I know there was a bit of a delay because many of the witnesses were in combat, but I believe the defense also stalled a bit with a sanity evaluation. Also, the military justice system has some characteristics in common with its civilian counterpart, including a rather glacial pace at times.
FMC, can you provide any additional insight here?
The biggest reason for the delay the following:
The April trial date represents a delay granted to defense attorneys, who say they want to gather evidence to support their argument that Akbar was insane at the time of the March 2003 attack, which came just days into the Iraq war.
I also ran across the following:
A Fort Bragg judge has postponed the trial of an Army sergeant accused of attacking his unit on the eve of the invasion of Iraq.
The delay was granted Tuesday to give Sgt. Hasan Akbar's lawyers more time to develop an insanity defense.
The judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley, postponed the court-martial from Oct. 25 to Feb. 15.
"I agree some additional time is needed to develop an insanity defense," he said during the hearing, which lasted about an hour and 10 minutes.
The trial date will come almost two years after the March 23, 2003, grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait that left two officers dead and 14 soldiers wounded.
Akbar, a combat engineer who was with the 101st Airborne Division at the time of the attacks, is charged with two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder. He faces death if convicted.
Wazir Ali Muhammad Al-Haqq, Akbar's lead civilian lawyer, said the defense needs extra time to prepare a "mental health defense."
Two defense mitigation experts - a cultural anthropologist and a psychiatrist - have only recently been hired to work on the case, and both need until March to do their work, he said.
Al-Haqq told Henley that when he joined the defense team in April that no work had been done to develop an insanity defense.
He said George Woods, the psychiatrist working on the case, has made a preliminary diagnosis and needs more time to develop it.
Al-Haqq declined after the hearing to elaborate on the diagnoses. "He believed there was indeed a strong indication of a mental health issue in this matter," he told Henley.
Woods has been working on the case under contract since July 20. Scharlette Holdman, a cultural anthropologist from Oakland, Calif., has been under contract since Aug. 4.
Her job, Al-Haqq said, is to interview Akbar's family. A previous defense expert, Deborah Grey, lost the trust of Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, and was unable to finish her work.
Holdman replaced Grey and is working to complete the family interviews needed to finish a defense mitigation report. Al-Haqq said the report will explore Akbar's childhood and his schooling.
Holdman will talk to former girlfriends, family and anyone else with insight into Akbar's life, Al-Haqq said. "It goes into the roots of his life," he said.
Defense experts
Capt. David Coombs, one of Akbar's military lawyers, said the experts might need more money to do their jobs.
"Dr. Woods and Dr. Holdman are the heart of the defense strategy," he said.
Lt. Col. Mike Mulligan, a military prosecutor, said the government would not approve money for a Mercedes report when the law only calls for a Chevy report.
"The government does not intend to approve funding for $100,000, sir," Mulligan said.
Also on Tuesday, Akbar pleaded not guilty to all charges against him and requested that enlisted soldiers be included on the panel, or jury, that will hear his case.
Henley accepted the plea and the panel request, which means that at least one-third of the members will have to be enlisted soldiers.
Akbar looked more alert and awake than at previous hearings. Akbar suffers from sleep apnea, but Al-Haqq said the condition has been improving since Akbar began using a machine that keeps his airway open at night.
"Today was the first time I've seen some gleam in his eye," he said.
In previous hearings, Akbar dozed off at times. He did not fall asleep Tuesday.
I am Major Gregory Stone's fiance. For two long years we have waited to see this man face justice. The delay was the direct result of Hasan Akbar rotating through civilian lawyers. Each time one was fired, quit, or left for not being paid, the new one would request an extension to prepare. It is a relief to see the end of the legal proceedings in sight so we can begin to heal our hearts and souls. Thank you for keeping our loved ones in your thoughts.