Navy Seal Cleared By Jury In Iraqi Prisoner Beating Case

[sabra]

Source: MyStateLine

A military jury has cleared 28-year-old Navy Seal Julio Huertas of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of being the architect of a 2004 attack that left four U.S. security contractors dead in Fallujah.

Huertas, who hails from Blue Island, was the first of three Navy Seals to face a court martial in the incident.

A jury found the Petty Officer First Class not guilty after deliberating for a couple of hours.

Huertas had been charged with dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the testimony of another member of the military.

Read more: http://mystateline.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=155645

[ixion]

1. No justice when an institution investigates it's own crimes

In my opinion.

[benlurkin]

2. Ever think that there wasn't a crime committed?

Perhaps the the prisoner lied??

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hughee99]

7. What matters is what we know?

You strongly SUSPECT we- the American public- don't have all the facts and you SUSPECT the evidence is credible and substantial, so even in your own opinion, we don't KNOW we have all the facts or that the evidence is substantial or credible.

So I guess what REALLY matters is what "we" suspect, not what we know, then. Right?

[ManiacJoe]

28. If that useless article is any indication,

we, the American public, most certainly do not have all the facts.

[ixion]

5. Not outside the realm of possibility

but more probable that he was beaten.

[frylock]

8. based on the military's track record?

hell fucking NO! but navy seals rawk, so...

[NaturalHigh]

12. There is no doubt in my mind that no crime was committed.

I understand that this is the minority view around here and that there is plenty of hate for the military to go around, but evidence of a crime in this case is almost nonexistent.

[HALO141]

21. +1

[Richard Steele]

19. And the physical damage to the prisoner happened how?

Pfft. You should have stayed lurking.

[HALO141]

22. physical damage???

What, a split lip? Doesn't even merit a second look. Now, if he'd been brought in with a broken jaw, ribs, orbital fracture and pissing bloody urine through a plastic tube then, yeah, I might believe the Seals took a little extra-curricular training opportunity at his expense. But a measly split lip?

Stupid fuck probably tripped over his own feet trying to run away.

[Richard Steele]

24. Please consider your thuggish, juvenile opinions to be "duly noted".

nm

[Ignis]

25. Did you miss that right turn at Albuquerque?

Most of us on the Left don't belittle violence, nor do we blame the victim. YMMV.

[marshall]

11. It's called a jury of one's peers

And they're all thinking the same thing.

[NaturalHigh]

13. I suppose you would prefer the sort of justice...

where people just get to vote on the internet whether the accused is innocent or guilty. That seems to be the sentiment where allegations against military personnel are concerned.

[ixion]

14. No, I would prefer the matter be handled

in an independent civilian court, per my statement about an institution not being capable of policing itself.

[NaturalHigh]

15. I can see you are not familiar with military court martials.

Frankly, I think it is much more likely that innocent people are convicted than guilty people exonerated.

[ixion]

18. I am, but way to stay snarky

and add nothing to the debate. :hi:

[NaturalHigh]

20. Sorry if that came off as "snarky"...

I didn't mean it that way. It doesn't change what I posted, though. I don't know what your experience with court martials is, but in my job at Tinker AFB (a lifetime ago), I was very familiar with them. If a military court martial exonerated this sailor, I'm willing to bet that he's innocent.

[ixion]

26. fair enough... sorry for the misunderstanding.

And he may very well be innocent. I'm just generally skeptical where institutions are concerned.

[NaturalHigh]

27. No problem.

FWIW, I understand your POV. In this particular case, I just happen to disagree with it. As I said in another post, I'm actually skeptical of a great many guilty verdicts in court martials.

[shotten99]

3. Military courts are no joke

source: 10 years in the Navy

[24601]

6. Agree - with 25 years in the Army & I have been a Summary Court

Officer (Judge & Jury combined). If I were innocent, I'd want a Court Martial. If I were guilty, I'd want to avoid one at all costs.

[NaturalHigh]

17. I agree that the guilty should avoid a court martial...

but I don't know about innocent people wanting one. It's my opinion that a lot of innocent people (especially junior enlisted sitting before all-officer panels) have been convicted in the military. A lot of others were told by their military defense counsel that they couldn't win and either pleaded guilty or accepted an article 15. If you disagree, I suggest you look through some of the summaries from the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

FWIW (and please don't think that I am questioning your integrity in any way), but I have never heard of a summary court martial resulting in exoneration of the accused.

[davepc]

9. Do these publications not have editors? It's SEAL. Plural SEALs. It's an acronym

[Robb]

16. It's also a nickname.

Navy Style Guide agrees with you, AP doesn't. :shrug:

[davepc]

23. The stories I've seen sourced from the AP have it correctly

[NaturalHigh]

10. Great news.

There is no doubt in my mind that this was a political frame-up. I hope the people who brought the charges and persecuted Petty Officer Huertas are now investigated and made to sweat a bit for their malfeasance.