Defense Rests in Abuse Court-Martial (Graner - Abu Ghraib)

The Washington Post ^ | January 14, 2005 | T.R. Reid

[Anti-Bubba182]

FORT HOOD, Tex., Jan. 13 -- After a military judge again rebuffed their efforts to probe the role of senior Army officers in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, defense lawyers for former guard Charles A. Graner Jr. rested their case Thursday, leaving the defendant's fate up to a 10-man military jury.

The judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, scheduled final arguments and legal instructions for early Friday morning, meaning the jury will likely start deliberations before lunch. If it convicts Graner on the five counts against him, the reservist could face as much as 17 1/2 years in the stockade.

Graner, 36, did not take the witness stand -- as his lawyers initially indicated he would -- to explain his conduct at the prison near Baghdad, where U.S. soldiers' beatings and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners sparked a global wave of anti-American indignation. His lawyer, Guy Womack, said the defense "came in with a checklist of things we wanted to present to the jury. Once we accomplished that, there was no reason to continue."

As has happened all week, testimony at the court-martial Thursday suggested that senior officers at Abu Ghraib knew about the conduct of guards who have been charged with crimes in the cellblock known as "One-Alpha."....[snip]

[Anti-Bubba182]

My guess is the verdict is guilty and they throw the book at him, then his attorney Womack starts appearing on TV shows.

[phoenix0468]

I think more than a book needs to be thrown at Graner. He was one of the more "excitable" guards at the prison. If the head honchos at Abu Ghraib were so "in on this" than why is most of the abuse isolated to the one cell block and the one guard unit? Kind of blows the defense's theory out of the water doesn't it?

[Anti-Bubba182]

Graner was also a prison guard in civilian life. He was in
a position to know better. I would go as far as to say that
without him this scandal might very well have not occurred. I
see him as the principle instigator and ringleader in the extra curricular activities at Abu Ghraib. As an experienced
civilian prison guard and apparently an intimidating person, the others followed his lead.

[phoenix0468]

Yes, many reports of him being quite the disciplinarian at his civilian job as well. He had a reputation for "being able to keep the animals in the zoo in line." I am sure the inmates he watched over here at home won't miss him.

[PAR35]

Graner, 36, did not take the witness stand -- as his lawyers initially indicated he would

Not generally a smart move to say your client will testify, and then hold him off the stand.

[Anti-Bubba182]

From what I have read of the trial, his case was not going well and he would be talking to military judges who can't be that happy with him. If he got caught in a lie on cross examination it would go worse for him. On the other hand, I
think he is probably going to get hammered anyway.

[RegT]

Whoever was giving him legal advice (Womack?) was deluded. There is no possible way he could have come out of this with a not guilty verdict, and his best course would have been that taken by his fellow guards (guilty plea).

Having said that, I am glad this trial took place, because the testimony went a long way in showing that these were indeed 'isolated incidents', despite all the outrageous hype from the media (mainly NYT - 200+ articles?).

Not that anyone (especially in the Mideast where it really matters) was paying attention, of course. They have the appalling photos, and that is all that is needed to propagate the image of the US as a depraved colonial power.

Damn Graner to hell (and no, he is not just a 'scapegoat').

[Anti-Bubba182]

Verdict just in, Graner guilty.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Ha! Graner's attorney on O'Reilly tonight.