The first of three snipers accused of murder in the soon to be infamous "baiting" program has been found innocent. The story of SPC Jorge Sandoval's acquittal is found in tomorrow's New York Times. I suspect that in all likelihood, the murder charges will be dismissed from the other two men as well, and lesser charges will be plead in order to keep the secrecy of the now leaked baiting program.
According to the New York Times:
Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval Jr. received congratulatory embraces from his two military lawyers after the verdict was announced in a small courtroom here, a short armored Humvee ride from Saddam Hussein’s former palace on the grounds of what is now a sprawling American military base.
His acquittal for murder though, did not leave him a free man as he was also convicted for leaving a copper wire in another incident. I believe this is going to be the trend for these three cases, as they all involve the super secretiveAWG. This was initially brought out on DKOS by BarbinMD and OneCrankyDom
In regards to the copper wire, the Times tell us this:
Specialist Sandoval, 22, from the First Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, was convicted of planting a coil of copper wire on the body of a man he killed near Iskandariya on April 27 during an operation in a dangerous Sunni Arab region south of Baghdad. The copper roll, what soldiers call "command wire," is commonly used by insurgents to make or detonate roadside bombs, the leading killer of American forces in Iraq.
The Charge for this now legally fuzzy crime since the existence of this program?
...such a crime could be punished with as few as six months in prison, or as long as five years.
The key to Sandoval, being acquitted probably rested with the testimony of Sergeant Evan Vela.
After striking a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to testify without incriminating himself on Thursday in Specialist Sandoval’s court-martial, Sergeant Vela took the stand and admitted killing the man, with no encouragement or assistance from anyone except Sergeant Hensley.
You can read more about the issue at the above links. Townhall
also has a story on this as does just about everyone. I wouldn't doubt it if I missed one in the search here at DKOS too.
The Legal ramifications, not to mention the hampering of all the attempts at stabilizing Iraq of the next two Court-Martial cases against Hensley, and Vela will have a deep impact on the way soldiers conduct themselves in the war zone. The Washington Post story had this key quote that captured the biggest danger from this case.
"I just came to a unit, Delaware, that they will not pull the trigger on people," said Sgt. Andrew G. Murphy III, according to transcripts of a Baghdad court hearing. "Now they're like, 'What's going to happen if?' And I'm like, 'I don't know; I can't tell you. If you feel threatened, take the shot, and I hope, I pray, that your command takes your back, because you have split and milliseconds to make decisions like this.' "
David Grace has a collection of news stories on Evan Vela here.