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EDMOND, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma mother is on a mission. Her son is now in a military prison for his role in killing an Iraqi detainee. She's not giving up her fight to win his freedom. Vicki Behenna leaves for Washington D.C. Tuesday and later this week, she'll speak on behalf of her son, Michael. She says until he's out of prison she'll continue to be his voice. "It's right in our face every day and it will be until he comes home," Vicki Behenna said. Vicki Behenna says life hasn't been the same since her son, Army Ranger 1st...

U.S. military to release 100 detainees in Iraq The U.S. military will release another 100 detainees Saturday, continuing a program timed to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. According to officials with Task Force 134, which oversees detainee operations in Iraq, the release ceremony will bring the number of detainees released under the Ramadan program to at least 1,300. "Prior to release, detainees also make a pledge to an Iraqi judge swearing to maintain peace and good conduct in the future," a task force news release read. This process is a direct representation of the policy of fair releases, not...

Soldier gets 7 months in deaths of 4 Iraqis Pretrial agreement results in reduction of court’s sentence of 40 years’ confinement VILSECK, Germany — A Germany-based soldier who testified Thursday that he pulled security while his fellow soldiers killed four Iraqi detainees and "didn’t care" at the time that they would end up dead will spend seven months in prison, for his role in the incident. He also will see his rank reduced to private and receive a dishonorable discharge. A military judge sentenced Spc. Belmor Ramos to 40 years’ confinement in the 2007 slayings after he pleaded guilty to...

Detainee rules frustrate Iraqis BAQOUBA, Iraq — Recently reinforced rules on detainees have made it difficult to prosecute suspects, according to Iraqi army commanders in this area. According to Iraqi law, a suspect can only be held for 24 hours. When that time ends and the suspect has not confessed, had two witnesses against him or was not found on a wanted list, the suspect goes free. "It’s not right," said an Iraqi army lieutenant colonel, who commands the 1st Battalion of 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division. "One day is not enough. We need at least a week." The...

Hearing on Iraq detainee death case postponed By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Tuesday, August 19, 2008 The Article 32 hearing for one of two U.S. soldiers charged with killing a detainee near Beiji, Iraq, has been postponed until Sept. 5, military officials said. Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner was originally to face the hearing last week. Warner and 1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna, both members of Company D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., face charges of premeditated murder, accessory after the fact, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice....

Study says military justice lacks full transparency By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes European edition, Sunday, August 17, 2008 The full report ... For the full report on public access to military court proceedings, go to http://www.rcfp.org/militarydockets ARLINGTON, Va. — The military justice system is "not nearly as transparent as it should be" according to journalism professor Barbara Fought. Fought is the director of the Tully Free Speech Center at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Journalism, which conducted a recent study along with the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the press on media access to military court...

August 10, 2008 | pdf version Dearest Mitch, I recently read a tribute to First Lieutenant Andrew Grayson that was written by his uncle after charges were filed against him in the Haditha incident. I shed tears as I read it and I realized that often it is easy to allow words to go unsaid. Especially words that may be sentimental or words that may cause us more emotion than we are comfortable with. As I pondered the charges that have been made against you and again read the letter by Lieutenant Grayson’s uncle, I asked myself, “why?” I thought...

BRAGGS — Family members of one of two Oklahoma soldiers who are accused of killing an Iraqi detainee have rallied to his support and believe that he will be vindicated. The military announced Saturday that Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, 34, of Braggs and 1st. Lt. Michael C. Behenna, 25, of Edmond have been charged with premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of Ali Monsour Mohammed. In addition to the murder charges, both are accused of assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice. Warner also is charged with being an accessory after the fact. Warner was charged...

On May 1, 2008, Richard V. Stevens, of Stevens & Brash, L.L.C, won an acquittal in the case of Sgt. Leonardo Treviño. The week before, Frank Spinner, a counsel with the firm, defended SFC Corrales in a separate case. For background on the cases, see here and here. Rich sent this message for readers of Defend Our Troops and Defend Our Marines._______________________________________________ 10 May 2008 It is very difficult and confusing for our military members and their families, who have sacrificed and contributed so much to the military's missions, to suddenly face accusations of crimes out of combat in the...

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (AP) — A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year. Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the military panel, or jury, read the verdict. The jury of nine soldiers acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after more than seven hours of deliberation. Corrales would have faced a minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted. Corrales said it feels like a...

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii — The lawyer for a Hawaii-based soldier accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi last year said the defense won't contest that his client shot the man. But defense attorney Frank Spinner said the shooting was neither unlawful nor premeditated. Contradicting the prosecution in the court-martial of Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, of San Antonio, Spinner said the soldier didn't order a subordinate in his platoon to shoot the Iraqi, whose name has not been disclosed. The court-martial is expected to last at least through this week at Wheeler Army Airfield on Oahu. Corrales has pleaded not...

A trial unfolding in a makeshift courthouse in a dusty corner of the U.S. Army's main Baghdad base camp complex is demonstrating in stark and dramatic terms just how far some American soldiers are being pushed on the battlefield, just how doggedly the Army is willing to pursue serious alleged crimes like murder — and just how interested the Iraqi government is in the process. Part of an elite parachute infantry sniper-scout platoon, Sgt. Evan Vela is accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi that his five-man squad had taken captive after the man breached their hideout.... ~ snip ~As the...

Another perspective on Haditha By: THAD COAKLEY - Commentary Publication of Time magazine's "One Morning in Haditha" (March 2006) thrust an otherwise nondescript Euphrates River town into the American, then international, consciousness. Those who have served in combat, more specifically with Marine battalions in Haditha or elsewhere in the al-Anbar Province, knew immediately that the article was based on many assumptions clearly questionable absent further corroboration. Buried deep within the article was the significant caveat: "The available evidence does not provide conclusive proof the Marines deliberately killed innocents." But editorialized reporting of beliefs over facts gave the greater emphasis to...

Camp Victory, Iraq - Dr. Michael Baden has been appointed as the forensic pathologist in the court-martial of Sgt. Evan Vela, an Army scout-sniper accused of murder in Iraq. Dr. Baden, who lives in New York City, is a forensic detective of international fame who is as much at home in front of a television camera as he is a jury. He is expected to testify in early February. The star of the Home Box Office television series “Autopsy,” Dr. Baden is the former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and presently the chief forensic pathologist for the New...

Jim Culp is a former Army paratrooper turned Berkeley-law school grad who represents the entire conservative wing of his law school class. He was once an enlisted man, a shined-up grunt assigned to the ultra-STRAC Berlin Brigade when the infamous Wall came tumbling down. It was an epiphany to watch freedom literally overcome tyranny before his eyes, Culp said, a rare privilege indeed. Culp represents Sgt. Evan Vela, then a 22-year old Ranger-trained airborne sniper going to trial in Kuwait on January 28 for murder. The Army alleges Vela gunned down an Iraqi man who innocently walked up on his...

Sgt. Evan Vela, of the 501st Infantry Regiment, sits tonight in a military prison in Kuwait. Confined since July 1, Vela is one of three Army snipers charged with murder for an incident near Iskandariyah, Iraq. Two squadmates involved in the incident, Sgt. Hensley and Spc. Sandoval, were exonerated of murder charges in courts martial this past fall. As a soldier, Sgt. Vela was pushed beyond the limits of human endurance, going days without sleep in pursuit of our enemy in Iraq. While in confinement, Vela was diagnosed with moderate to severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Despite this diagnosis by...

We are the proud parents of an Army Ranger. We are Curtis G. Carnahan and Anna Vela of St. Anthony, Idaho. Our son, Evan, has been wrongly accused of the murder of a military-age Iraqi male in Iraq. Of our four children, two serve in the US Armed Forces. Evan is in the Army, and Cory is an active six-year veteran in the Navy. Evan has served for three years and is currently a Sergeant. He is married with a family. Evan and his wife, Alyssa have two children, a son, Jarom, who is four years old, and a...

Sgt. Vela is currently detained in Kuwait, charged with one specification alleging premeditated murder, one specification alleging he wrongfully placed a weapon with the remains of a deceased Iraqi, one specification of making a false official statement, and one specification alleging obstruction of justice. Just days ago, the Army JAG assigned to Sgt. Vela's case recommended that an Article 32 be waived. Sgt. Vela had signed a statement, the inexperienced young JAG captain told Sgt. Vela's father, that the Army viewed as a confession. But now, through a grassroots network of volunteers (whose home base is the website, Free Republic),...

June 29, 2007, 5:00 a.m. Soldier's Voices Listen to what the armed forces have to say about Iraq. By Buzz Patterson Operation Arrowhead Ripper, as the latest American offensive is called, has successfully swept into al Qaeda-infested Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad, killing and capturing hundreds of terrorists. The battles in Iraq and Afghanistan time and time again have resulted in significant, but often untold military successes. Realities on the ground often go unnoticed or under-appreciated. The American soldier has often lacked a voice to articulate his mission and his successes amidst the cacophony of defeat...

WATERVILLE -- The commander of VFW Post 1285 may lose his membership with the organization after an attempt to tear up a peace group's tribute to the war dead in Iraq landed him and four others in handcuffs....