Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre - Reuters

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

1 of 2. Attorney John Henry Browne (R), civil legal counsel to Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) based soldier Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the then-deployed U.S. Army soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians earlier this month, speaks in a press conference in his Seattle, Washington office March 30, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Anthony Bolante

By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE | Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:45pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"When prosecutors don't cooperate, it's because they are concerned about the strength of their case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defense.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we don't know for sure at this point," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

DENIED ACCESS

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians injured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared their investigative findings with his team, and would not share images captured by a surveillance camera on a blimp above the base which the Army says shows Bales returning to the camp after the alleged shooting, he said.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defense, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army.

That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

Browne said it was too early to say whether post-traumatic stress disorder would feature in his defense against the charges. "I don't know whether it will at all," said Browne.

"First thing we have to find out is whether the government has a case. Until we're convinced the government has a case, we're not going to start speculating on what our defenses are going to be."

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"When prosecutors don't cooperate, it's because they are concerned about the strength of their case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defense.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we don't know for sure at this point," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

DENIED ACCESS

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians i njured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared their investigative findings with his team, and would not share images captured by a surveillance camera on a blimp above the base which the Army says shows Bales returning to the camp after the alleged shooting, he said.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defense, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army.

That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

Browne said it was too early to say whether post-traumatic stress disorder would feature in his defense against the charges. "I don't know whether it will at all," said Browne.

"First thing we have to find out is whether the government has a case. Until we're convinced the government has a case, we're not going to start speculating on what our defenses are going to be."

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer cites PTSD to defend US soldier in Afghan killings

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
The lawyer for a US soldier charged with killing 17 villagers in southern Afghanistan said Wednesday he will cite Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to defend the serviceman.

Attorney John Henry Browne added that prosecutors will have trouble proving their case against Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, whose alleged attack further strained already tense ties between Washington and Kabul.

Bales, 38, is said to have walked out of his base in the southern province of Kandahar in the early hours of March 11 and mounted a massacre in two nearby villages, with many of his victims women and children.

"When the experts are done with this case, there'll definitely be PTSD... I know a lot about PTSD and the symptoms and everything, and I'm convinced from my conversations that PTSD will be an issue," he told CNN.

The lawyer, who said he has met his client for 11 hours, downplayed reports that Bales had confessed, or even spoken about the shootings when he returned from the alleged attacks in the early hours.

"I don't know that I trust anything about him saying 'I shot people,' because I have not heard that from any source I trust," Browne told CNN in an interview.

Bales, who is being held at the Fort Leavenworth military base in Kansas, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, as well as six counts of assault and attempted murder in connection with the massacre.

Browne claimed there was a lack of evidence from the scene.

"It's not a traditional crime scene. There is no crime scene. The military has not even been back to the villages where this allegation stems from. They haven't been back there," Browne said.

"So there's no crime scene, there's no DNA, there's no fingerprints, there's no confession. It's -- you know, the Afghan people traditionally, I understand, and understandably, bury their dead very quickly.

"So it's going to be a tough case for the prosecutors," he added.

The killings have put further strain on the already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, after the burning of Korans by American soldiers in mid-February triggered deadly anti-US protests.

View the original article here

US soldier's lawyer slams Afghan killings 'blackout'

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
The lawyer representing a US soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan villagers condemned what he called an "information blackout" that prevents him from preparing his defense case.

Attorney John Henry Browne on Friday said his team had been blocked from interviewing witnesses and injured civilians in southern Afghanistan following the alleged massacre earlier this month.

"We were expecting a lot more cooperation. The prosecutors in this case promised us a lot of cooperation which we're just not getting," he told reporters in Seattle.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he added in a statement.

His client Sergeant Robert Bales, 38, is said to have walked out of his base in the southern province of Kandahar in the early hours of March 11 and mounted a massacre in two nearby villages, with many of his victims women and children.

Browne met his client earlier this month at the Fort Leavenworth military base in Kansas, where Bales is detained charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, as well as six counts of assault and attempted murder.

But his team has made little progress on the ground in Afghanistan. "When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital, we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," it said.

The next day, prosecutors interviewed the injured civilians, but Browne's office found out shortly afterward that "the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them.

"In addition, we are being denied access to the injured civilians medical records that are in the possession of the government which makes it even more impossible for us to try to locate and interview these crucial witnesses," it said.

"The prosecution is withholding the entire investigative file from the defense team while the potential witnesses scatter into unknown and potentially inaccessible areas in Afghanistan."

Browne, who said his team had also not been shown an alleged video of Bales, conceded that under military trial rules, they do not have the right to shared "discovery" information until 30 days before a so-called Article 32 preliminary hearing.

"In this case, they actually promised us that if we sent people to Afghanistan... they would cooperate, and make witnesses available for us. And they've obviously violated that promise," he said.

He also warned that the defense -- which will have access to the results of a "sanity review" of Bales expected in the next two months and not made officially available to prosecutors -- could withhold cooperation.

"If they want cooperation from us they better start cooperating more," he told reporters.

Browne said earlier this week that post-traumatic stress disorder will almost certainly be part of his defense, adding that prosecutors will have trouble proving their case against Bales.

The killings have further strained the already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, at an all-time low after the burning of Korans by Americans, a spate of deadly anti-US protests and an earlier video showing US Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban militants.

US military officials declined to respond directly to Browne's allegations. But army spokesman George Wright told AFP: "The US Army will continue to work with the Bales legal defense team in the months to come."

View the original article here

Lawyer: Afghan suspect had depression after Iraq

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians suffered a traumatic incident during his second tour in Iraq that triggered "tremendous depression," his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he could not discuss the details of the matter because it remains classified. But he expects the issue to become a focal point in the case against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

"It caused him tremendous depression and anxiety," Browne said.

The lawyer previously said Bales experienced other major dangers in his deployments, including a serious foot injury and head trauma. In addition, a fellow soldier's leg had been blown off days before the Afghanistan massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes. He is being held at a U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A defense team is now in Afghanistan to collect evidence and interview other U.S. soldiers who knew Bales.

"Everyone they've spoken to in the military has nothing but amazingly positive things to say about him," said Browne, who is not part of the team in Afghanistan.

Due to security concerns, Browne doesn't think the team will visit the villages where the killings occurred. The investigators are likely to stay in Afghanistan a few more weeks.

Browne questioned the U.S. government's case against Bales, noting there is no preserved crime scene to assess.

"It's going to be a difficult case for the prosecution to prove," Browne said. "There's no 'CSI' information. There's no DNA that I know of. There's no ballistics that I know of."

Bales has indicated that he had no recollection of prescription drugs he may have been taking before the shooting — something the attorney took as an indicator of larger memory problems.

The lawyer also said his client has a sketchy memory of the night of the shootings. In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Browne said Wednesday that Bales remembered the smell of gunfire and of human bodies but not much more.

Browne added his client reported suffering from nightmares, flashbacks of war scenes and persistent headaches after his multiple combat tours. Bales told his legal team that he has long woken up with night sweats and often replays memories of a grisly scene in Iraq that he and his infantry company witnessed several years ago, Browne said.

The lawyer stressed that Bales did not confess and seemed surprised when his weapon was taken away, the newspaper reported.

U.S. military officials said Bales was drinking on a southern Afghanistan base on March 11 before creeping away to two villages at night, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine were children.

Bales has had incidents involving alcohol and violence in the past.

In 2002, He was arrested for a drunken assault of a security guard at a Tacoma casino. That charge was dismissed after Bales completed 20 hours of anger management training.

In 2008, a couple accused an intoxicated Bales of grabbing a woman's hand and thrusting it toward his crotch before kicking and punching the woman's boyfriend, according to a police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue that case.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

View the original article here

Lawyer says U.S. blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"When prosecutors don't cooperate, it's because they are concerned about the strength of their case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defense.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we don't know for sure at this point," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

DENIED ACCESS

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians i njured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared their investigative findings with his team, and would not share images captured by a surveillance camera on a blimp above the base which the Army says shows Bales returning to the camp after the alleged shooting, he said.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defense, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army.

That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

Browne said it was too early to say whether post-traumatic stress disorder would feature in his defense against the charges. "I don't know whether it will at all," said Browne.

"First thing we have to find out is whether the government has a case. Until we're convinced the government has a case, we're not going to start speculating on what our defenses are going to be."

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer prepares to meet Afghan killings suspect

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle defense attorney prepared to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is facing formal charges in an attack on two slumbering Afghan villages that left 16 people dead, including nine children.

John Henry Browne flew to Kansas Sunday ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with the 10-year Army veteran, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales, 38, hasn't been charged in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threaten to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war.

But formal charges are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

View the original article here

Lawyer for Afghan killings suspect to visit him

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (AP) — With formal charges looming against his client within days, the lawyer for an Army sergeant suspected in the horrific nighttime slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers flew to Kansas and was preparing for his first face-to-face meeting with the 10-year veteran.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he planned to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Bales, 38, hasn't been charged in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threaten to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war. But formal charges are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two slumbering villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Rebecca Steed, spokeswoman at Fort Leavenworth, said Bales would be able to meet with Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

View the original article here

Lawyer on way to meet Afghan suspect

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

The lawyer for a US Army sergeant suspected in the slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers is flying to Kansas to meet with his client as formal charges against the 10-year veteran loom within days.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he plans to meet on Monday with Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at the maximum security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Charges against Bales, 38, are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the US military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once lawyers involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offence was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then 'prefers' the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Records and interviews have revealed Bales as a man appreciated by friends and family who won military commendations. Yet he also faced professional disappointment, financial trouble and brushes with the law.

According to details from interviews, Bales was bypassed for promotion, struggled to pay for his house and eyed a way out of his job at a Washington state military base months before he was accused of the killings in two Afghanistan villages.

While Bales sat in an isolated cell, classmates and neighbours from a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio remembered him as a 'happy-go-lucky' high school football player who took care of a special needs child and watched out for troublemakers in the neighbourhood.

But court records and interviews show that the 10-year veteran - with a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan - had joined the army after a Florida investment job went sour, had a Seattle-area home condemned, struggled to make payments on another and failed to get a promotion or a transfer a year ago.

His legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Military officials say that after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, Bales crept away on March 11 to two sleeping villages, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

'This is some crazy stuff if it's true,' Steve Berling, a high school classmate, said of the revelations about the father of two known as 'Bobby' in his hometown of Norwood, Ohio.

His former platoon leader said Bales was a model soldier inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to serve, who saved lives in firefights on his second of three Iraq deployments.

'He's one of the best guys I ever worked with,' said Army Captain Chris Alexander, who led Bales on a 15-month deployment in Iraq.

'He is not some psychopath. He's an outstanding soldier who has given a lot for this country.'

But pressing family troubles were hinted at by his wife, Kari, on multiple blogs posted with names like The Bales Family Adventures and BabyBales. A year ago, she wrote that Bales was hoping for a promotion or a transfer after nine years stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Washington.

'We are hoping to have as much control as possible' over the future, Kari Bales wrote last March 25. 'Who knows where we will end up. I just hope that we are able to rent our house so that we can keep it. I think we are both still in shock.'

After Bales lost out on a promotion to E7 - a sergeant first-class - the family hoped to go to either Germany, Italy or Hawaii for an 'adventure', she said. Instead the army redeployed his unit - the 2nd Infantry Division of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, named after armoured Stryker vehicles - to Afghanistan.

It would be Bales' fourth tour in a war zone. He joined the military two months after the September 11 attacks and spent more than three years in Iraq during three separate assignments since 2003. His lawyer said he was injured twice in Iraq - once losing part of his foot - but his 20 or so commendations do not include the Purple Heart, given to soldiers wounded in combat.

Alexander said Bales wasn't injured while he oversaw him during their deployment - Bales' second in Iraq. He called Bales a 'very solid' non-commissioned officer who didn't have more difficulty than his fellow soldiers with battlefield stress. Bales shot at a man aiming a rocket-propelled grenade at his platoon's vehicle in Mosul, Iraq, sending the grenade flying over the vehicle.

View the original article here

Lawyer for Afghan suspect to visit with him Monday

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (AP) — With formal charges looming against his client within days, the lawyer for an Army sergeant suspected in the horrific nighttime slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers was flying Sunday to Kansas and getting ready to meet for the first time with the 10-year veteran.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he planned to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Charges against Bales, 38, are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base on March 11, crept away to two slumbering villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in the last several years: a Florida investment job went sour, he had a Seattle-area home condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has only handled three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

View the original article here

Lawyer to visit Afghan Murder Suspect

With the imminent formal charges against his client in the days, counsel for a sergeant in the army suspected the horrible night massacre of 16 Afghan villagers flew in Kansas and was preparing for his first meeting in the face to face with the veteran of 10 years.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he planned to meet Monday Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is detained in a cell isolated in Fort Leavenworth military prison.

Balls, 38 years old, has not been charged in the shooting on March 11, has been infringed in relations between the United States and the Afghanistan, who threatens to return the policy of the United States in the war of ten years. But the formal charges are expected to be filed in a week and if the case is brought to trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar to the investigation.

That fresh said experts were still to be decided and that the location of any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is presented at trial, it is possible that the victims and the Afghan witnesses would be raised to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once prosecutors involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a member of the service have what they think to be a solid understanding of what has happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they loads project and present it to a commander. This person then makes a judgment on if there is probable cause to believe that an offence has been committed and that the accused committed it.

The Commander then "prefer" the charges to the convening authority, which generally is the Commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned, but may be of a higher rank.

Bullets team said in a statement late Saturday that "" it is too early to determine what factors have played in this incident and the defence team is pleased to review of the evidence, examine all the medical records and staff sergeant balls and question witnesses. ""

Statement of the lawyers' said also family of the bullets was "surprised by this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and the dedicated Army Member.".

Military authorities reported that balls, after drinking on a base in the South of the Afghanistan, slipped away March 11 to two villages fell asleep during the night, shooting his victims and many of them fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to a family.

Records and interviews in recent days showed that the bullets were a string of commendations for good behaviour after four towers in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he has also faced a number of difficulties in recent years: a work of investment of Florida a sour, at his home in the Seattle area was sentenced as he is struggling to make payments on another, and it does not have to obtain a recent promotion.

Legal issues included them charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a tube - and run accident, hemorrhage in military clothing in the Woods, court records show. He said police, he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Rebecca Steed, spokesman at Fort Leavenworth, said that bullets would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. With medical visits, these meetings are generally more private than other activities in the prison.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy of Colton Harris - Moore, known as the "barefoot Bandit". He said that he managed military affairs only three or four. Bullets will have at least a military lawyer.

Large and elegant, Browne was an important figure in the State of Washington legal community since the 1970s, known also for his zeal in the representation of his clients and his flair for the television cameras.

—————

Writers of the Associated Press Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed equally.

View the original article here

Lawyer prepares to meet with Afghan killings suspect - Fox News

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

SEATTLE – ?Seattle defense attorney prepared to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is facing formal charges in an attack on two slumbering Afghan villages that left 16 people dead, including nine children.

John Henry Browne flew to Kansas Sunday ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with the 10-year Army veteran, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales, 38, hasn't been charged in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threaten to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war.

But formal charges are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

View the original article here

Bundy's Lawyer Represents Sergeant in Afghan Rampage - NewsMax.com

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

(Corrects number of judges at hearing in 12th paragraph.)

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- John Henry Browne, the lawyer for the U.S. soldier suspected in the shooting deaths of 16 Afghan civilians, has a history of defending clients in multiple homicide cases, including serial killer Ted Bundy and mass murderer Benjamin Ng.

During his 40 years as an attorney, Browne, 65, the chief trial lawyer in the King County Office of the Public Defender in Seattle before going into private practice, has represented arsonists, a shoeless airplane thief and a man accused of killing a celebrity dog trainer.

“He seems to thrive on controversial cases, and he gets good outcomes for his clients,” said Richard Hansen, whom Browne hired in 1976 to work as a public defender in Seattle.

Browne’s newest client, a 38-year-old Army staff sergeant, is suspected of going on a rampage about three months into his first tour of duty in Afghanistan following three deployments to Iraq. The Army said in a memo to Congress that the soldier allegedly hiked to two villages close to his base near Kandahar city on March 11 to commit the killings.

The suspect is U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, according to a U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because charges haven’t been announced. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Captain John Kirby, said the suspect is being brought to the U.S. and declined to name the destination.

The stress of a fourth deployment, a troubled marriage and alcohol use appear to have combined to provoke the killings, said a U.S. official briefed on the case.

At a press conference at his Seattle office on March 15, Browne disputed that account.

‘Strong Marriage’

“This is a very strong marriage,” Browne said. “There’s a lot of love, a lot of respect, two children.”

There were no incidents of domestic violence “whatsoever” and no indication alcohol had played a part in the alleged attack. Browne said.

Browne and Emma Scanlan, an associate at his law firm, didn’t return calls yesterday seeking comment for this story.

If convicted of murder after a military trial, the suspect may face a death sentence, said Eugene Fidell, former president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

The soldier will have a preliminary hearing, where a military judge will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a court-martial, said Fidell, who teaches military justice classes at Yale University. There is no bail in military proceedings, he said.

‘Barefoot Bandit’

Browne graduated from American University School of Law in 1971, according to his law firm’s website. He worked as an assistant attorney general in Washington state before joining the public defender’s office in 1975.

Last year, Browne represented airplane thief Colton Harris- Moore, known as the “Barefoot Bandit” because he committed some of his crimes while not wearing shoes. Moore pleaded guilty to the plane theft and other charges and is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence.

Bundy assaulted or killed three dozen women across the U.S., according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was one of the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives when he was caught in February 1978. He was executed in Florida in 1989.

Browne was counsel for Benjamin Ng, who was convicted in the killing of 13 people in Seattle in 1983. Ng was spared a death sentence.

Dog Trainer

Browne also represented Michiel Oakes, who was convicted of killing Mark Stover, a dog trainer who worked for Starbucks Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. Oakes got a 26 1/2-year sentence in 2010, the Seattle Times reported.

Prosecutors who worked on the Oakes and Harris-Moore cases declined to discuss their experiences with Browne or didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

Browne, although not a regular on the military circuit, is highly competent as a defense lawyer and a reasonable choice as counsel because he’s from “that part of the country,” Fidell said.

“In serious cases, people who can afford it will hire a civilian,” he said. “There aren’t that many civilian lawyers who do these cases.”

While lawyers from the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps will provide assistance, Browne will steer the case and make the strategic decisions, Fidell said.

The soldier in the Afghan attacks allegedly gathered 11 of those he killed into one home and set the bodies on fire, Lal Mohammed, an elder from Zangabad, the area where the incident occurred, said by phone. Afterward, the soldier walked back to base and surrendered, according to Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

Great ‘Cruelty’

U.S. President Barack Obama called Afghan President Hamid Karzai “to express his shock and sadness” and pledged “to hold fully accountable anyone responsible,” according to a White House statement. Karzai said the incident shows “great oppression and cruelty” toward the people of Afghanistan, according to a statement from his office.

Evidence gathering for the soldier’s hearing could be difficult because of the incident’s location, Fidell said. The hostility of villagers and Muslim law requiring bodies to be buried quickly and without an autopsy also pose obstacles to prosecution, according to Fidell.

Investigators will collect as much evidence as possible ahead of the preliminary hearing, Fidell said. “That’s assuming they’re getting assistance from the villagers instead of being shot at,” he said.

Last Execution

The last soldier executed by the military was Army private John Arthur Bennett, Fidell said. Bennett, convicted of raping and attempting to murder an 11-year-old Austrian girl, was executed by hanging in 1961. A handful of army prisoners are being held on death row at the U.S. disciplinary barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Fidell said.

“No one can be executed without the affirmative personal approval of the president,” Fidell said.

Defense lawyers represent unpopular clients to protect the legal process, said Hansen, the former public defender.

“The tough cases tend to warp the system in a bad way,” Hansen said in a phone interview. “The public becomes acutely aware of the most horrendous crimes so the laws tend to get ramped up because of the most atypical cases.”

--With assistance from Eltaf Najafizada in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Tony Capaccio and Gopal Ratnam in Washington. Editors: Andrew Dunn, Michael Hytha

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net; Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at spearson3@bloomberg.net; Peter Robison in Seattle at robison@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net; Gary Putka at gputka@bloomberg.net

? Copyright 2012 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.

View the original article here