Posted on 05/12/2005 8:57:22 AM PDT by Ramonan
– A Navy sailor turned anti-war activist was convicted Wednesday of missing his ship's movement when he refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it deployed to the Persian Gulf in December. A military judge deliberated about 40 minutes before finding Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes guilty of the count. Lt. Cmdr. Bob Klant dismissed a second count of unauthorized absence, ruling the charge was duplicative.
Paredes stood at attention as the judge read the sentence, following the day's court-martial proceeding. The trial then shifted into the sentencing phase.
Paredes, a 23-year-old from the New York City borough of the Bronx, could receive a year in jail, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge.
Paredes had waived his right to have his trial heard by a military jury.
The prosecution closed its case by saying it had proven that the weapons control technician failed to board the Bonhomme Richard on Dec. 6 – an act that was recorded by news crews at Naval Station San Diego, the scene of Wednesday's court-martial.
Lt. Christopher Castleman testified that he met Paredes at the Navy pier and warned him that if he failed to board the ship he could face criminal charges.
Defense attorney Jeremy Warren countered that Castleman also told Paredes that if he didn't board the ship he was "free to go, leaving the sailor with no idea what to do next."
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
... as it should be. These people think they can join,, get a pay check and an education, then not report! HA! Bring back the draft.
Puleeeze! Where'd they find this defense attorney?
"I was ashamed to wear the uniform," he said in a recent interview.
I am ashamed that you wore it too. At least I don't have to worry about you wearing it in the future. Too bad they can't make this worthless POS pay back all the money spent on his school and training.
He signed the contract, he was still within the time frame of his enlistment, he wasn't medically disabled from going.
He goes with the ship or he goes to the brig.
I missed the ship leaving port due to orders from my division officer.
Didn't even miss the deployment, was taken out to the ship by one of the tugs.
I still got my a** handed to me by my captain.
What a jerk, it's not like he's going into harms way on a helo carrier...
Nothing wrong with this scum that a well-trained firing squad would not cure.
In other news, a vegetarian gets a job at Burger King and refuses to serve burgers to the customers. /sarcasm
Agree with others it's as it should be--But it would be more
interesting if the Navy would anounce a policy of taking such malcontents at their word. Like let them do their anti-American protest thing then next time they draw sea duty let them "volunteer" to the man overboard in the high seas drill.
Isn't failure to report to duty the same as desertion, which is punishable by death during time of war? If not, was it during WWII, Civil War?
Or a pharmacist at a drug store refusing to fill a prescription...
"The president of the United States has a DUI under his belt," Paredes said, referring to the president's 1976 drunken driving arrest in Maine. "I think I'll make it with a misdemeanor."
Yeah, a misdemeanor is one thing but a Bad Conduct Discharge is something entirely different. Good luck, turd, you're gonna need it.
Well, that's what Charles Laughton would have done.
I'm pretty sure a court-martial conviction is a felony. I think he better take another look. What a POS.
I think that depends on the severity of the offense but if he gets a BCD, that's going to stick with him forever. They're rare enough that it will certainly raise a huge red flag for any future potential employer.
Read that story again, this guy got off EASY.
NO jail time, just "hard labor", which is not breaking rocks, he'll probably be Permanent Latrine Orderly. And confinement to base for a couple of months.
NO Discharge at all, he stays in the Navy, at his home base, gotta 'nother year left of service, assuming he behaves, he's on the street with at WORST a General, likely a Good Conduct Discharge.
Here's something else the Judge said:
"I think that the government has successfully proved that any service member has reasonable cause to believe that the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal."
-- Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant, presiding at Pablo Paredes' court-martial
WTF, is this a activist judge from Beserkely or what?
Astonishing if the Judge really said that. Not doubting your word, but as it doesn't seem to be in this article, could you please link a source?
(And welcome to FR).
1. i used the g.i. to get my u.g. degree. you cannot get the g.i. bill unless you have an honorable discharge.
2. i doubt the draft returns, barring a large war with china etc, because of vietnam.
the american left would love nothing better than a draft to mobilize the youth of america.
once a country becomes affluent, fewer people want to serve. the american pacifist movement really got moving after the booming economy of the 1920's, and communists began to infiltrate american society.
I just re-read it and found nothing on his sentencing, only on his conviction. I don't know what his sentence is or was. The last I heard, it hadn't been announced yet.
NO jail time, just "hard labor", which is not breaking rocks, he'll probably be Permanent Latrine Orderly. And confinement to base for a couple of months.
Any "hard labor" sentence entails brig confinement, the military equivalent of jail time. (Or at least it did when I was in.)
NO Discharge at all, he stays in the Navy, at his home base, gotta 'nother year left of service, assuming he behaves, he's on the street with at WORST a General, likely a Good Conduct Discharge.
There's nothing in the article regarding his sentence. He could be discharged after a term in the brig at hard labor.
BTW, there's no such thing as a "Good Conduct Discharge". The term is "Honorable Discharge", which I seriously doubt he will receive.
Sorry folks, I was confused on the story referenced here.
Thanks for the welcome.
Here's what I was talking about:
Navy Judge Finds War Protest Reasonable
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t | Report
Friday 13 May 2005
"I think that the government has successfully proved that any service member has reasonable cause to believe that the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal."
-- Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant, presiding at Pablo Paredes' court-martial
In a stunning blow to the Bush administration, a Navy judge gave Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes no jail time for refusing orders to board the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard before it left San Diego with 3,000 sailors and Marines bound for the Persian Gulf on December 6th. Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant found Pablo guilty of missing his ship's movement by design, but dismissed the charge of unauthorized absence. Although Pablo faced one year in the brig, the judge sentenced him to two months' restriction and three months of hard labor, and reduced his rank to seaman recruit.
continues at:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051305X.shtml
Yeah, it's the wacks at truthout, but author swears the judge said this, I am contacting other reporters who were in the courtroom to further verify.
And this:
No jail time for sailor's refusal to board ship
Man gets reduction in rank, hard labor
By Rick Rogers
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20050513-9999-7m13paredes.html
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 13, 2005
After hours of charged testimony, the brevity and dispassion of a judge's sentence for Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes left those in the courtroom slightly shocked yesterday.
Reduction to the lowest rank. Two months' restriction to the 32nd Street Naval Station. Three months of hard labor, but no jail time. Court adjourned.
"I'm so confused," said Victor Paredes, who flew in from New Jersey to be with his son during the court-martial. "I don't know what it means."
It means, in part, that Paredes won't be jailed for refusing to board the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard when it left San Diego for the Persian Gulf in December with 3,000 sailors and Marines. Paredes has maintained that the war in Iraq is unethical.
It also means that Paredes, 23, will continue to be a sailor. He has more than a year left on his enlistment, and Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant, the military judge in the case, didn't mention anything about a discharge.
The base restriction and hard-labor time will be served concurrently. The Navy did not immediately specify what "hard labor" would entail.
Klant's ruling fell short of the prosecution's recommendation of nine months' confinement, a bad-conduct discharge, reduction to seaman recruit and forfeiture of pay and benefits.
(continues)
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