[ScreamingFist]

Also scheduled to testify is Sgt. First Class Scott R. Haarer, a paralegal on General Kearney’s staff last October who, as part of the military justice procedure, signed the forms that charged Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson with murder.

In a notarized statement, Sergeant Haarer told defense lawyers last week that he would not have accused the soldiers of any crime if he had known that the Criminal Investigation Command had determined that the shooting was justified.

[r9etb]

In a notarized statement, Sergeant Haarer told defense lawyers last week that he would not have accused the soldiers of any crime if he had known that the Criminal Investigation Command had determined that the shooting was justified.

Whatever the actual merits of the case, that part is just plain strange. Does a Sgt. First Class paralegal have the wherewithal or authority to decide on charges, or to make accusations?

And since he says he did make the accusation, what was it about the facts he had at the time, that made him decide to make the accusation?

The fact that he later changed his mind is interesting, but it dodges the question above. Is there more ambiguity to the facts than are being presented by the soldiers' lawyers?