Yes, that's not going to help his case.
It would be interesting to know what billets these bird colonels all hold. In my experience, field-grade officers not in command billets don't sentence as harshly as officers who do have command responsibility (what the Navy & Marine Corps refers to as "line officers") and who may better understand the practical consequences of a break down in good order & discipline.
This court-martial is being held in the DC Military District. It's possible that a good percentage of those 0-6s aren't line officers, which might help Lakin a bit.
I wonder what the TC and DC recommended.
“I wonder what the TC and DC recommended.”
If I read this correctly, the CAAF blog touches on this.
“The prosecution asked for dismissal, confinement for 24 months, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. The trial counsel who argued noted that in LTC Lakin’s unsworn statement, his focus was always on himself: how he was concerned about the President’s eligibility, how he felt his concerns needed to be addressed, and so on, until the moment came to accept responsibility — at which point the accused focused on other people and how they let him down or supposedly misled him. The prosecutor also noted that at no point during LTC Lakin’s tearful discussion of his family or during his apologia to the commander did LTC Lakin see fit to mention MAJ Dobson or the hardships endured by anyone else as a result of LTC Lakin’s actions. Trial counsel tied the request for 24 months to the period of time the accused should have been in theatre: 2 days for every day he was not with the 1-32 Cav overseas.
The defense asked for a reprimand, “some” forfeiture of pay, and restriction to geographical limits (generally, such limits are to the limits of the base, or of some other geographical area, in the discretion of the convening authority). He argued for no dismissal and no confinement. The defense’s parting words to the members: “Merry Christmas.” “