Posted on 10/24/2017 5:42:25 PM PDT by markomalley
A military judge ruled Tuesday that the Navy Judge Advocate General illegally intervened in the sexual assault trial of a decorated Navy SEAL.
Air Force Col. Vance H. Spath ruled Tuesday that Vice Adm. James Crawford, the Navy’s top lawyer, exerted unlawful command influence in the case of Senior Chief Keith E. Barry in 2015.
The naval officer overseeing Barry’s judge-only court-martial had planned to overturn his 2014 conviction, having decided the SEAL was not guilty of sexual assault against a girlfriend with whom he had an intense sexual relationship.
But the now-retired Rear Adm. Patrick Lorge was persuaded not to act by Adm. Crawford, who was the Navy’s second-ranking lawyer at that time.
“Actual or apparent unlawful command influence tainted the final action in this case,” Col. Spath wrote in his opinion Tuesday.
The Air Force judge also bemoaned the effect the intervention has brought to the military justice system. “As the judge who conducted the … hearing, it appears the final action taken in this case is unfortunate as it does not engender confidence in the processing of this case or the military justice system as a whole,” said Col. Spath, the Air Force’s chief trial judge.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Dept of Defense corruption
Hope this is enough to get Barry’s conviction overturned.
In many Colonels there’s a spark of “superiority” (yes, there’s surely a better word) that keeps them from higher office.
Conscience
Does this mean the Navy SEAL is in line for some double jeopardy?
No. The double jeopardy a military person faces is if a civilian court action is taken against him for something the military has already decided. The civilians can still come after him, as the military can come after him following a civil trial.
I hope to God that the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces overturns this conviction. I am glad that Col Spath (whom I knew when he and I were JAG Captains) had the cojones to call it as he saw it.
Look at who the Bush-Obama DOD were promoting.....
Wonder why we were losing in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria (until recently), Bosnia, Iraq, Niger .... Look at who the White House staff were promoting.
Good for him. It must be difficult to deal with the pressure brought to bear on such men of integrity in today’s hyper-politicized military.
I once worked for a man who had been the Navy JAG. He was a guy of high character. I would have trusted him to do the right thing, but the environment has changed and it’s a dangerous place now.
“unlawful command influence” is an expression guaranteed to get all military personnel “noses bent out of shape”. Officers and enlisted, military lawyers and everyone else get real upset when they hear that phrase.
In past, for a senior officer to even be accused of it would be a quick career-ender. It goes to the heart of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), as one of the very worst detriments to morale, good order and discipline, the major purpose of the UCMJ.
It would be worth it for President Trump to immediately relieve this Navy Judge Advocate General and retire him to a turkey farm. It would also send a powerful message to other officers that if they even considered pulling a stunt like this in the future
True, but this case is dead in the water.
And it’s really not military v civilian. It is Federal v. State.
“Wonder why we were losing in Vietnam”
We won in Vietnam. It was Teddie Kennedy and the other traitors on the left who threw the victory away.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.