Finally responding to a request for disclosure of evidence that had been filed in early December, the US Army agreed to provide Defense Counsel with the type of evidence that is routinely made available in other cases. The release of information, however, is subject a “gag order” issued by the Special Court-Martial Convening Authority, Colonel Morgan M. Lamb, which prohibits the Defense from inadvertently or purposefully ”divulging, publishing, or relealing, either by word or conduct” the belatedly disclosed information. Needless to say, Army prosecutors have had access to this same information for the past several months. The belated disclosure to the Defense and the accompanying “gag order” is evidence that the pretrial discovery process is not being conducted on an even playing field.
27
Feb
2010
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You are a Fuckin’ JERK!!!
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C’mon – if it was a “conditional release,” the condition being that the Defense agree to a “gag” order, by accepting the discovery, you accept the condition(s).
If it wasn’t a conditional release, who the hell cares what the SpCM CA says – where is his jurisdiction over you as a CDC? If you haven’t looked at Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada, a SCOTUS case from some years back, put that into your briefcase.
With respect to the stupid denial of a mitigation specialist, check out the pending Cert petition at SCOTUS in the Loving case. Second, you can appeal that denial to the GCM CA, and then seek a writ if it’s that crucial at this juncture.
Alternatively, the client and his family could retain their own Mitigation Specialist and just ignore the Government until referral.
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So you end run the gag order by posting this blog? Will it matter in the end what discovery you receive in the defense of your client? This man may be entitled to a defense, but he also is a terrorist, disguised as a military officer. Contacting Al-Qaeda and using their cowardice methods, which includes but is not limited too shooting unarmed, innocent civilians should and will earn him a death sentence. I for one am glad he wasn’t exterminated at the scene, instead, having to face families who lost their love ones while the mountains of evidence against him is presented. Is there any denial he is the shooter, no. Is there any evidence he’s crazy? You’ll perhaps say he is, but you’ll have a hard time selling that to a military jury in a court martial or a civilian court room. And what makes you think he’d fare better in a civilian court room to begin with? It’s not like you’ll find 12 jurors who haven’t heard about this case. This man did what he did and it was calculated, yeah calculated. Go ahead and tell a jury how poor Hasan was forced to listen to American soldiers while they poored their hearts out in therapy and found it unbearable because they were fighting Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US has been involved for quite a while in the Middle East, as far back as Desert Storm, so don’t give, me he just came to a realization that his heritage was under fire. As far as I’m concerned he’s been an assassin in waiting…I’ll only hope that when he’s placed in front of a firing squad it’s televised!!!
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Mike Perry – somehow I doubt you’ve ever watched a man die of gunshot wounds – it strikes me that you would not want his execution televised if you had. I’ve seen men die in that fashion and it’s a horrible thing to watch. I presume you have not. So, stuff it. That’s quite enough vitrol from an armchair general. If you HAVE watched men die of such brutal injuries and still think it should be televised, then I suggest psychiatric counseling.
The Attorney has not end-run the gag order. If he had done, he would have presented us with more information than he did in this post. We’ve seen nothing of the case against his client on this blog, merely his expression of frustration at what he sees as unnecessary dragging of the Army’s feet – and he may well be correct in that assessment.
As far as his client being a terrorist – really, this word is used so often it no longer has any meaning, rather like the phrases “baby-killer” or “Nazi”. You are correct in the definition as it is presented in a dictionary, but in the last eight years it has come to suggest an ORGANIZED action. He attempted to contact Al-Quaida but there is no evidence (we are aware of) that he succeeded in doing so. While MAJ Hassan did commit an act to inspire terror, it was not done as part of any organization that we are aware of. Nor was it perpetrated upon civilians, although his victims were unarmed. To call him a terrorist is to give him a level of sophistication he does not and did not possess. Calling him a Lone Gunman is probably a better description.
To address another issue you raised, putting him in front of a civilian jury would actually improve his chances of escaping the death penalty precisely because civilians (unless there were military veterans among the jury pool) would not have the same level of betrayed outrage that will be present in a military court. That being said, this case belongs in the military’s jurisdiction and the defense has almost no chance of getting it moved.
That Hassan survived to face his day in court presents an interesting situation for him, however. Not only has he been denied his shot at Paradise (if he does indeed believe in such a thing) but he is now a prisoner in his own body. It strikes me that 20 years of that will be much more soul-destroying that a quick execution that grants him the death he sought on 5 November. It strikes me also that there could be no colder revenge, on the part of his victims or God himself, than to give Hassan such a future as he now faces. Your concept of revenge is not particularly complex by comparison, now is it?
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You should just give up. You are there for show only. I am amazed they just don’t act like the fascists they are and shoot him in his bed! Death to Ameerika!
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Sadly, we continue to have folks like you who do not believe in the Constitution.
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I can’t tell if you’re supporting Hassan or against him.
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