And what you ignore is the fact that discovery is not a fishing expedition. Lakin was entitled to all the evidence necessary to defend against the charges he was facing. Obama's eligibility had nothing to do with that since the authority that Lakin's superior officers had was not dependent on who was president, and their orders did not rely on the eligibility of the commander-in-chief in order to be lawful.
The only option left to him was to have the case reviewed in appeal as required by article 66 of the UCMJ.
Which may or may not be true. Appeal is automatic depending on the sentence imposed. However, since Lakin pleaded guilty to most of the charges then even if he's convicted on the missing movement charge it may not rise to the level of an automatic appellate review. He can request it, of course. But I believe that it could be denied.
There were two ways to do that, one would be go through the complete court martial process which could take several years (By The way the Haditha Marines still have not completed their court Martials)and the other was to plead guilty and speed up automatic appeal process.
And that may wind up being as ill-conceived as his original actions were.
Judge Lind’s actions in preventing the eligibility argument from being heard denied Lakin the very core of his argument and the sum of his defense.
And her actions were on solid legal grounds, based on her written decision and by Lakin's on plea of guilty. I don't see that as grounds to overturn.
It was not her job to do so.
Yes, it was.
No One can legally question Obama’s eligibility or access his original birth certificate even if as in this case the questioning Obama’s eligibility means a prison sentence.
That's not entirely true either. McCain most likely could have. But he didn't.
If that doesn’t bother you in the least then your American soul is dead.
A lot of things bother me. Obama bothers me. So do people who commit offenses against good order and discipline like Lakin did.
"The prosecution played in its entirety LTC Lakin’s YouTube video announcing his plans to refuse to deploy. At the conclusion of the tape, the birthers in the audience stood and gave sustained applause. The military judge did not gavel the court to order; she simply let them finish. I am reasonably certain that their outburst will not count against the accused; but in no way could it have helped.
"The prosecution called Colonel Roberts, the brigade commander and MOH recipient, to the stand as their first live witness. He testified that the accused’s behavior was unprofessional and had a negative impact on the unit. Cross examination was limited and, according to Colonel Sullivan, “didn’t really go anywhere.”
"MAJ Dobson, the doctor who had to replace LTC Lakin on short notice, testified next. He recounted how two days after arriving in theatre, the unit suffered a mass-casualty attack, with sixteen wounded. He said that he was not, in his opinion, as well-prepared to deal with the attack as he would have been had he had longer to prepare for operations at the FOB. The defense suggested on cross that the deployment was probably a good career opportunity for the major personally. Another point which will likely not go over well.
"The next witness was MAJ Dobson’s wife, herself a combat veteran, who testified that she and her husband had to forego some coursework they had planned to take together, and that as a result of his short-notice deployment, he missed the award ceremony in which she was awarded the Bronze Star. She also testified about how hard it was to prepare their young son for his dad’s sudden and unexpected departure."