Posted on 09/14/2010 1:00:58 AM PDT by STARWISE
Complete Title:
Retired JAG Officer Says Judge’s Ruling Against Discovery for Lakin Could Derail Case Based on Legal Precedent
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A retired JAG officer with over 23 years of experience, says the military judge who ruled against discovery for a Greeley Army officer may have derailed the government’s case based on precedent from another high profile case involving a military officer.
Lt. Col John Eidsmoe, a retired Air Force officer who works for former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore at the Foundation for Moral Law, said Lakin is “raising legitimate constitutional questions” regarding President Obama’s eligibility to be commander-in-chief.
Eidsmoe said the issue has been around for several years and was first raised by Phillip Berg, a liberal Democrat who was a Hillary Clinton supporter.
“If he is a legitimate citizen of the United States, he could easily clear that up just by releasing the information to prove it,” Eidsmoe said
“When the national interest is at stake, he has a duty to put personal feelings aside and show us he’s legitimate, if he is.”
Last week at a hearing on the motion for documents relating to the President’s eligibility under the Constitution, the judge ruled Lakin did not have any rights to discovery.
Jensen (Ltc Lakin's attorney) said in the morning the judge listened very intently and she “found our arguments very appealing.”
After lunch she issued a motion ruling against Lakin on all counts. In a meeting with the press afterwards, Jensen said he “was astonished that she would leave them with no defense whatsoever.”
He went on to say that they were going to be given “no discovery at all” and they would be barred from “introducing any witnesses on the legality of the order.” Jensen said that they will immediately appeal the ruling to the Army Court of Criminal appeals as this ruling completely prevents them from providing a defense.
In issuing the decision, Lind said Lakin would not be permitted to call witnesses because it has the “potential for embarrassment” of the President. Margaret Hemenway, spokeswoman for Col. Lakin, said the judge appeared to imply Lakin could be a racist by asking if this would be happening if Bush were the commander-in-chief.
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((Note: this is allegedly how Judge Lind stated the 'embarrassment' issue:
“The potential for embarrassment from multifarious pronouncements by various departments on one question are uniquely powerful to ensure that courts-martial do not become the vehicle for adjudicating the legality of political decisions and to ensure the military’s capacity to maintain good order and discipline in the armed forces.”
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In the decision the government stated that even if Obama is not eligible it would not matter and all actions taken by the president would still be valid. They also state that Lakin is “duty bound to follow the lawful orders of his superiors even if the eligibility of the President under the constitution is later found deficient.”
The issue of the president’s birthplace is outweighed by “the danger of confusing the issues” according to prosecutors.
Eidsmoe said these statements could possibly cause problems for the government’s case based on precedent set in another recent high profile case involving Lt. Col. Michael Murphy.
Murphy was a high ranking official who served as general counsel to the White House Military office under President George W. Bush.
In 2006 the Air Force discovered he had been disbarred for over 20 years in Texas and Louisiana, however, Murphy had told the Air Force he was never subject to any disciplinary issues. The military charged him with nine counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and one count of failure to obey a general regulation.
At the arraignment his lawyers requested records from his time with the WHMO arguing the records were needed in order to provide a defense. The WHMO refused to release the documents requested and the judge agreed, ruling that the information was not harming the lawyer’s ability to mount a defense to the charges which did not directly relate to his time at WHMO.
The Air Force Times reported that, “The information would not relate to the facts of the case but could have been useful in presenting what is known as the "good airman” defense, a doctrine in military law that allows the defense to present information about the defendant’s character and job performance.”
The judge also ruled that a lack of access to the records would affect the defense’s ability to demonstrate Murphy’s good conduct and performance during the sentencing phase of the trial, calling the ability to present mitigating evidence about conduct “a substantial right of a military accused.”
The judge also ruled that even if found Murphy he could not be punished and the Air Force of Criminal Courts agreed.
Eidsmoe said the circumstances in the Murphy case are very similar to Lakin’s case with the refusal to allow documents and witnesses related to the President’s eligibility.
Two days prior to the ruling, a former three-star Air Force general I who was a command pilot with 407 combat missions, filed an affidavit supporting of Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. Retired Lt. General Thomas McInerney said in an affidavit filed prior to Lakin’s September 2nd court hearing that officers are and must be “trained that they owe their highest allegiance to the United States Constitution.” He goes on to state as part of a training officers received is that they “must disobey an illegal order.”
On the eligibility issue, McInerney said “if he is ineligible under the Constitution to serve in that office, that creates a break in the chain of command of such magnitude that its significance can scarcely be imagined.”
He went on to note part of his duties including commanding forces equipped with nuclear weapons and it was important “that the personnel with access to these weapons have unwavering in absolute confidence in the unified chain of command, because such confidence was absolutely essential in the event the use of those weapons were authorized.”
Gen. McInerney was the former assistant vice Chief of Staff, headquarters U.S. Air Force Washington, DC. Additionally he has logged over 4100 flying hours, including 407 combat missions as a command pilot. Commenting on Lakin’s refusal to obey orders, the general praised him saying, “In refusing to obey orders because of his doubts as to the legality, LTC Lakin has acted exactly as proper training dictates.”
Praising Lakin for following his conscience, McInerney said it was vital for the judge to grant Lakin’s request for discovery pertaining to the President's birth records as “absolutely essential to determining not merely his guilt or innocence, but to reassuring all military personnel once and for all for this president whether his service as commander-in-chief is constitutionally proper” noting that the President “is the single person in the chain of command that the Constitution demands proof of natural born citizenship.” He also said that “allowing access to these records is critical to our Republic.”
Supporters of the President have said there is no need for Obama to release any of the records requested because the online copy of the certification of live birth released during the campaign is sufficient proof. They also claim that the President is under no obligation to release them citing privacy laws.
McInerney disputes that saying, “The invasion of his privacy in these records is utterly trivial compared to the issues at stake here.
McInerney is the third former general to come out in support of Lt. Col. Lakin, and the highest ranking member of the military thus far.
Other discrepancies in the President’s childhood history have also helped fuel the controversy. Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro, claimed in an interview with the Rainbow Newsletter in 2004 that he was born at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu on August 4, 1961. In an interview with the Honolulu Star Bulletin in February 2008, she stated that he was born at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.
Additionally, there are numerous foreign news sources disputing his Hawaiian birth. The Kenyan Observer in 2008 made reference to “the Kenyan born senator.” African Travel Magazine declared “as Kenyan born, US Senator Barrack Obama gets into Kenya today…”
Ping..............
I think the jackass I mentioned in my previous message was arguing the old "Bush stole the election so he's not really president" line of BS.
I think if you'd read the article, you wouldn't think, you'd know.
(And BTW, what you think is 100% wrong)...
” Basically, what this article might be saying of what this ex JAG officer is saying , is for the Obama administration, Obama’s hench men better not open the corks of the champagne bottles just yet because the judge miffed up the case for the government by not allowing Lakin a proper defense or discovery in this case by looking at another high profile case as precedent. “
This case will go “upstairs, which was probably the intent of the defense all along.
Listen n00b, you had better make sure that the “Z” in your name doesn’t equal “LL,” get it?
To compare 0b0z0 to President Bush in any way, shape or form won’t be tolerated here. Get it?
We see through injecting communist talking points defending your usurper then labeling them “BS.”
Your tactics won’t fly here.
Now, scram!
Who can deny that the man speaks with forked tongue?
~~~~~~~
November 22, 2009
Obama’s pro-Muslim words
By Grant Swank
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/swank/091122
Let Barack Hussein Obama speak for himself:
“The person who made me proudest of all though was my (half-brother), Roy. He was converted to Islam.” (DREAMS OF MY FATHER)
“In Indonesia, I spent two years at a Muslim school. . .I studied the Koran.” (DREAMS OF MY FATHER)
“Lolo (Obama’s stepfather) followed Islam. . .I looked to Lolo for guidance.” (AUDACITY OF HOPE)
” I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds of war shift in any ugly direction. . .” (AUDACITY OF HOPE)
“We are no longer just a Christian nation. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” (INAUGURAL SPEECH)
So, was the judge using “embarrassment” to describe conflicting rulings by multiple jurisdictions or personal embarrassment to Barry?
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Yes .. appears to be the former.
I’m glad you post the charges. They do connect at least one of these chages to the Constituional chain of command in citing that Lakin had a TCS order based on the “support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” which falls under the authority of the president.
If the trial was to be fair and honest, it probably would. But , this trial is not fair or honest, the purpose of this trial is to protect obama and make an example of those who question his eligibility.
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I agree .. and I have no doubt that -0’s barracuda attorney, Robert Bauer, and his henchmen have contacted all who’ve been in the judicial position to hear these many causes with ‘advisory’ legal verbage and legal suggestions.
Neither type of embarrassment makes for a particularly strong legal argument. Lakin’s defense isn’t asking for the court to remove the president from office nor is it asking the court to perform a specific Constitutional function reserved for another branch of government, since there’s is no defined role for verifying the eligibility of a president. At best the court establishes that Obama does not meet the Constitutional requirements for the office of president. It would still be up to Congress to decide whether to remove Obama from office. In the meantime, Lakin is justified and exonerated.
Let me amend that: simply isn't smart enough to be a paid troll.
After lunch she issued a motion ruling against Lakin on all counts. In a meeting with the press afterwards, Jensen said he “was astonished that she would leave them with no defense whatsoever.”
As people have noticed, this is pretty odd. One explanation, which I remember seeing on the first thread discussing this decision, is that she did it deliberately. By doing it this way, she gave the defense some nice ammunition, but cannot easily be faulted, for springing to Obama's defense like that.
No way to know for sure, and that's what's so nice about it--IF she did it on purpose.
She has not protected the president.Quite to the comntrary.She has pplaced him in profound danger.
If the issue of Obama's qualification is denied because of reasons of embarassment to the Commander in Cheif, it puts the military of our nation a huge step closer to outright rebellion, mass refusals to obey orders of the C in C, and the taking up of arms against our own executive branch of government. Therefore her decision is a travesty to the Bill of Rights, due process, and to the protection of the Office of President.
Of course, liberals think history and jurisprudence are emminently flexible,like the living comnstitution, when in fact they are based on what works and what does not.They are not subject to wholesale redefinition at the whim of even a military justice. This decision is a horrible preface to disorder, for that may now be the only avenue that is available for pursuit of the constitution. Free people do not countenance any brick wall as an obstacle, they go over , through , or under it.
This judge has in the context of history brought us markedly closer to civil war, a huge step which in the future may be described as a shot heard round the world.Therefore she should be reviled with infamy.
Many dumb communists will constitute the pre-election invasion of FR.
They start earlier and earlier.
I have no doubt that the paid ones are smart and educated enough to play dumb and have a lot of typos, grammatical mistakes and the usual half higher-case wording! LOL!
The precidential decision precludes the Military from proceeding to take disciplinary action against the defendant. The point of this article is that this may simply be the end of the Military effort to hold Lakin responsible for refusing to obey the order. A backdoor effort implemented by the military to moot the argument without addressing the merits.
Lakin hasn't got a decision (enforcement or criminal penalty) that would open the door to a collateral attack in Federal Court.
His only remedy from where he now sits is to appeal on the grounds set forth that the Military cannot prosecute him and deny him access to discovery and due process to defend his position.
The prior decision would imply that the answer might be to uphold that argument and order the trial judge to dismiss the prosecution. That is a way for the military to end the case without being forced to address the merits of Lakin's defense.
Where does that leave Lakin? Still in the Military; presumably getting paid until they discharge him which they probably then do in some summary proceeding--doubtful they discharge him dishonorably because that would give him another legal avenue to pursue the basis for the discharge. They give him some class of discharge, maybe honorable, and the attack on the authority of the Commander in Chief goes away which is what they want to happen.
There is a distinction from the earlier case--there, no order existed to raise the issue of enforcement. But as I understand the Lakin case, the military does not assert any basis to enforce other than this penalty action for failure to obey.
An appeal may be the end of this case.
I agree that Rush ignores big issues but I think he believes that issues like the birth certificate are going nowhere so he avoids it like it's a TRAP. Personally I think there is at least a 99.9% probability that Obama does NOT have a Hawaiian birth certificate, we won't get to 100% until he is ordered to produce one or else (impeachment, or jail....)
BUT let's forget the messenger, the important question: Is Obama a plant who is trying to DESTROY the UNITED STATES any way he can?
Economically? Only an absolute idiot would say that the "stimulus" was anything but a waste of money
Oil Drilling Moratorium: Only an idiot would think that Obama is doing this for safety. The Demo Party has been fighting for HUGE TRADE DEFICITS for decades. WHY?
Open Borders: Notice there are traitors on both sides of the aisle here, Bush tried to get Amnesty passed too. It is a key part of the plan to destroy America as we know it. Without opening the borders to mass immigration, America can handle it and we remain a superpower.
The traitors will do anything to keep the game going and Obama is now their star player.
The bottom line in my previous post is that Obama is doing everything a traitor following the Cloward-Piven plan would do to destroy America. The only thing Americans needs to decide: Is Obama doing these traitorous, destructive acts on purpose? The obvious answer is of course he is, how much more do you need to see?
If the issue of Obama’s qualification is denied because of reasons of embarassment to the Commander in Cheif
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I don’t believe that is the embarrassment to which
she referred.
That is the only charge as I read them that even comes close to having Obama in the chain of command. However it appears the deployment wasn’t from NC but was from KY. It appears to me that was a transit leg to get from DC to KY in order to deploy with the command. I maybe reading this entirely wrong, just my take.
Thanks for your insight.
Hands off .. any way feasible .. seems
to be the MO.
No it's part of a conspiracy so vast that we cannot begin to comprehend its dimensions.
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