IMHO, Lakin was used as a pawn, merely to intimidate other soldiers not to question BO’s legitimacy. I suspect Lakin will be sentenced to 24 months in prison for all 4 counts.
Of course, Lakin will appeal, but like Non-Sequitur, I think that his may be denied.
OK. Now we need to schedule the protest march in DC. Lets make it big.
I believe the term is pour encourager les autres and it's not new. In 1757 the British shot Vice-Admiral John Byng after he lost Minorca to the French for that very reason, and Voltaire's quote is, in fact, based on that event.
Lakin will get a stiff sentence. The Army has no choice but to come down hard on him to keep others from trying the same thing, perhaps without the same motivation that Lakin claims to have. The same happened to Yolanda Huet-Vaughan back during Desert Storm. She spent time in Leavenworth before having her sentence commuted. I think the same will happen to Lakin. He'll get 3-plus years, serve about half, and have the rest commuted.