0809Will-there-be-justice-Behenna

Will There Be Justice?

by Vicki Behenna

When I said good-bye to

my son, 1LT Michael

Behenna, on his first

deployment to Iraq I

never imagined what

my son and family would

face. I knew he faced

danger. I knew that he

might be injured or

worse, killed, but I

never imagined that

he would be charged

and convicted by the

Army for killing a member of Al Qaeda in self defense.

Unfortunately, we are learning that his is not the only case where American soldiers have been charged and convicted for combat related killings. Since my son’s incarceration at Ft. Leavenworth, I have met other mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, and wives of soldiers/marines who have been prosecuted by the military for killings that occur in combat.

Soldiers who have served their

country with distinction, with

multiple deployments, some

of the convicted soldiers

have received purple hearts

for their service.

However, my son’s story

went so terribly wrong; it

has shone a light on the

lengths to which prosecutors

will go to obtain convictions

of our men. The trophy of

a conviction was so

important to the prosecutors

in this case that they violated

their ethical and constitutional

obligations and denied the rights of an American soldier to a fair trial.

Michael volunteered to serve his country during a time of war. He was a new platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division when the battalion was sent to Baiji, Iraq in September 2007. He took his job and the safety of his men seriously. On April 21, 2008, an IED attack on his platoon killed two of his soldiers, killed two concerned local citizens (CLC) traveling with the platoon, and seriously injured his platoon sergeant and medic. On May 5, 2008, Michael’s platoon detained Ali Mansur, who military intelligence reports identified as a member of the Al Qaeda cell responsible for the IED attack.

After keeping Mansur in custody for only two weeks, the military decided to release Mansur, even though they knew that he and his terrorist cell, was a threat to US Forces. Michael and his platoon were ordered to return Mansur to his home. Not knowing what else to do, Michael, took it upon himself to conduct an interrogation of Mansur to obtain the names of the other members of the terrorist cell, to determine how they were financed and why Mansur was traveling to Syria. Michael and his interpreter took Mansur to a culvert in the desert, sat him on a rock, and began the interrogation.

While in the culvert, Michael began asking for the names of the other Al Qaeda cell members. At one point Michael turned his head to look at his interpreter to get a translation. It was then Michael heard a rock hit the culvert by his head. When he turned to look at Mansur, Mansur was standing with his arms outstretched. Michael believed Mansur was reaching for his gun so he fired two shots.

During his trial the prosecutors argued that Michael executed Mansur in the head while he was seated on a rock in the culvert. That theory did not account for the forensic evidence. The forensic evidence supported Michael’s testimony that Mansur was standing with his arm outstretched at the time the shots were fired and that the first shot was not a shot to Mansur’s head, but under Mansur’s right arm. The second shot struck Mansur in his head when his body began to fall to the ground. The sickening thing about this is that the prosecutor’s own forensic expert, Dr. Herbert MacDonell, agreed with Michael and told the prosecutors that Michael’s testimony fit the physical facts and that this was the only logical explanation for the shooting. The prosecutors not only failed to tell the defense lawyers about their own expert’s opinion, but continued to argue to the jury that Michael executed Mansur while seated on a rock.

It was only after Dr. MacDonell sent an email to the prosecutors telling them that he thought his opinion was exculpatory evidence and hoped “in the interest of justice,” they had informed the defense lawyers of his opinion, were defense counsel told of Dr. MacDonell’s opinion. Unfortunately, this came after the verdict. Motions for a new trial were filed with the military judge, but on March 20, 2009 he denied the motions for a new trial and ordered that Michael be taken into custody.

Thank God for people like Dr. MacDonell who have the courage to stand up for justice and defend a soldier’s constitutional right to a fair trial. It is un-American for a citizen of this country to watch silently while the rights of an American citizen, particularly a soldier, are trampled. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “To sin by silence, when one should protest, makes cowards of men.” We must

stand up for this soldier and against a system that will trample the constitutional rights of an American soldier for the sake of a conviction. My family continues to pray and hope that the appellate court has the courage to uphold Michael’s constitutional right to a fair trial and that they take seriously a prosecutor’s failure to provide exculpatory evidence to the defense. Until then, may God Bless and protect America and 1 LT Michael Behenna.

Editor’s note: We believe there is a serious problem in this country when we are more concerned with the “rights” of terrorists, than the rights of those who defend us! Please show your support for Michael with a note of gratitude:

Michael Behenna #87503

1300 N. Warehouse Road

Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304

Or visit defendmichael.wordpress.com/

to learn more.

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