Remember the case of Senior Airman
Charles Amos Wilson III?
We wondered why it was being tried in the military. Further information has emerged. According to
this report by
WMAZ, the Air Force's assertion of jurisdiction comes because there were civilian charges in two counties, the Air Force can try all the charges at once, and the family of a victim prefers that SrA Wilson be tried by the military:
"In this case, Wilson was facing civilian charges in multiple counties — Terrell and Houston counties — in Georgia," said David Donato, a Robins [Air Force Base] spokesman. "A court-martial is able to resolve all of the charges against the accused, no matter where they allegedly occurred. Additionally, the family of Ms. Ferguson supported the Air Force taking jurisdiction of the murder charges," Donato said in an email.
Was there no way to try all the charges in a single civilian trial? (Help us on this, readers in Georgia.) Are administrative convenience and the druthers of a victim's family reason to deny a member of the service the full protection of the Bill of Rights?
I'm not admitted in Georgia, so take this with a grain of salt. But, it would appear that Georgia's jurisdictional statute would allow them to prosecute a defendant in one action in their Superior Court:
ReplyDelete"(a) It is the policy of this state to exercise its jurisdiction over crime and persons charged with the commission of crime to the fullest extent allowable under, and consistent with, the Constitution of this state and the Constitution of the United States.(b) Pursuant to this policy, a person shall be subject to prosecution in this state for a crime which he commits, while either within or outside the state . . . ." Georgia Criminal Code, Sec. 17-2-1.
http://ga.elaws.us/law/section17-2-1
Now, whether there are venue rules that restrict this, I too would like someone admitted in Georgia to chime in on this.