That’s a good question about who advised LtGen Helland. As far as I know, it’d have been Riggs. I believe Ewers is on to higher things.
As of May (when Judge Folsom was determining his UCI ruling in Lt. Col. Chessani's case), Col. Ewers was still SJA for 1-MEF reporting to Lt. Gen. Helland. Lt. Col. Riggs was the SJA for MARCENT reporting to Helland. I don't know which command Sgt. Winnick's case fell under. But Col. Ewers was still around when charges were preferred by Helland.
According to Judge Folsom, Lt. Gen. Helland relied on Col. Ewers for decisions that were not his business. On page 19 of the
Chessani UCI ruling, the judge indicates that Helland approached Ewers for advice on a seperate Haditha case. It was not Ewers' business. It was Riggs, since he was SJA for MARCENT.