The US military lawyer slams Afghan killings ' blackout '

Represents the United States military's mind killing 17 Afghan Villagers by condemned what he called a "blackout" which prevents him from his defence of the Convention.

Attorney John Henry Browne on Friday said he was prevented from interviewing witnesses and injured civilians, southern Afghanistan, following the alleged massacre earlier this month.

"The expected much more cooperation. The Prosecutor in this case, the promised us a lot of cooperation, of which the root is not high, "he told journalists in Seattle.

"We are facing almost the complete information blackout by the Government that a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges against our priorities," he added.

His client Sergeant Robert bales, 38, is known as the southern province Kandahar, he walked to the base on March 11 hours and is installed in the massacre nearby villages, many of his victims, women and children.

Browne met with his client in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas earlier this month in which Bales is charged with premeditated murder in the military area, and six counts of 17 counts and attempted murder.

But his team has made progress in only a little In the field. "When we tried to interview shall be dealt with in the Kandahar hospital, injured civilians, we were blocked and told to coordinate the prosecution," it said.

The next day, prosecutors interviewed injured civilians, but soon afterwards, Browne's Office is found to be "civilians, was released from the hospital had their contact information.

"In addition, we have blocked injured civilians for medical records to the Government, which makes even more impossible to locate and interview these crucial witnesses in their possession," it said.

"The prosecution is not the size of the file at the same time, investigations of possible witnesses, scattering the defense team Unknown and potentially available to the regions in Afghanistan."

Browne, who said his team also has not been alleged in the video, the Bales that the trial version for the military rules, it has not been "finding" the right before the 30 days prior to the start of the so-called article 32 preliminary hearing.

"In this case, they promised us if we can send people ... Afghanistan, cooperate with the available witnesses to us. And you appear to be in breach of that promise, "he said.

He also warned the defense, which has access to the "sanity" Bales over the next two months does not officially provide and prosecutors and results--may seize the cooperation.

"If they want to launch, in cooperation with the cooperation from us the better," he told reporters.

Browne said the post-traumatic stress disorder earlier this week, are almost certainly part of his defence is that the prosecutors are proving their case against the Bales.

Killings are still strained already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, all time low, the spate of deadly Korans Americans of anti-US protests earlier in the video, in which US Marines, on the Taliban militants corpses, urinating after saving.

US military officials declined to respond to the Browne's claims. But the army spokesman George Wright, told AFP: "the armed forces of the United States, the legal defence team to continue the Bales with in the coming months."

View the original article here

Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"My gut is the reason is they don't have much of a case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defence.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we can't say that for sure," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians injured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Browne said it was too early to say whether his defence would rely on post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, or other psychiatric problems Bale may have suffered as a defence against the charges.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention centre at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defence, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army. That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre - Reuters

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

1 of 2. Attorney John Henry Browne (R), civil legal counsel to Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) based soldier Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the then-deployed U.S. Army soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians earlier this month, speaks in a press conference in his Seattle, Washington office March 30, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Anthony Bolante

By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE | Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:45pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"When prosecutors don't cooperate, it's because they are concerned about the strength of their case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defense.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we don't know for sure at this point," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

DENIED ACCESS

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians injured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared their investigative findings with his team, and would not share images captured by a surveillance camera on a blimp above the base which the Army says shows Bales returning to the camp after the alleged shooting, he said.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defense, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army.

That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

Browne said it was too early to say whether post-traumatic stress disorder would feature in his defense against the charges. "I don't know whether it will at all," said Browne.

"First thing we have to find out is whether the government has a case. Until we're convinced the government has a case, we're not going to start speculating on what our defenses are going to be."

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

The US military lawyer slams Afghan killings ' blackout '

Represents the United States military's mind killing 17 Afghan Villagers by condemned what he called a "blackout" which prevents him from his defence of the Convention.

Attorney John Henry Browne on Friday said he was prevented from interviewing witnesses and injured civilians, southern Afghanistan, following the alleged massacre earlier this month.

"The expected much more cooperation. The Prosecutor in this case, the promised us a lot of cooperation, of which the root is not high, "he told journalists in Seattle.

"We are facing almost the complete information blackout by the Government that a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges against our priorities," he added.

His client Sergeant Robert bales, 38, is known as the southern province Kandahar, he walked to the base on March 11 hours and is installed in the massacre nearby villages, many of his victims, women and children.

Browne met with his client in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas earlier this month in which Bales is charged with premeditated murder in the military area, and six counts of 17 counts and attempted murder.

But his team has made progress in only a little In the field. "When we tried to interview shall be dealt with in the Kandahar hospital, injured civilians, we were blocked and told to coordinate the prosecution," it said.

The next day, prosecutors interviewed injured civilians, but soon afterwards, Browne's Office is found to be "civilians, was released from the hospital had their contact information.

"In addition, we have blocked injured civilians for medical records to the Government, which makes even more impossible to locate and interview these crucial witnesses in their possession," it said.

"The prosecution is not the size of the file at the same time, investigations of possible witnesses, scattering the defense team Unknown and potentially available to the regions in Afghanistan."

Browne, who said his team also has not been alleged in the video, the Bales that the trial version for the military rules, it has not been "finding" the right before the 30 days prior to the start of the so-called article 32 preliminary hearing.

"In this case, they promised us if we can send people ... Afghanistan, cooperate with the available witnesses to us. And you appear to be in breach of that promise, "he said.

He also warned the defense, which has access to the "sanity" Bales over the next two months does not officially provide and prosecutors and results--may seize the cooperation.

"If they want to launch, in cooperation with the cooperation from us the better," he told reporters.

Browne said the post-traumatic stress disorder earlier this week, are almost certainly part of his defence is that the prosecutors are proving their case against the Bales.

Killings are still strained already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, all time low, the spate of deadly Korans Americans of anti-US protests earlier in the video, in which US Marines, on the Taliban militants corpses, urinating after saving.

US military officials declined to respond to the Browne's claims. But the army spokesman George Wright, told AFP: "the armed forces of the United States, the legal defence team to continue the Bales with in the coming months."

View the original article here

Lawyer says Us blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

SEATTLE (Reuters)-the U.s. military in Afghanistan, civilians to defend the murdering 17-the accused lawyer claims the US authorities to prevent his ability.

John Henry Browne, staff sergeant Robert bales, a lawyer, said the US forces in Afghanistan, is prevented from attending, his team to interview any person crossing the injured civilians in a hospital, Kandahar and other potential witnesses in a scatter chart, find it difficult to keep track of them.

"When prosecutors do not cooperate, is because they are worried about the strength of their case," Browne said at a press conference, his downtown Seattle Office Friday.

Bales was formally charged with the murder last week of eight adults and nine children in the pre-dawn Shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11 which undermines further the relations of the United States in the Afghan war strained already this decade.

He may prove to be the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for the proceedings, but the US military prosecutors are putting together their case, even though Browne is preparing his defence.

Browne said he has a team of researchers in Afghanistan now, but they are a little cooperation in the military prosecutors received, which filed the charges.

"We are facing almost the complete information blackout by the Government that a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges against our priorities," he said in the statement released in the past.

A reliable account of the events of the night of The massacre is not yet born. The last report indicated the Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports Suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I do not think so, but we do not know for sure at this stage," Browne said Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.s. soldiers in Afghanistan, but it was could not be any witnesses.

BLOCKED

"When we tried to interview shall be treated in the Kandahar hospital, we were blocked and told to coordinate the prosecution, a group of injured civilians," Browne said in the statement.

"Following the prosecution of the group interviewed civilians i njured. We found shortly after the injured civilians to the charge, was released from the hospital, interviews with civilians and had them contact information. " This means, if any, of witnesses in the scatter chart, and can prove to be unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared his with his investigations of their findings and share control of the camera, the blimp in the base, which the military says displays a return to the camp after an alleged Shooting Bales photos taken, she said.

The next event is the Bales which are organised in the military detention Center-at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to submit to a mental health assessment of army doctors independent of the prosecution and the defence, in order to determine if he is fit to stand trial, is called "the sanity of the Board" in the armed forces.

That could take several months, Browne said.

The military judicial system requires that from occurring after the end of the preliminary hearing, which is known as the "article" at the hearing, whether or not strong enough in the case of the Court of Justice, which was able to do so.

Browne said it was too early to say whether the post-traumatic stress disorder in the property of his defense. "I do not know whether it is at all," said Browne.

"We have to find the first thing is to determine whether the Government has, in the case of. Until you have convinced the Government is, in any case, we will not start, what we in the security of the speculating. "

(Reports Of The Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer says Us blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

SEATTLE (Reuters)-the U.s. military in Afghanistan, civilians to defend the murdering 17-the accused lawyer claims the US authorities to prevent his ability.

John Henry Browne, staff sergeant Robert bales, a lawyer, said the US forces in Afghanistan, is prevented from attending, his team to interview any person crossing the injured civilians in a hospital, Kandahar and other potential witnesses in a scatter chart, find it difficult to keep track of them.

"When prosecutors do not cooperate, is because they are worried about the strength of their case," Browne said at a press conference, his downtown Seattle Office Friday.

Bales was formally charged with the murder last week of eight adults and nine children in the pre-dawn Shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11 which undermines further the relations of the United States in the Afghan war strained already this decade.

He may prove to be the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for the proceedings, but the US military prosecutors are putting together their case, even though Browne is preparing his defence.

Browne said he has a team of researchers in Afghanistan now, but they are a little cooperation in the military prosecutors received, which filed the charges.

"We are facing almost the complete information blackout by the Government that a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges against our priorities," he said in the statement released in the past.

A reliable account of the events of the night of The massacre is not yet born. The last report indicated the Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports Suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I do not think so, but we do not know for sure at this stage," Browne said Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.s. soldiers in Afghanistan, but it was could not be any witnesses.

BLOCKED

"When we tried to interview shall be treated in the Kandahar hospital, we were blocked and told to coordinate the prosecution, a group of injured civilians," Browne said in the statement.

"Following the prosecution of the group interviewed civilians i njured. We found shortly after the injured civilians to the charge, was released from the hospital, interviews with civilians and had them contact information. " This means, if any, of witnesses in the scatter chart, and can prove to be unreachable, Browne said.

Prosecutors had not shared his with his investigations of their findings and share control of the camera, the blimp in the base, which the military says displays a return to the camp after an alleged Shooting Bales photos taken, she said.

The next event is the Bales which are organised in the military detention Center-at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to submit to a mental health assessment of army doctors independent of the prosecution and the defence, in order to determine if he is fit to stand trial, is called "the sanity of the Board" in the armed forces.

That could take several months, Browne said.

The military judicial system requires that from occurring after the end of the preliminary hearing, which is known as the "article" at the hearing, whether or not strong enough in the case of the Court of Justice, which was able to do so.

Browne said it was too early to say whether the post-traumatic stress disorder in the property of his defense. "I do not know whether it is at all," said Browne.

"We have to find the first thing is to determine whether the Government has, in the case of. Until you have convinced the Government is, in any case, we will not start, what we in the security of the speculating. "

(Reports Of The Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Lawyer cites PTSD to defend US soldier in Afghan killings

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
The lawyer for a US soldier charged with killing 17 villagers in southern Afghanistan said Wednesday he will cite Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to defend the serviceman.

Attorney John Henry Browne added that prosecutors will have trouble proving their case against Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, whose alleged attack further strained already tense ties between Washington and Kabul.

Bales, 38, is said to have walked out of his base in the southern province of Kandahar in the early hours of March 11 and mounted a massacre in two nearby villages, with many of his victims women and children.

"When the experts are done with this case, there'll definitely be PTSD... I know a lot about PTSD and the symptoms and everything, and I'm convinced from my conversations that PTSD will be an issue," he told CNN.

The lawyer, who said he has met his client for 11 hours, downplayed reports that Bales had confessed, or even spoken about the shootings when he returned from the alleged attacks in the early hours.

"I don't know that I trust anything about him saying 'I shot people,' because I have not heard that from any source I trust," Browne told CNN in an interview.

Bales, who is being held at the Fort Leavenworth military base in Kansas, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, as well as six counts of assault and attempted murder in connection with the massacre.

Browne claimed there was a lack of evidence from the scene.

"It's not a traditional crime scene. There is no crime scene. The military has not even been back to the villages where this allegation stems from. They haven't been back there," Browne said.

"So there's no crime scene, there's no DNA, there's no fingerprints, there's no confession. It's -- you know, the Afghan people traditionally, I understand, and understandably, bury their dead very quickly.

"So it's going to be a tough case for the prosecutors," he added.

The killings have put further strain on the already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, after the burning of Korans by American soldiers in mid-February triggered deadly anti-US protests.

View the original article here

Lawyer: Afghan Suspect Had 'Depression' After Iraq

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By MIKE BAKER Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. March 29, 2012 (AP)

The U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians suffered a traumatic incident during his second tour in Iraq that triggered "tremendous depression," his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he could not discuss the details of the matter because it remains classified. But he expects the issue to become a focal point in the case against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

"It caused him tremendous depression and anxiety," Browne said.

The lawyer previously said Bales experienced other major dangers in his deployments, including a serious foot injury and head trauma. In addition, a fellow soldier's leg had been blown off days before the Afghanistan massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes. He is being held at a U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A defense team is now in Afghanistan to collect evidence and interview other U.S. soldiers who knew Bales.

"Everyone they've spoken to in the military has nothing but amazingly positive things to say about him," said Browne, who is not part of the team in Afghanistan.

Due to security concerns, Browne doesn't think the team will visit the villages where the killings occurred. The investigators are likely to stay in Afghanistan a few more weeks.

Browne questioned the U.S. government's case against Bales, noting there is no preserved crime scene to assess.

"It's going to be a difficult case for the prosecution to prove," Browne said. "There's no 'CSI' information. There's no DNA that I know of. There's no ballistics that I know of."

Bales has indicated that he had no recollection of prescription drugs he may have been taking before the shooting — something the attorney took as an indicator of larger memory problems. The lawyer also said his client has a sketchy memory of the night of the shootings.

U.S. military officials said Bales was drinking on a southern Afghanistan base on March 11 before creeping away to two villages at night, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine were children.

Bales has had incidents involving alcohol and violence in the past.

In 2002, He was arrested for a drunken assault of a security guard at a Tacoma casino. That charge was dismissed after Bales completed 20 hours of anger management training.

In 2008, a couple accused an intoxicated Bales of grabbing a woman's hand and thrusting it toward his crotch before kicking and punching the woman's boyfriend, according to a police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue that case.

———

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

View the original article here

Lawyer John Henry Browne on Afghan killings suspect Robert Bales: Was ‘the last tour was too much for someone with a ...

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A defense lawyer for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales said Monday he expects his client to be charged in the murder of 16 Afghans on Thursday. Going into his first face-to-face meetings with Bales, Seattle attorney John Henry Browne said he expected military prosecutors to issue the most severe charges against his client, a 38-year-old career Army soldier and married father of two. And he suggested that the defense may try to argue that Bales should never have been sent to Afghanistan with a concussive brain injury in the first place.

"We know what they are going to say—it's something really bad," Browne told Bloomberg News' David Mildenberg in an interview Monday in Lansing, Kan., near the Fort Leavenworth base where Bales has been held since Friday. The accused staff sergeant is currently residing in a private cell in the military base's medium-security prison.

[Related: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales - what we know so far]

Reports that Bales' family had been suffering financial difficulties and other strains associated with his repeated absences due to three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan were not relevant, Browne said. He also disputed reported accounts from unnamed military officials that alcohol and marital strains may have been a factor leading up to Bales' alleged March 11 house-to-house shooting rampage, which left nine children dead.

"Everyone has had issues in their lives," Browne told Bloomberg. "Some people do six or seven tours, but the question is whether the last tour was too much for someone with a concussive brain injury."

Daniel Conway, a military lawyer who represented another U.S. soldier charged in 2010 with killing Afghan civilians and also from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, told Yahoo News Monday that a military jury is not likely to be sympathetic to a defense that argues Bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was sent on too many deployments.

"Good luck trying to convince a military jury with a PTSD defense," Conway told Yahoo News in a telephone interview Monday. "A lot of them have multiple family stresses. It will be difficult to convince them that kind of defense" is legitimate.

What Browne is probably trying to do is not argue for a complete acquittal of Bales, Conway said, but instead work to ratchet down the charges. A full acquittal would require that Browne convince a military jury that his client "was unable to perceive the wrongfulness of his or her acts," Conway explained. "That's a tough hurdle."

More likely, Bales' defense will argue that his client's acts "were not premeditated," Conway said. That could possibly expose him to lesser offenses, such as second-degree murder or even manslaughter.

Such mental health determinations "are very relevant" in terms of determining whether Bales faces the death penalty for his alleged acts, Conway said.

Click image to see more photos

?

"Always positive": Neighbors, army colleagues describe Bales

As his legal preparations get under way, military colleagues and neighbors who knew Bales are still reeling from the shock that he is the suspect in the Afghanistan massacre.

Originally from the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, "Bobby" Bales, the youngest of five sons, was described by neighbors as a well-liked, popular and kind extrovert, a high-school football player who looked out for an autistic child up the street, the New York Times' James Dao reported Monday.

"Mr. Bales was a gregarious, chatty, engaged teenager who played football and threw himself into an array of clubs and activities, including theater," Dao wrote, citing Bales' Norwood High School principal David Griffel: "He's one of those kids you remember: a real extrovert."

Army colleagues in Washington state who served with him in Iraq similarly described a sunny Bales to reporters, using words like "solid," and offering up photos of him wearing a broad grin.

Bales was "a really good" soldier and "one of those guys who was always positive," Maj. Brent Clemmer told NPR's Martin Kaste on Sunday. Clemmer nominated Bales to receive a medal for valor for his conduct in the battle of Najaf in 2007, but he did not receive it, Kaste reported, noting that Bales did get awards for good conduct.

But there may have been signs that things became harder for Bales after his third Iraq tour, in which he suffered a brain concussion when his vehicle hit an IED. On that tour, he also lost part of a foot in another incident.

[Related: Hidden perils of traumatic brain injuries]

"I've talked to people who have done both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they say they'd pick Iraq any day of the week because Afghanistan is just so brutal," Bales' former platoon leader in Iraq, Capt. Chris Alexander, told NPR's Kaste.

Bales' attorney Browne previously said that Bales and his family were unhappy about his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, which he began in December.

The surprise combat tour came after a series of other setbacks and disappointments for Bales and his family related to his Army career over the past year.

In a blog that Bales' wife, Karilyn Bales, kept of family life, which the New York Times reported on, she wrote last year about their disappointment that Bales had not received a promotion to sergeant first class, which would have come with a pay increase of about $350 per month. But she tried to see the bright side, saying maybe it would free the family to relocate to a new military base where they could have adventures and more control over their lives (and fewer combat deployments). On her list of preferred destinations, the Times reported: Germany ("best adventure opportunity!"), Italy, Hawaii ("nuff said!) and Kentucky, near her husband's family in southern Ohio.

That was her last entry, in a blog called the Bales' Family Adventures, which has since been removed.

More popular Yahoo! News stories:

? Staff Sgt. Robert Bales named as Afghanistan massacre suspect

? Afghanistan killings suspect Robert Bales held at Kansas base

? 'Kony 2012' filmmaker hospitalized after being detained in San Diego

Want more of our best national security stories? Visit?The Envoy or connect with us?on Facebook or on Twitter.

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us on Tumblr. Handy with a camera? Join our Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

View the original article here

For Lawyer in Afghan Killings, the Latest in a Series of Challenging Defenses - New York Times

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
A litigious lifetime would pass before he would become the lawyer for the soldier accused of one of the worst American war crimes in decades, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was charged on Friday with 17 counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Afghan civilians, including nine children. But even 40 years ago, long before Mr. Browne was known as one of the Pacific Northwest’s most prominent and controversial defense lawyers, he was inclined to make a distinctive case.

“I did all the research and learned that you would not qualify if you were over 6 feet 6 inches tall,” Mr. Browne recalled.

He was tall, but was he tall enough? He consulted with pacifist Quakers. He received notes from two doctors. He did stretching exercises. Then he faced the recruiter.

“They made me take my shoes off, push my arches down to the ground and do all sorts of things,” Mr. Browne said. “I was still well over 6-6.”

It was not the last time Mr. Browne would prove expansive and elusive. And although he never went to war, he did go into a kind of perpetual combat. For four decades, he has been the voluble and sometimes victorious defender of the virtually indefensible.

“Attorney John Henry Browne,” read a headline on the cover of Pacific, a Seattle news magazine. “He shoots from the hip to defend the notorious.”

That article ran in 1983.

Benjamin Ng, convicted of killing 13 in the 1983 Wah Mee massacre, this city’s worst mass murder? Mr. Browne saved him from the death penalty by arguing that Mr. Ng had suffered a brain injury earlier in life.

Martin Pang, who set a fire that killed four firefighters in 1995? Charged with murder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Colton Harris-Moore, the teenager known as the Barefoot Bandit, whose two-year, three-country crime spree terrorized families, littered the landscape with crashed stolen planes and ended in 2010 with an armed boat chase in the Bahamas? He should be free by the time he is 25.

Now, at 65, Mr. Browne has taken on still another case of a lifetime, one that will play out far beyond any Seattle courtroom.

Sergeant Bales, a decorated veteran of three tours in Iraq before he went to Afghanistan in December, is accused of killing 17 civilians and trying to kill six others on March 11. Some reports say he set some victims on fire. The killings have enraged Afghans and Americans and have increased calls for the United States to exit Afghanistan.

The Army kept Sergeant Bales’s identity secret for five days after he was arrested, and it has tried to purge the Internet of information about him.

But global tension and military reserve have done little to quiet Mr. Browne, a talkative man who works out of a century-old brick building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square.

“He’s definitely a renegade among defense attorneys,” said Daniel T. Satterberg, the King County prosecuting attorney, who has known Mr. Browne for a quarter-century and has clashed with him more than once. “And I mean that in a respectful sense. He is his own man. He calls his own shots, and he doesn’t have to answer to anybody.”

Mr. Browne is as loose and improvisational as the Army is buttoned-up and scripted. They wear camouflage and crew cuts. He wears blue velvet blazers and shoulder-length hair. Ask him a question, and he might not stop answering it.

“People understand that we have created these soldiers,” Mr. Browne said in an interview. “Your tax dollars, my tax dollars are funding this. We all have responsibility there. That’s why the government wants to paint him as a rogue soldier, because the government doesn’t want to take responsibility. I’m not sure if this is a good metaphor, but in the Frankenstein movies, Frankenstein was not the monster. The monster was Dr. Frankenstein, who created Frankenstein.”

“We’re putting these young men and women in impossible situations,” he continued. “I think the general public knows that, and I think this has brought to the public attention a dialogue about the war that the government would rather not have.”

Mr. Browne has plenty of detractors. He is all flair and splash in a city not known for either. He does not mix frequently with the city’s other powerful lawyers.

When he rides the ferry home to Bainbridge Island in the evening, he sits alone, reading or listening to an iPod. (The guitarist William Ackerman is a favorite.)

View the original article here

Lawyer describes chat with Afghan killings suspect

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Seattle lawyer who is defending an Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghans, including nine children, met Monday with the soldier for the first time at Fort Leavenworth, a discussion the attorney described as emotional.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he met for more than three hours with Robert Bales, a 10-year Army veteran who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it, I read about it, but it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It's just really emotional."

Bales, 38, and Browne are expected to meet again Monday afternoon.

Bales has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war. Formal charges are expected to be filed within a week.

Post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said earlier that Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pre-trial confinement routine," Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is being housed. Steed said once his meetings with his attorney are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

His day begins at 5 a.m., with a meal at 5:15. Then it's back to his cell and then to any scheduled meetings with medical, dental or mental health professionals. This is the time he also would be meeting with Browne.

People in pre-trial confinement eat separate from the general population for all meals in the same dining hall. Bales is being held in an area with about a dozen other service members who are awaiting the legal process, Steed said.

Among those being held at Fort Leavenworth are Pfc. Bradley Manning, charged in the WikiLeaks case, and Sgt. John Russell, who faces charges in the shooting deaths of five service members at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

At their meeting Monday, Browne said, Bales clarified one story: It was two days before the Afghan shootings when one of Bales' friends, another soldier, had his leg blown off by a roadside bomb. Browne said Bales didn't witness the explosion but saw the aftermath.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

___

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan. Johnson reported from Seattle.

View the original article here

Lawyer Tells Of Meeting With Afghan Killings Suspect

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A Seattle lawyer who is defending an Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghans, including nine children, met Monday with the soldier for the first time at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, a discussion the attorney described as emotional.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he met for more than three hours with Robert Bales, a 10-year Army veteran who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it, I read about it, but it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It's just really emotional."

Bales, 38, and Browne are expected to meet again Monday afternoon.

Bales has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war. Formal charges are expected to be filed within a week.

Post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said earlier that Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pre-trial confinement routine," Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is being housed. Steed said once his meetings with his attorney are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

His day begins at 5 a.m., with a meal at 5:15. Then it's back to his cell and then to any scheduled meetings with medical, dental or mental health professionals. This is the time he also would be meeting with Browne.

People in pre-trial confinement eat separate from the general population for all meals in the same dining hall. Bales is being held in an area with about a dozen other service members who are awaiting the legal process, Steed said.

Among those being held at Fort Leavenworth are Pfc. Bradley Manning, charged in the WikiLeaks case, and Sgt. John Russell, who faces charges in the shooting deaths of five service members at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

At their meeting Monday, Browne said, Bales clarified one story: It was two days before the Afghan shootings when one of Bales' friends, another soldier, had his leg blown off by a roadside bomb. Browne said Bales didn't witness the explosion but saw the aftermath.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

View the original article here

Lawyer: Afghan killings suspect remembers little

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — The Army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime shooting rampage has a sketchy memory of the night of the massacre, his lawyer said Monday after meeting his client for the first time.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little or nothing of the time the military believes he went on a shooting spree through two Afghan villages.

"He has some memory of some things that happened that night. He has some memories of before the incident and he has some memories of after the incident. In between, very little," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone from Fort Leavenworth, where Bales is being held.

Pressed on whether Bales can remember anything about the shooting, Browne said, "No," but added: "I haven't gotten that far with him yet."

In an earlier interview with CBS, Browne said unequivocally that Bales can't remember the shootings.

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, though charges could come this week. The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Earlier Monday, Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time to begin building a defense and said the soldier gave a powerfully moving account of what it is like to be on the ground in Afghanistan.

Browne said he and Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison, met for more than three hours at Fort Leavenworth.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it. I read about it. But it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told the AP. "It's just really emotional."

Browne, a Seattle attorney who defended serial killer Ted Bundy and a thief known as the "Barefoot Bandit," has said he has handled three or four military cases. The defense team includes a military defense lawyer, Maj. Thomas Hurley. The lawyers have said they plan to meet with Bales this week.

At their meeting, Browne said Bales clarified a story, provided initially by the soldier's family, about the timing of a roadside bomb that blew off the leg of one of Bales' friends. It was two days before the shooting, not one, and Bales didn't see the explosion, just the aftermath, Browne said.

The details of the blast could not be immediately confirmed.

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the dead were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Bales arrived at Fort Leavenworth last Friday and is being held in the same prison as other prominent defendants. Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with leaking classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, has been held there on occasion as he awaited trial.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pretrial confinement routine," prison spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said.

The routine includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is living. Steed said once his meetings with his attorneys are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

Bales' wife, Karilyn, offered her condolences to the victims' families and said Monday she wants to know what happened. She said her family and her in-laws are profoundly sad, and that what they've read and seen in news reports is "completely out of character of the man I know and admire."

"My family including my and Bob's extended families are all profoundly sad. We extend our condolences to all the people of the Panjawai District, our hearts go out too all of them, especially to the parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the children who perished," Karilyn Bales said in a statement.

Court records and interviews show that Bales had commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He also faced a number of troubles in recent years: A Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and-run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, according to court records. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed.

In March 1998, Bales was given a $65 citation for possessing alcohol at Daytona Beach, Fla. He did not pay the fine nor did he defend himself in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but it later expired.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the U.S., said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the U.S. to participate, he said.

After their investigation, military attorneys could draft charges and present them to a commander, who then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then submits the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

___

Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report. Johnson reported from Seattle.

View the original article here

Lawyer: Afghan shooter suspect remembers little- Top commander: US must stick to Afghan strategy

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan – ?The lawyer for the Army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime shooting rampage met his client for the first time Monday and said the solider has a sketchy memory of the massacre.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little during the time the military believes on a killing spree through two Afghan villages.

"He has some memory of some things that happened that night. He has some memories of before the incident and he has some memories of after the incident. In between, very little," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone from Fort Leavenworth, where Bales is being held.

Pressed on whether Bales can remember anything at all about the shooting, Browne said, "I haven't gotten that far with him yet."

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, though charges could come this week. The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Earlier Monday, Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time to begin building a defense and said the soldier gave a powerfully moving account of what it is like to be on the ground in Afghanistan.

Browne said he and Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison, met for more than three hours in the morning at Fort Leavenworth. Browne, co-counsel Emma Scanlan and Bales were expected to talk again in the afternoon.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it. I read about it. But it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It's just really emotional."

Browne, a Seattle attorney who defended serial killer Ted Bundy and a thief known as the "Barefoot Bandit," has said he has handled three or four military cases. The defense team includes a military defense lawyer, Maj. Thomas Hurley.

At their meeting, Browne said Bales clarified a story, provided initially by the soldier's family, about the timing of a roadside bomb that blew off the leg of one of Bales' friends. It was two days before the shooting, not one, and Bales didn't see the explosion, just the aftermath, Browne said.

The details of the blast could not be immediately confirmed.

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the dead were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Bales arrived at Fort Leavenworth last Friday and is being held in the same prison as other prominent defendants. Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with leaking classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, has been held there on occasion as he awaited trial.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pretrial confinement routine," post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is living. Steed said once his meetings with his attorneys are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

Bales' wife, Karilyn, offered her condolences to the victims' families Monday and said she wants to know what happened. She said her family and her in-laws are profoundly sad. She said what they've read and seen in news reports is "completely out of character of the man I know and admire."

"My family including my and Bob's extended families are all profoundly sad. We extend our condolences to all the people of the Panjawai District, our hearts go out too all of them, especially to the parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the children who perished," Karilyn Bales said in a statement.

Court records and interviews show that Bales had commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He also faced a number of troubles in recent years: A Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and-run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, according to court records. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed.

In March 1998, Bales was given a $65 citation for possessing alcohol at Daytona Beach, Fla. He did not pay the fine nor did he defend himself in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but it later expired.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the U.S., said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the U.S. to participate, he said.

After their investigation, military attorneys could draft charges and present them to a commander, who then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then submits the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

View the original article here

Lawyer for Afghan killings suspect to visit him

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
SEATTLE (AP) — With formal charges looming against his client within days, the lawyer for an Army sergeant suspected in the horrific nighttime slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers flew to Kansas and was preparing for his first face-to-face meeting with the 10-year veteran.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he planned to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Bales, 38, hasn't been charged in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threaten to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war. But formal charges are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two slumbering villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Rebecca Steed, spokeswoman at Fort Leavenworth, said Bales would be able to meet with Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

View the original article here

Lawyer describes chat with Afghan killings suspect

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Seattle lawyer who is defending an Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghans, including nine children, met Monday with the soldier for the first time at Fort Leavenworth, a discussion the attorney described as emotional.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he met for more than three hours with Robert Bales, a 10-year Army veteran who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it, I read about it, but it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It's just really emotional."

Bales, 38, and Browne are expected to meet again Monday afternoon.

Bales has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war. Formal charges are expected to be filed within a week.

Post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said earlier that Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pre-trial confinement routine," Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is being housed. Steed said once his meetings with his attorney are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

His day begins at 5 a.m., with a meal at 5:15. Then it's back to his cell and then to any scheduled meetings with medical, dental or mental health professionals. This is the time he also would be meeting with Browne.

People in pre-trial confinement eat separate from the general population for all meals in the same dining hall. Bales is being held in an area with about a dozen other service members who are awaiting the legal process, Steed said.

Among those being held at Fort Leavenworth are Pfc. Bradley Manning, charged in the WikiLeaks case, and Sgt. John Russell, who faces charges in the shooting deaths of five service members at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

At their meeting Monday, Browne said, Bales clarified one story: It was two days before the Afghan shootings when one of Bales' friends, another soldier, had his leg blown off by a roadside bomb. Browne said Bales didn't witness the explosion but saw the aftermath.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

___

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan. Johnson reported from Seattle.

View the original article here

Lawyer says Afghan killings suspect Staff Sgt. Bales remembers little - Fox News

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan – ?The lawyer for the Army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime shooting rampage met his client for the first time Monday and said the solider has a sketchy memory of the massacre.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little during the time the military believes on a killing spree through two Afghan villages.

"He has some memory of some things that happened that night. He has some memories of before the incident and he has some memories of after the incident. In between, very little," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone from Fort Leavenworth, where Bales is being held.

Pressed on whether Bales can remember anything at all about the shooting, Browne said, "I haven't gotten that far with him yet."

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, though charges could come this week. The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Earlier Monday, Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time to begin building a defense and said the soldier gave a powerfully moving account of what it is like to be on the ground in Afghanistan.

Browne said he and Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison, met for more than three hours in the morning at Fort Leavenworth. Browne, co-counsel Emma Scanlan and Bales were expected to talk again in the afternoon.

"What's going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it. I read about it. But it's totally different when you hear about it from somebody who's been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It's just really emotional."

Browne, a Seattle attorney who defended serial killer Ted Bundy and a thief known as the "Barefoot Bandit," has said he has handled three or four military cases. The defense team includes a military defense lawyer, Maj. Thomas Hurley.

At their meeting, Browne said Bales clarified a story, provided initially by the soldier's family, about the timing of a roadside bomb that blew off the leg of one of Bales' friends. It was two days before the shooting, not one, and Bales didn't see the explosion, just the aftermath, Browne said.

The details of the blast could not be immediately confirmed.

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the dead were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Bales arrived at Fort Leavenworth last Friday and is being held in the same prison as other prominent defendants. Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with leaking classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, has been held there on occasion as he awaited trial.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pretrial confinement routine," post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is living. Steed said once his meetings with his attorneys are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

Bales' wife, Karilyn, offered her condolences to the victims' families Monday and said she wants to know what happened. She said her family and her in-laws are profoundly sad. She said what they've read and seen in news reports is "completely out of character of the man I know and admire."

"My family including my and Bob's extended families are all profoundly sad. We extend our condolences to all the people of the Panjawai District, our hearts go out too all of them, especially to the parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the children who perished," Karilyn Bales said in a statement.

Court records and interviews show that Bales had commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

He also faced a number of troubles in recent years: A Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and-run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, according to court records. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed.

In March 1998, Bales was given a $65 citation for possessing alcohol at Daytona Beach, Fla. He did not pay the fine nor did he defend himself in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but it later expired.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the U.S., said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the U.S. to participate, he said.

After their investigation, military attorneys could draft charges and present them to a commander, who then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then submits the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

View the original article here

Lawyer for Afghan accused describes talks

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

The lawyer for the US Army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians says the soldier has only a sketchy memory of the night of the massacre.

Lawyer John Henry Browne says 38-year-old Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little during the time the military believes he went on a rampage through two Afghan villages.

Browne spoke with The Associated Press from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Bales is being held.

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, though charges could come this week.

The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Under the US military justice system, prosecutors draft charges to be filed against an accused soldier, then present them to his unit commander, who must then decide whether there is enough evidence to believe a crime was committed.

If so, the commander signs the charging documents so that the case can be "preferred" for formal prosecution.

"My understanding is that the preferral of charges on Sergeant Bales will be announced by (his commanding officer in) Afghanistan," the US Army official told AFP on Monday.

"I expect it to be within the next few days. It is that point in time when a suspect is formally charged."

Before trial, Bales must appear at an "Article 32" hearing - a preliminary hearing at which prosecutors argue for a court-martial.

Browne said last week that Bales had recently been under stress, which was heightened when he witnessed a fellow soldier seriously wounded by stepping on a mine. He did not explain the legal defence he would use for his client.

The US media reported that Bales, who in addition to Browne also has a military lawyer, and his wife were enduring financial problems.

The non-commissioned officer, who joined the Army two months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, served three tours of duty in Iraq and had been in Afghanistan since December.

View the original article here

Lawyer describes chat with Afghan killings suspect - Salt Lake Tribune

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. A senior U.S. official, Friday March 16, 2012 identified Bales as the man accused of killing 16 civilians in an attack on Afghan villagers five days ago. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock)Fort Leavenworth, Kan. ? The lawyer for the Army staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime shooting rampage met his client for the first time Monday and said the solider has a sketchy memory of the massacre.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little during the time the military believes on a killing spree through two Afghan villages.

"He has some memory of some things that happened that night. He has some memories of before the incident and he has some memories of after the incident. In between, very little," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone from Fort Leavenworth, where Bales is being held.

Pressed on whether Bales can remember anything at all about the shooting, Browne said, "I haven’t gotten that far with him yet."

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, though charges could come this week. The killings sparked protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Earlier Monday, Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time to begin building a defense and said the soldier gave a powerfully moving account of what it is like to be on the ground in Afghanistan.

Browne said he and Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison, met for more than three hours in the morning at Fort Leavenworth. Browne, co-counsel Emma Scanlan and Bales were expected to talk again in the afternoon.

"What’s going on on the ground in Afghanistan, you read about it. I read about it. But it’s totally different when you hear about it from somebody who’s been there," Browne told The Associated Press by telephone during a lunch break. "It’s just really emotional."

Browne, a Seattle attorney who defended serial killer Ted Bundy and a thief known as the "Barefoot Bandit," has said he has handled three or four military cases. The defense team includes a military defense lawyer, Maj. Thomas Hurley.

At their meeting, Browne said Bales clarified a story, provided initially by the soldier’s family, about the timing of a roadside bomb that blew off the leg of one of Bales’ friends. It was two days before the shooting, not one, and Bales didn’t see the explosion, just the aftermath, Browne said.

The details of the blast could not be immediately confirmed.

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the dead were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Bales arrived at Fort Leavenworth last Friday and is being held in the same prison as other prominent defendants. Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with leaking classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, has been held there on occasion as he awaited trial.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pretrial confinement routine," post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is living. Steed said once his meetings with his attorneys are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

Bales’ wife, Karilyn, offered her condolences to the victims’ families Monday and said she wants to know what happened. She said her family and her in-laws are profoundly sad. She said what they’ve read and seen in news reports is "completely out of character of the man I know and admire."

"My family including my and Bob’s extended families are all profoundly sad. We extend our condolences to all the people of the Panjawai District, our hearts go out too all of them, especially to the parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the children who perished," Karilyn Bales said in a statement.

Next Page >

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Lawyer arrives to meet Afghan killings suspect

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Seattle defense attorney arrived at Fort Leavenworth on Monday to meet with an Army staff sergeant who is suspected of carrying out a nighttime attack on two Afghan villages that left 16 people dead, including nine children.

Lawyer John Henry Browne is having his first face-to-face meeting with Robert Bales, a 10-year Army veteran who is being held in an isolated cell at the military prison, post spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said.

Bales, 38, has not been charged yet in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

Formal charges are expected to be filed within a week.

Steed said earlier that Bales would be able to meet Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Bales is "already being integrated into the normal pre-trial confinement routine," Steed said.

That includes recreation, meals and cleaning the area where he is being housed. Steed said once his meetings with his attorney are complete later in the week, Bales will resume the normal integration process.

His day begins at 5 a.m., with a meal at 5:15. Then it's back to his cell and then to any scheduled meetings with medical, dental or mental health professionals. This is the time he also would be meeting with Browne.

People in pre-trial confinement eat separate from the general population for all meals in the same dining hall.

If the case goes to court, the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

View the original article here