Posted on 01/31/2007 4:58:36 AM PST by RedRover
NORTH COUNTY -- An attorney for a Marine lieutenant charged with assaulting three Iraqis last year is alleging that a hearing officer violated his client's right to a fair hearing.
David Sheldon contends that actions and comments made by Lt. Col. William Pigott during an Article 32 hearing on Camp Pendleton that ended Sunday were unprecedented in his 16 years as a defense attorney handling dozens of military cases.
Pigott presided over a four-day hearing for 2nd Lt. Nathan P. Phan, a 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment platoon commander charged with assaulting Iraqi civilians during efforts to obtain information about insurgent activity in the village of Hamdania.
Pigott, who served as the hearing officer, will write a report to Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis sometime next month as to whether he believes Phan should be court-martialed. Mattis is the convening authority over the case as commander of Marine Corp Forces Central Command and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Sheldon, a Washington-based attorney and former U.S. Navy lieutenant, has written a two-page memo to Pigott addressing what he contends were improper actions.
"I am deeply concerned about your repeated statements regarding the credibility of witnesses and the validity of the charges on and off the record prior to hearing all the evidence or commencing your deliberation," Sheldon wrote in the memo obtained by the North County Times. "I have never seen an investigating officer or military judge make such patently biased and inappropriate comments."
The memo also takes issue with Pigott's demeanor during the hearing and remarks he made from the bench Sunday when Marine Lt. Col. Matthew Cord, one of Phan's other attorneys, was presenting a summation of the case.
"Moreover, your obstreperous, condescending (to include your loud exaggerated sighs and eye rolling) behavior and repeated derogatory comments to Lt. Col. Cord during his closing comments were offensive and without precedence. In sum, you paid lip service to Lt. Phan's rights to a full, fair and impartial Article 32 hearing."
The attorney further objected to Pigott's refusal to allow him to challenge an earlier ruling that denied consideration of classified intelligence material he asserts would help exonerate Phan.
That refusal and Sheldon's attempt to raise an objection as the hearing concluded prompted Pigott to scream at Sheldon that the hearing was closed.
Sheldon said Tuesday he is insisting the memo be made a part of the official record because of his concerns over how Pigott's actions may affect his client. Phan, 26, faces a maximum punishment of more than 20 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if ordered to trial and convicted.
"I am a defense counsel who was doing my job and, to an extent, I was prevented from doing that," Sheldon said.
He would not say if the defense is planning to ask for a new hearing.
Efforts to reach Pigott, the top legal officer from the Marine Corps base at Yuma, were not immediately successful.
The highly contentious hearing raised numerous issues that were vigorously contested by Phan's attorneys and the Marine Corps' prosecutors, Maj. Donald Plowman and Capt. Nicholas Gannon.
Among the issues that emerged was the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's policy of not recording its suspect interrogations or witness interviews, a policy that the civilian law enforcement agency of the Department of the Navy says is being reviewed.
Three enlisted men testifying for the defense said they never saw Phan assault anyone, testimony that conflicts with what the Naval Criminal Investigative Service presented as those men's official statements to investigators.
As a result of that conflict, Pigott said he would recommend that Mattis order an inquiry into how it came to be that those men are alleged to have implicated Phan in statements to investigators and then testified during the hearing that they never saw the lieutenant do anything wrong.
Sheldon's memo also takes issue with comments by Pigott during the hearing that he found the government investigators to be honest and their testimony reliable despite defense assertions of a myriad of problems with their work product.
"I've never seen a trial judge or investigating officer openly opine on the credibility of witnesses while the session is under way," Sheldon said.
The case against Phan was brought as a result of an investigation into the slaying of a retired Iraqi policeman in Hamdania in April. Phan has not been charged or implicated in any way in that case, but the seven Marines and Navy medical corpsman charged with the slaying were under his command.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Pleasure, Uncle!
I share your amazement--and disgust--that these young men, who are willing to bleed and die for their country, could end up on trial.
Money quote from Conservative Thoughts:
"There seems to be a railroad job in progress for 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan and Pigott appears to be driving the train."
I do so hope Atty David Sheldon cc'd General Mattis in his 2 page memo protesting Pigott's inappropriate conduct during the hearing. Sounds like the North County Times has a copy of the two page memo. Maybe they could post it in its entirety since they're including a lot of the meat of the memo.
I would love to see a video of William Pigott - eyes rolling, exaggerated sighs, and repeated derogatory comments to Lt. Col. Cord (Mil. defense atty) during closing statements. A picture/video is worth thousands of words. What could have possessed Pigott to be so rude when Phan and his lawyers are fighting for his freedom? Maybe he just wanted to be able to rubber stamp this process and not be bothered with any facts or defense of Marine Phan.
That gets it in one.
If I were a blogger, I'd be running with this story as far as I could. No MSM outlet has touched it. So a Google search looking for more about this story is likely to hit your blog.
We've been picking up new pingees to the Haditha Marine list from people finding Free Republic that way, too. So far, I doubt more than a couple thousand people in the country are even aware of what's going on. But that number is quickly growing.
Thanks for the ping post.
me too! Maybe he thought nobody is paying attention? I wonder if this is standard fair at these hearings.. well, maybe not so obvious...
ping
Are you eyeballing me? Don't you eyeball me.
Oh, YEAH? I could take you, Gingham Girl!
An attorney for a Marine lieutenant charged with assaulting three Iraqis last year is alleging that a hearing officer violated his client's right to a fair hearing.
David Sheldon contends that actions and comments made by Lt. Col. William Pigott during an Article 32 hearing on Camp Pendleton that ended Sunday were unprecedented in his 16 years as a defense attorney handling dozens of military cases.
Pigott presided over a four-day hearing for 2nd Lt. Nathan P. Phan, a 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment platoon commander charged with assaulting Iraqi civilians during efforts to obtain information about insurgent activity in the village of Hamdania.
Pigott, who served as the hearing officer, will write a report to Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis sometime next month as to whether he believes Phan should be court-martialed. Mattis is the convening authority over the case as commander of Marine Corp Forces Central Command and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Sheldon, a Washington-based attorney and former U.S. Navy lieutenant, has written a two-page memo to Pigott addressing what he contends were improper actions.
Got a nice note back saying, "I appreciate your support very much." Poor guy must still be mad as hell!
Well, Red, if he's still mad as hell, then .............GOOD!
This is a circus.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{red}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
I love you, too, Red.
What a sweet thing to do! You made my day!
Sleep tight, dear Red, and don't let any pigots bite.
bttt
My point is that Pigott from Pendleton perhaps will peruse the Internet to see what a "Pigott" search will produce. If so, Pigott's peepers will be popping!
Anyway...
Night, ma! You sleep well. Freeper angels will keep watch.
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