Posted on 08/18/2007 12:38:57 PM PDT by RedRover
Sgt. Vela is currently detained in Kuwait, charged with one specification alleging premeditated murder, one specification alleging he wrongfully placed a weapon with the remains of a deceased Iraqi, one specification of making a false official statement, and one specification alleging obstruction of justice.
Just days ago, the Army JAG assigned to Sgt. Vela's case recommended that an Article 32 be waived. Sgt. Vela had signed a statement, the inexperienced young JAG captain told Sgt. Vela's father, that the Army viewed as a confession.
But now, through a grassroots network of volunteers (whose home base is the website, Free Republic), the law firm of Gary Myers, Jim Culp and Associates will defend Sgt. Evan Vela in the Iskandariyah case.
Renowned defense attorney Jim Culp (a former paratrooper, infantry sergeant, veteran trial lawyer and the first military officer to serve nearly six consecutive years with the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service as a Defense Counsel and Senior Defense Counsel) is on a plane to Kuwait to take up Sgt. Vela's defense.
More details will follow
Xzins posted a thread on the Iskandariyah case. Sgt. Evan Vela's uncle, bigheadfred, found the thread and posted to xzins.
bigheadfred said that Sgt. Vela's JAG attorney was waiving his Article 32. Naturally, this alarmed xzins who pinged me. I contacted Sgt Vela's father and wrote to Freeper defend our marine for advice.
Long story short....
Many an e-mail, Freepmail, and ping later, the JAG is himself on waivers and the big guns are rolling in.
I have little knowledge about the case itself and am not declaring anyone's innocence. All I know is that our defenders deserve due process and the best defense in a courtroom that they can get.
I also wanted to tell this story because many people may post on these threads without any idea where a post can lead.
For myself, I'm always just astonished how much difference a little bit of caring, and making connections, can make in this world.
Agree 110%.
I agree and I appreciate what you and others have done to support these Marines and help get them representation.
I agree 220% plus a smile and nod.
Great job, guys. Thanks, xzins, for bringing this up. Thanks, Red, for making all the connections. Hopefully, atty Culp can make some sense out of this. Now the family has to come up with a way to pay their loved one’s defense. BTW, why are they in Kuwait? I noted one of the guys who was home visiting, was flown back to Kuwait.
Thanks, Red. You are on the side of the angels.
Every single troop we have deserves the very best representation that money can buy. In fact, I believe that the government should have to give equal dollars to the defense that they spend on the prosecution. It isn’t ETHICAL for the prosecution to have access to a bottomless pit of money and resources, and for these poor families to have to fight for every dime.
LOL!
(For 2 Legal Clerks and a law student to be named later. :>)
I've yet to see a prosecution with access to bottomless money and resources.
The prosecution is government funded. The defendants must either accept a public defender or buy their own.
In the Haditha case the NCIS acted as an arm of the prosecution....
Since you imply that you've seen a substantial number of prosecutions, are you aware of a cap on money and resources? Is there a dollar number, in your estimable wisdom, that you can share, or do you consider it a national security secret that you are privy to?
Excellent questions, Smooth. I would also like to know if jude knows of any cap or maximum dollar amount that exists with the NCIS.
Red, I thought you posted what you thought the prosecution had spent in Haditha at one point in the prosecution. It may have been a total guess, don’t know. I’m guessing they are in the tens of millions at this point. Do you have any idea?
He does not know of any cap on $$$. However, if someone is able to spend a million, that absolutely dwarfs anything the defense can ever hope to come up with.
And if the investigators are not neutral, looking hard to exhonerate soldiers, then they are an arm of the prosecution, and their expenses should be counted as prosection expenditures.
The number I saw reported was $43 million. But I’m not sure if that number is trustworthy.
I imagine it costs a fair amount of money to fly into Baghdad. Not sure how it’s done.
Well said, Chaplin, a common sense answer. I believe most of us realize that to be true.
Until the surge started working....very quickly!
Exactly. I'm sure we will all turn blue, waiting for an answer from The Know-It-All, jude24.
The fact that any federal agency, whether it be noble, nuetral, or corrupt, can overwhelm any American on a whim or an agenda, is irrefutable.
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