Wrongly Convicted By Military Justice System,Amer Soldiers Deserve as Much Att. as GITMO Detainees

Please read this letter written by John Stewart in support of his son, Kelly Stewart.

CMSgt (retired) Johnny E. Stewart Beverly Hills, FL 34465

August 24, 2014

Secretary John M. McHugh 101 Army Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20310-0101 Secretary McHugh:

As a former three decade serviceman and Vietnam War veteran I am not in the habit of circumventing military command channels, but out of complete and utter desperation I seek your assistance.

Please allow me to provide a brief background of my son SFC Kelly A. Stewart who proudly and honorably served the United States Army for over 12 years including tours in Kosovo, Macedonia and multiple tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom where his decorations included the Bronze Star while performing as a Combat Medic and later as a Sniper with 10th Special Forces Group. After his last deployment he was assigned to Germany as a weapons instructor to foreign national special warfare personnel.

At that point complete tragedy struck both he and our entire family, so tragic that a well-known author I’ve never met learned details of it from trial transcripts and wrote a best-selling novel that has received rave reviews. His name is Bob McCarty, a former military officer, who authored the book Three Days In August which can be found on Amazon and in bookstores. Every single person who has read the book, from government official to private citizen, has been in complete shock of what occurred and extremely disturbed by our inability to convince the Army to correct this injustice.

As briefly as possible, I will explain what occurred and why I am seeking your help.

At his new assignment in Germany and being fluent in the language, my son visited a local discotheque after his duty hours accompanied by fellow special warfare troops and as the night progressed he and others met young ladies, some of whom accompanied them to the hotel where they were being billeted during the special duty assignment. The young German lady accompanying my son told friends she was leaving to spend the night with my son, voluntarily, o to include consensual sex. In her possession at bedside in the room was her cellphone, my son’s cellphone and a room phone. All readily accessible when my son was out of the room in the toilet, shower, etc. Military officers residing next door reported they heard nothing out of the ordinary throughout the night. The following morning she gave my son her personal cellphone number to call for future rendezvous. I wish the story ended there. Sadly, my son never called her again and it led to some unbelievable events destroying many lives. What my son was unaware of that night was the fact this young lady had been recently committed to a mental institution obviously more than likely leading to her irrational behavior over the coming months. As proof, nearly 3 months later after she told her best friend and roommate that after the night with my son she had “finally met her Master”, she filed rape charges against my son with the German police. Charges refuted in statements by her roommate from conversations and phone calls between them. Both my son and I were informed by everyone in the military community not to worry about it due to her medical situation and the fact there was no proof of any possible crime being committed, to include witnesses or physician evaluations. Only her lone statement was basis for the accusation, on which the German government refused to prosecute and simply turned the issue over to U.S. military authorities to be resolved. Again, we were informed time and again it was not a serious problem and we should not be concerned.

Unfortunately it was indeed a problem because suddenly my son was notified of a court-martial, one that was formed and took place under some unbelievable circumstances and events. I refer you to the aforementioned novel by Mr. McCarty for the lengthy details and I would be more than happy to forward you a copy if you wish. Anyway, to summarize events:

a. We were unable to introduce the mental illness facts or health records into the trial because Germany will not allow it without “victim” release and, of course, she would not do so.

b. The “victim” repeatedly committed perjury on the stand, so much so that her best friend and employer filed statements refuting the “victims” statements of what occurred that night and what had occurred in her life after the supposed event. No investigation was implemented to confirm this point.

c. The “victims’ own U.S. Army appointed interpreter and counselor contacted us directly after the trial and demanded to be able to testify at later appeals AGAINST the “victim” to refute the her statements and behavior. Sadly, that GS-9 employee was reduced in rank two grades for stepping forward with the truth and later retired. No investigation was implemented to confirm the employee’s statements.

d. The selected court-martial board membership was obviously prejudiced and repeatedly challenged by my son’s defense team on areas that included having participants on the Board who served under senior members of the Board in their regular duty assignments. Too, directions given to Board members were unbelievably suspect and obviously prejudiced the case. As example, the following questions were asked of Board members by the Senior member:

(1) Does a non-response to all questions indicate an intended guilty verdict regardless of there being no evidence of any crime being committed??? (Negative response from all members).

(2) Do any of you think that if a woman doesn't immediately report a sexual assault, then she must be lying or have something to hide? (Negative response from all members).

(3) Do any of you think it's uncommon for the victim of sexual assault to wait months before reporting a crime? (Negative response from all members).

(4) Is there anyone here who would have difficulty finding the accused guilty without physical evidence, like semen, blood, hair samples? (Negative response from all members).

(5) Is there anyone here who would have difficulty finding the accused guilty without medical evidence, like a rape kit, sexual assault nurse notes, etc.? (Negative response from all members).

(6) Is there anyone here who would have a problem finding the accused guilty because the only eyewitness is the victim? (Negative response from all members).

In other words, an American military justice system can convict and individual without proof of a crime, without witnesses, with no medical evidence, without physical evidence, without the possibility of the “victim” committing perjury, and a guilty verdict can be achieved. I think we would agree a fair trial under these parameters would be impossible and it is a terrible black eye placed on the military justice system. Unfortunately, without evidence, without witnesses, without medical proof, and the complete ignorance of actual facts, with perjury and an inability to introduce evidence of mental instability, my son was convicted and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Because this resulted in the destruction of his military career and life itself, he attempted suicide twice before being imprisoned.

We did file appeals, received some reduction in sentence and an upgrade of his Dishonorable Discharge to Bad Conduct but he still spent 2 ½ years in Leavenworth before probation was issued. He is now clear of probation, but life has been hell to say the least. As a convicted sex offender there is no life. For the past couple years he lived in an unheated old camper I had in Virginia mountains with no running water and few amenities while working for my brother at minimum wage levels with no healthcare. However, in the past few months he finally met an understanding employer who accepted his situation and after talking to my son, plus having read the Three Days In August narrative of facts, he immediately hired my son. Unfortunately, at a scale of $10.50 an hour this is truly not a great improvement but better than he had been experiencing over the two previous years. We did find him an unfinished underground basement in a house to rent, which I pay for, where he would be somewhat protected from the elements and have some semblance of life. We also purchased an old car for transportation to the new job, pay his insurance premiums until he gets on his feet and from what little money he has my son was able to purchase some old furniture from local thrift shops and install an old wood burning stove for heat. Frankly, it has been an exhaustive financial situation by all of us. Personally, my wife and I have lost our life’s savings, 401k investment and private insurance savings to proceed through the long legal system of appeals and to simply help feed and clothe my son over the years during imprisonment and as he returned to society.

Last month, we finally believed though a $10.50 hour wage in his new job was not much, at least he was finally progressing in life. He now had a warm bed to sleep in and was finally able to properly eat. Additionally, we applied for health benefits through the VA for the period of his honorable service because he has many, many health issues resulting from service in Iraq that range from sever PTSD, to physical injuries from combat. Though we received a VA reply quite some time ago indicating they were reviewing our request, absolutely nothing has been heard since. Hopefully, it will be approved someday and we can actually begin to believe my son’s life will substantially improve by getting needed healthcare for military related problems.

Our belief that things were finally improving for my son were completely dashed today when we received the attached letters from DoD and from the Defense Finance and Accounting Center with content that will entirely destroy what is left of my son’s life. As you can see, it is a directive to recoup bonus paid during his last enlistment. Though it does not state how this was computed, or what period it was computed for, it is undoubtedly a repayment impossibility. My son has no money, has a take-home income that is less than what the monthly payment would actually be in the recoup and he could never, ever, pay that amount of money within his current situation that has no foreseen improvement for the rest of his life. He will simply be relegated to return to jail for non-payment at some point in time rather than continuing his courageous attempts to return to normal society after having been unjustly convicted. It is my hope the U.S. Army did not implement this action as a result of our request for medical support, but is rather suspicious that after so many years it is brought forward shortly after our application for the medical service.

Obviously, I am asking for your help and I realistically have no one else to turn to. Quite frankly I could easily use media to highlight what has happened and in my positions here in Florida and nationally as a fairly well known veterans support advocate I probably could gain some attention that would reflect poorly on our military and to my son’s situation. But, I remain military through and through and come to you in the interest of integrity for help and understanding of the problem.

I do believe this amount of money should be reviewed for proper amount regarding what unearned portion of his enlistment was used to determine this amount and specifics of that determination, which should have been clearly outlined in the letter. We have been unable to determine how the amount was even computed because my son’s records were “lost” at imprisonment. He has formally requested copies through the VA but nothing has been received and in particular we are trying to get a copy of his reenlistment contract at that time. In fairness, until the amount is confirmed as proper, payments should be delayed until the information is properly provided in the event an error was made in computation. But, more importantly, I firmly believe this recoupment should be completely absolved to allow this soldier who faithfully served America for over a decade, including as a decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and convicted by injustice, to be able to attempt to live a normal life once more. A point to consider is that nearly all of the bonus money was spent for legal support in Germany during the trial, later appeals, family support, and related expenses.

Sir, I am not very familiar with DoD and Army regulations regarding this situation but it is my understanding there may be DoD regulation indicating the Secretary may waive a member’s repayment bonus. If not, then it truly must be addressed from a point of human understanding and compassion and an appreciation of one’s sacrifice for duty for over a decade with honorable service.

So, Secretary McHugh, I ask for your help. No, sir, I beg for your help for my son who was a dedicated a professional soldier unjustly convicted and is attempting with all his heart to return to normal society. This recoup process is a complete and total impossibility and will only lead to complete failure of a human being, a probable return to prison and bankruptcy for all concerned. Is it worth it? Please, please help my son by absolving this debt from consideration in appreciation of his honorable periods of service to America prior to the supposed event. Needless to say, a complete investigation of his entire conviction process needs to be conducted.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

John Stewart CMSgt, USAF (retired)

Though many of Stewart's fellow Soldiers wrote letters of support, it seems their letters were largely ignored. Read those letters here by going to this link, http://www.bobmccarty.com/three-days-in-august/ scroll down and click on “letters of support”.

If you read the letters, you will understand why we must help Sgt. Kelly Stewart in any way we can! Calls to our members of Congress to bring attention to this travesty would help and sending the link to this thread to all on your email lists. I know many will join me in hitting the donate button too!!
http://www.savethissoldier.com

The problem with the military justice system these days is that it is wholly subservient to diplomacy and international politics.

Certainly agree! With a Commander In Chief who obviously cares more about the GITMO Terrorists than our US Military, it is clear these travesties will continue!

Dear Freepers Everywhere,

I will be pinging many of my lists to this thread in hopes you will read and help in any way you can. Please know if you wish to be removed from my ping list I will certainly remove you. Please let me know through FreepMail if you wish to be removed. Thanks so much and expecially thanks for your joining me in support of our heroes! Jean

BTTT!

Kathy - Canteen Ping?
Or prayer list, perhaps?

America isn’t likely to wise up anytime soon.

Thanks for your help in keeping this thread moving. Another link here with access to more info.

http://www.bobmccarty.com/2014/11/17/fellow-soldiers-support-wrongly-convicted-green-beret/

Thank You for this info.

God Bless our Military.

Thank you for keeping Kelly in your prayers. I know our prayers will help.

My hubby and I met Kelly and his parents two years ago, and have been helping along with others to bring attention to this travesty.

An important fact for everyone to know: The reason those who knew the accuser did not come forward to testify until “Post Trial” is because they never thought Kelly would be convicted! They knew the accuser was a nut case and liar and were sure the jury would rule in favor of Kelly.

I have Florida Freeper friends whom I know joined me in donating to help Kelly. We can't give much but know every little bit helps. Thanks again for helping to bring attention to Kelly's case.

If anyone reading this wishes to help, please go here.

http://www.savethissoldier.com

You are so right! That is why it is up to those of us who honor and support our Military to do what we can to bring attention to what is going on.

Kelly is free from Leavenworth but still does not have real freedom from this travesty! Meanwhile, the nut-case, lying accuser receives benefits for life!

Thank you for caring! If folks take the time to read this thread, and especially John Stuwart’s letter in support of Kelly, they will be as outraged as I am. The fact that the Army is requiring Kelly to pay back $25,000 of bonus pay he received BEFORE his conviction is so hard to take! That was bonus pay Kelly received for his exemplary actions as a soldier prior to the one mistake he made.

If anyone reading this thread wishes me to tell them more details I know in support of Kelly that I CANNOT SHARE here, PLEASE FreepMail me. You will understand why my sweet husband and I were in support of Kelly when we learned about his case and met him and his parents. Some may remember my thread back in 2012. Here is the link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2837988/posts

I am making more pings as time goes on, and please FreepMail me if you wish to be removed from my ping lists.

Does anyone know Allen West? Since he is in Florida I would expect that he could help this young man & his family.

Bttt.

5.56mm

I feel sad for this young man. It IS a cautionary tale about how young folks should avoid quick “pick ups” and easy sex as the results can be tragically life altering. It is a tale that I will pass on to my sons. It would be interesting to have someone follow the chains of command in this case so that the ultimate responsible parties can be zeroed in on and publically exposed and protested.

If a family member were arrested for “knee capping”(not killing...just knee capping) some of those responsible for railroading this young man and if I were on the jury, I would never vote to convict!

Thank you for keeping the light on this, seekthetruth.

buford, do you still have the dc chapter ping list? This is worth a big ping.

DC Chapter ping.

Thanks for the ping.

Thank You FRiend.