At Ft. Hood the capital court-martial of MAJ Nodal Hasan begins. WaPo coverage here.

The PFC Manning sentencing continues, WaPo coverage here, with evidence of the harm/potential harm to national security caused by the offenses:

A senior U.S. official told a military court Monday that while he believed the leaking of a huge number of classified cables by Army Pfc. Bradley Manning had a chilling effect on diplomatic relations, the State Department never completed a formal damage assessment.

On Tuesday, Judge Denise Lind ruled on multiplicity for sentencing motions and reduced Manning’s potential maximum sentence to 90 years, ABC News report here.

Coverge of the Hutchins case out of San Diego and his release fromLeavenworth after winning at CAAF, San Diego Union Tribune here and LA Times here.

Members selection in the sexual assault case of BG Jeffrey Sinclair continues this week.  See FayObs here.

Former Marine JA and Deputy Asst SecDef for Detainee Affairs Willaim Lietzau has some candid comments on Gitmo in the Daily Mail, here.

Every media outlet’s military justice coverage is focused on the announcement of the verdict in the PFC Bradley Manning court-martial. Judge Lind announced yesterday that her decision will be made today.  Coverage from various folks here (CNN), here (AP via WaPo), and here (NBC News).

But another case more than three years in the making gets under way soon as well. The MAJ Nidal Hasan court-martial at Ft. Hood begins Aug. 6, 2013 reports the Dallas Morning News in this what to expect from the trial preview.

Here is a good example of why one should not act as their own attorney. MAJ Nidal Hasan has released a statement exclusively to Fox News, here, stating that “the U.S. military is at war with his religion.” Fox News , really?

Here is an Air Force Times piece about the LRM v. Kastenberg decision featuring NIMJ’s Gene Fidell.

And here (subscription req’d) the WSJ continues its coverage of the other side of the military’s sexual dilemma. This story by James Taranto about the acquittal of a West Point cadet.

More on General Amos and potential UCI issues in the Marine Corps courts-martial related to the Taliban corpse desecration cases, from the Washington Times here.

H/t PL & JW

The armed services have agreed to re-open 31 sexual assault cases after the DoD IGv found flaws in the investigation of those cases by the defense criminal investigative services. USAToday report here.

The Fayetteville Observer reports here that panel selection begins today in the BGEN Jeffrey Sinclair court-martial. Opening arguments are scheduled for Sep 30.

The Major Nidal Hasan court-martial panel selection is dealing with consideration of the death penalty reports AP (via Army Times), here and the Austin American Statesman here.

AP via WaPo reports here on the defense motion to dismiss in the PFC Manning court-martial.

The National Review has this piece on Pres. Obama’s comments on sentences in sexual assault cases.

AP (via WaPo) here, reports that BGEN Jeffrey Sinclair’s court-martial will likely be delayed after the military judge in the case agreed with defense attorneys that finding an imartial court-martial panel could be difficult. Panel selection begins next week.

The defense has rested in the PFC Bradley Manning court-martial, report from UPI here, and to the sadness of I

Panel selection continues in the MAJ Nodal Hasan court-martial at Ft. Hood. Ft. Hood press release here and coverage here from AP via the Austin American-Statesman of the Fifth Circuit’s denial of access to FISA evidence relating to Hasan. More coverage of panel selection from the San Antonio News Express here.

Lost as 3 high profile c-m dominate the news is the firing of Ft. Jackson commander BGEN Bryan Roberts for misconduct, Seattle P-I report here. Prior coverage of the investigationthat led to his relief here.

The Marine Times reports that Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina sent this letter to the DoD Inspector General inquiring about the status of the investigation into the “allegations the Marine Corps commandant and his legal advisers manipulated criminal cases stemming from a vulgar war-zone video.”

The Marine Times also reports that the Government has petitioned CAAF for reconsideration in the case of United States v. Hutchins.

The Voice of America reports on panel selection in the Hasan trial at Fort Hood.

Reuters reports that the Defense has rested its case in the Manning trial. Also, The Guardian laments the lack of contemporaneous public access to the case documents (see also Center for Constitutional Rights, et al. v. United States and Colonel Lind).

And U.S. News & World Report printed another item written by Senator Gillibrand of New York about the issue of sexual assault in the military. She writes:

… listen to the military leadership. Gen. James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a speech earlier this year, “Why wouldn’t female Marines come forward? Because they don’t trust us. They don’t trust the command. They don’t trust the leadership.”

It has become crystal clear that victims have no confidence that justice can be obtained within the chain of command. According to the Pentagon, half of female victims do not report because they do not believe anything will come of it. This lack of faith in the system, and systemic fear of retaliation and retribution, has a chilling effect on reporting, which leaves offenders free to attack again without consequence.

Judge Osborn is reviewing voir dire questions submitted by MAJ Hasan in his own defense reports AP here (via Philly Inquirer).  Notable form the story:

Osborn also refused Hasan’s request for a delay to hire an attorney. Hasan said Ramsey Clark – who served as U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson and as a lawyer for the dictators Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic – offered to represent him after hearing about his proposed “defense of others” strategy.

Is it just me or is it notable that both high profile Army cases are being tried before female military judges?

Judge Lind hears from the defense today.  WaPo report on yesterday’s proceedings here.

And in Gitmo news, the 9/11 conspirators trials may be getting a nudge, see AP via Yahoo News here. Prosecutors are asking to set a schedule for pre-trial procedures and a September 2014 trial date.

WaPo reports, here, that former Vice Chair of the JCS, General James Cartwright is potentially a target of a DOJ investigation into the leak of classified invformation about the Israeli-US operation that led to the Stuxnet virus that destroyed Iranian cerntrifuges and set back Iran’s nuclear program. 

More updates on Air Force MTI cases, via Air Force Times here, an acquittal on aggravated sexual assault but conviction on lesser charges nets two years and another MTI goes to a special court-martial over inappropriate relationships.

SecDef Hagel met with the Sexual Assault Response Systems Review Panel yesterday, report from The Hill here and Armed Forces Press here.  The Panel was created by Sec. 576(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, see prior coverage here.

PFC Manning’s court-martial for disclosing classified materials to Wiki[shhh] continues with testimony that at least some of the released materials did actually contain classified material.  See AP report here (via Yahoo News).

The dying words of a victim in the Ft. Hood shootings may be admitted at trial ruled Army Judge Tara Osborn in the MAJ Nidal Hasan case. Reuters report here.  Opening statements in the case, in which Hasan is representing himself, could begin in early August.  Voir dire begins on July 9, 2013.

The Manning case will take a hiatus from testimony as Judge Lind hears oral arguments on evidentiary issues today and the government and defense negotiate witness statements for witnesses that are unable to appear. Coverage from AP (via WaPo) here. 

Arguments in the CCR lawsuit in D.Md. district court were held yesterday, AP (via ABC News) reports here. It would appear that the Army’s proposed 2 day turn around time on documents from the case will satisfy the district court. Now why can’t the Army do that in all courts-martial?

Here’s a headline I couldn’t have predicted “Pending Hasan trial having positive economic impact,” see Temple Daily Telegram here (subscription required).

Though a little dated, a San Antonio based Air Force recruiter, TSGT Jaime Rodriguez, was sentenced to 27 years in the brig for aggravated sexual assault and other charges stemming from contact with recuruits and potential recruits.  Texas Public Radio report here and AF Times report here.

Three Naval Academy football players are going to face an Art. 32 hearing for sexual assault charges stemming from an incident last year.  USAToday reports here that the investigation of the case was re-opened after the alleged victim retained a lawyer, Susan Burke, and cooperated with investigators.  The report states that “that one of the accused football players told the victim not to cooperate with NCIS and that the academy closed the investigation in 2012, citing the victim’s unwillingness to cooperate as the reason.”

Manning, Manning and more Manning in my Google News alert.  Here (WaPo) and here (AP).

News out of the Fayetteville Observer on the BGEN Jeffrey Sinclair court-martial, here:

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair’s sexual misconduct court-martial has been postponed until July, and a source close to the case said one of the pornography accusations against him has been dropped.

A pre-trial hearing for Sinclair is scheduled to begin today at the Fort Bragg courthouse. Three generals may testify this week.

Air Force Times reports, here, that a non-MTI rape case is set to begin at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland:

A court-martial will begin Tuesday for a recruiter accused of rape, sexual assault, indecent exposure and more than two dozen other counts involving 17 women, most of them Air Force applicants.

The trial for Tech. Sgt. Jaime Rodriguez was set to begin this morning at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, but was postponed one day, according to a news release from the base. . . .

He is accused of raping a recruiter assistant, plus seven other charges and a total of 30 specifications, including forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual contact, indecent conduct, obstruction of justice, making a false official statement and adultery. The charge sheet said Rodriguez allegedly used his position to try to gain sexual favors, lied about sending nude photos of himself and asked others to lie for him. . . .

The case against the recruiter is separate from the investigations of military training instructors at Lackland . . . .

And finally, more coverage of MAJ Hasan getting his wish to rep himself here (LA TImes).

MAJ Hasan Firing Defense Counsel

In a move that shouldn’t be all that surprising to informed observers, MAJ Nidal Hasan has moved to fire his military lawyers and proceed pro se in his own defense in his Ft. Hood shootings court-martial.  The Austin-American Statesman reports, here:

The request will be taken up by military judge Col. Tara Osborn at a May 29 pre-trial hearing. Because of the request, the planned selection of a jury — or panel, in military parlance — has been pushed back from May 30 to June 5. The trial is scheduled to begin by July 1.

H/t PC

CCR and Others Take Transparency Fight to US District Court

WaPo reports, here:

The Wiki[shhhh] organization and a handful of journalists asked a federal judge Wednesday to order greater transparency in the court-martial of an Army private who has acknowledged sending reams of classified document to the Wiki[shhhh] website.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, representing Wiki[shhhh] and its founder Julian Assange, filed the petition in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. It seeks an order requiring public access to all documents in the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Military Sexual Assault Issue Leads to UCMJ Change Proposal

From AP (via Yahoo News, here), the HASC Military Personnel Subcommittee voted on changes to the UCMJ Wednesday:

Members of a House panel angry over the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the military took a key step toward tackling the problem by passing legislation Wednesday that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in rape and assault cases. Lawmakers believe the revision will lead to a cultural shift and encourage victims to step forward.

Here is the link, courtesy of PC, to the proposed chagnes, starting at page 12.

And finally, a little history, minutes of HMS Bounty mutiny court-martial discovered, see Daily Mail report here.

Interesting NPR piece on the Invisible War’s Myla Haider here. 

The response to transparency and legality concerns with the US drone policy appears to be more symbolic than real, so says Eric Schmitt at the NYT here.

7 months confinement and a BCD in latest Lackland instructor case. This instructor had consensual sex with two recruits and lied to investigators according to the report out of San Antonio here.

[UPDATE]  I forgot to add yesterday’s news about the military judge, COL Tara Osborn, rejecting MAJ Nidal Hasan’s attempt to plead guilty . . . because one of the not so bright provisions of the [UCMJ] prohibits it. LA Times report here.  COL Osborn also appears to have ruled on several “standard” capital court-martial motions. [My apologies for earlier pinning all the blame for the SNAFU in capital pleas on the Executive Branch; Congress created the mess in UCMJ, Art. 45(b).]

The Austin American-Statesman reports, here, that the MAJ Nidal Hasan trial will begin at Ft. Hood on May 29, 2013.  After four weeks of voir dire and panel selection, “testimony” is scheduled to begin July 1, 2013. So I assume opening arguments are the last week of June.

More Manning coverage including a detailed article from the NYT, here, that also investigated the voicemail PFC Manning stated he left for the NYT. The NYT also notes, contrary to some early reports, that Manning stated in the providence inquiry that he was turned off by the WaPo because they said they would have to review the material before committing to publish it. Call me old fashioned, but that changes my opinion of Manning’s confessed motives. CNET coverage (which is always a little different) here.

Okinawa rape trials sentence former sailors to 10 and 9 year sentences. See AP (via YahooNews) report here.

Hearing on the defense motion to dismiss in the trial of MAJ Nidal Hasan is re-scheduled until Feb. 28, 2013.  PAO release here.

An alert reader called our attention to this Fort Hood press release announcing that COL Tara Osborn has scheduled an Article 39(a) session in MAJ Hasan’s case for 18 December.