Lieutenant Behenna, who is currently serving his sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., was convicted of unpremeditated murder in the shooting death of Ali Mansur, a known Al-Qaeda operative, while serving in Iraq.
Previous cases of similar or more aggravating circumstances, where the defendants were found guilty of premeditated murder, have resulted in less severe sentences, which prompted the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation to appeal to the board for a careful review of this case and relevant precedent.
A government witness, a highly respected Forensic expert, Dr. Herbert Leon MacDonell, Director of the Laboratory of Forensic Science in Corning, N.Y, insisted Behenna was innocent and he could prove it. His testimony would have prove that the angle of the gun shots and the blood spatter were consistent with self-defense not premeditated murder.
But after telling prosecutors what the forensic evidence showed - that Behenna was guiltless - this expert witness was sent packing. Dr.MacDonnell told Behenna's lawyer Jack Zimmerman, who had successfully represented one of the Haditha Marines, that he fully agreed with Behenna's account of what happened, essentially destroying the government’s case he had been called to support.
Incredibly, the key witness in the case was not called to testify in the case and was sent home. Before he retrieved his coat from the prosecution room he told the three prosecutors that, "The
explanation that Lt Behenna just testified to was the exact same scenario I told you yesterday. Lt Behenna is telling the truth."
Military justice is a funny cross between the laws of the United States, law of warfare and conduct, and military discipline. While I am no legal expert, the following is an analysis by a retired Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer:
SSG Warner and LT Behenna are now both serving time for a death of a detainee. The trials of both men were complicated by the fact that they each knew that Ali Mansur was a suspected AQI member. LT Behenna did have justification for the killing, but it probably wasn’t the justification that the US Army wants to hear. Regardless, this whole event should have been stopped before it ever got started. Another platoon should have done the detainee drop off. The blame for the shots being fired can be laid at LT Behenna’s feet, but the death of Ali Mansur and the conviction of two US Infantrymen can be laid at the feet of the chain of command.
this is a shame..........
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