A military judge in San Diego has shifted the burden to the prosecution in a case involving allegations of unlawful command influence by a top Navy lawyer. Details
here, in
Carl Prine's report for the
Union-Tribune. Excerpt:
The Navy’s top attorney might have scuttled a war crimes case against three SEALs by unlawfully meddling behind the scenes to bring charges against them.
After a flurry of Monday motions in the courtroom of Navy Cmdr. Arthur Gaston, the military judge ruled that Vice Adm. James Crawford III — the Navy’s judge advocate general — appears to have exerted unlawful command influence in a case first brought to light by a 2015 story in The New York Times.
The burden now shifts to military prosecutors to prove that Crawford, Naval Special Warfare Command’s Rear Adm. Timothy Szymanski and other senior leaders never created the appearance of behind-the-scenes maneuvers.
Another Navy UCI case is awaiting decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
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