Bales' lawyer: U.S. is 'hiding evidence' in massacre - Philadelphia Inquirer

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SEATTLE - The attorney for the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians said Friday that the U.S. government was "hiding evidence" from the defense team.

John Henry Browne said members of the defense team in Afghanistan were told they would have access to witnesses at a hospital, but later discovered the people had been released.

He also said the U.S. government has not turned over files to the lawyers defending Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

The defense team said in a statement the prosecution was withholding information "while potential witnesses scatter."

"It's outrageous," Browne said. "What they are basically doing is hiding evidence. The only reason to hide evidence is if you don't have evidence."

Maj. Chris Ophardt, an Army spokesman, said in a statement that the prosecution would provide Bales' defense with evidence in accordance with court-martial and military rules of evidence. He said that within these guidelines "the prosecution is and has been communicating with the defense."

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, after speaking to hundreds of Marines and sailors aboard the USS Peleliu off the coast of San Diego, told reporters: "I've made very clear that those procedures will be followed and that he'll be entitled to whatever information he would be entitled to under the military code of justice."

At a news conference Friday, Browne said the military is not under a legal obligation to provide his team with certain information at this point, but they were led to believe they'd have more assistance.

He said being given access to information at a later date would not work, especially in regards to witnesses in Afghanistan.

"Normally, we have cooperation with prosecutors and we get information, and in this case they actually promised us if we sent people to Afghanistan . . . that they would cooperate," he said.

Browne also said the military planned to conduct a comprehensive mental-health evaluation of Bales at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Browne said the military initiated the evaluation and that it would take place within the next two months.

Bales has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

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Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

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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)

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Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre - Reuters

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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)

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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)

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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)

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Lawyer: Massacre suspect had depression after Iraq - USA TODAY

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OLYMPIA, Wash. (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.

By Spc. Ryan Hallock, AFP/Getty Images

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, participates in an exercise Aug. 23 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

By Spc. Ryan Hallock, AFP/Getty Images

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, participates in an exercise Aug. 23 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

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.

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The home of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians, is located in Bonney Lake, Wash.

"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 on a charge of 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.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Lawyer: Afghanistan shooting suspect has sketchy memory of night of massacre

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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 night of the massacre.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said Robert Bales remembers some details from before and after the killings, but very little or nothing from 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 News, Browne said unequivocally that Bales couldn'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 on Monday, Browne met with his client behind bars for the first time to begin building a defence 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 defence team includes a military defence 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, Florida. 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 offence 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.

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Afghan massacre case, Ted Bundy, a lawyer, also represents Hiroshima Bandit

Published on 15. March 2012

| Associated Press

Represents the United States military in Afghanistan on the killing of a lawyer's mind 16 has only appeared in a handful of times in the great war of the rights of his 40 plus years, but he is not a stranger to high profile clients.

John Henry Browne of the serial killer Ted Bundy is represented, as well as the Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Hiroshima Bandit."

the 65-year-old said he has dealt with only three or four military cases. The military, which still has not been notified, it is also at least one military lawyer.

Browne is also known for his zeal, he and his flair before the television cameras.

Is a lawyer, he helped Benjamin Ng Bundy, in order to avoid the worst mass killing in Washington as a result of the conviction, the 13 people in the Seattle restaurant massacre of the death penalty.

One of his biggest legal victories ensure that man, which Browne fled to Brazil, where the setting of the fire that killed the four's face is not the murder charges was refused, as the extraditing country--Brazil--had no criminal act is responsible for the murder of Washington.

Browne represented the recent Harris Moore, which is capable of international attention to the aircraft, boats and cars during the two-year run, the theft of the law. Browne helped Harris-Moore, the State and the Federal Government then convinced the judge the State of the plea deals to give him custody of the low end of the range: seven years of imprisonment.

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