martial, said he had no choice but to declare a mistrial because military prosecutors and Watada's defense attorney could not reach an agreement regarding the characterization of a stipulation agreement Watada signed before the start of his court-martial. The judge characterized the stipulation agreement as an admission of guilt by Watada for "missing movement" and making statements against the Iraq war.

Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, said the stipulation Watada signed, however, was by no means an admission of guilt by his client. Rather, it was a statement of fact that his client believed the Iraq war was illegal, and that he refused to deploy to the region with his unit because of his beliefs.

The original charges were:

* 2 specifications Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman (for statements made in speeches and interviews) (Article 133)
* 1 specification Missing Movement (for refusing to deploy to Iraq on June 22) (Article 87)

September 15 last year, the Army had leveled another charge against Watada of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman", based on remarks that he made at a Veterans for Peace convention. This increased the potential prison term time to 8 1/2 years if convicted of all charges. 6 of the years would have been for statements made regarding the war as opposed to his refusal to deploy to Iraq. Prosecutors justified the charge by asserting:

"contempt for the President and suggestion that US soldiers can stop the war simply by refusing to fight borders on mutiny and sedition."

On the flip side, defendants noted:

the Army added the new charge to make a public example of him: "He's not doing anything other than saying things he believes to be true, and that we believe are true. This makes it that much clearer that this is just a political prosecution, and that's really all this case has been about from the beginning."

The "contempt for officials" charges were later dropped.

Note for those of you who haven't been following the story, Lieutenant Watada was not refusing to be deployed anywhere, just Iraq. He was willing to go into Afghanistan. Say what you will about his decision or his views, but it certainly took guts.

Watada said:
When you are looking your children in the eye in the future, or when you are at the end of your life, you want to look back on your life and know that at a very important moment, when I had the opportunity to make the right decisions, I did so, even knowing there were negative consequences.

Lt. Watada court-martial ends in mistrial.

The_Zergling

Junior Member