25 Years in Prison for Army Ranger Who Shot Al Qaeda Agent

The extraordinary case of American Army Ranger 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna of Oklahoma:

Yesterday I posted on my blog STORMBRINGER the story of Australian hero Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant (executed by firing squad 27 February 1902). Breaker Morant was an Anglo-Australian drover, poet, and soldier who participated in the summary execution of several Boer prisoners; his actions led to his controversial court-martial for murder.

In March 2009 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna was sentenced to twenty-five years for the premeditated murder of a detainee while serving in Iraq. He is currently serving his sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Another soldier from Behenna’s platoon, Staff Sergeant Hal Warner, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the case and was sentenced to 17 months in prison.

Michael Behenna's platoon in Iraq, 2007-2008

According to the prosecution Behenna killed Ali Mansur, a known al-Qaeda operative, who organized an attack on 1LT Behenna’s platoon in April 2008 which left two of Behenna’s soldiers dead and another two wounded. Mansur was taken into custody in May of 2008 and then later ordered released. 1LT Behenna was instructed to escort him to his home.

En route there Behenna stopped in a secluded railroad culvert near Beiji, Iraq, and began questioning Mansur, seeking to obtain information about his terrorist confederates and the identity of those financially backing them. Up until then there is no dispute about the facts of the matter. It was what happened next that created the controversy.

During this interrogation Behenna said Mansur suddenly lunged at him and so he shot him twice, in self-defense.

Behenna’s lawyers claimed that Behenna fired one shot at Mansur as he had his arms raised and was lunging for the soldier’s gun, then fired a second shot that apparently hit Mansur in the head as he fell.

The government, however, charged Behenna with premeditated murder. Prosecutors alleged that Behenna stripped Mansur naked, seated him on a rock and then executed him with a shot to the head.

In the trial that followed, expert testimony was presented that would have exonerated Lt. Behenna. This testimony was deliberately withheld from the court.

1LT Behenna’s defense lawyer, Army JAG Officer James Phillips – now a civilian lawyer explains the episode, and his version of how the government conducted the subsequent Court Martial.

JAG LAW Blog – LT Behenna’s Ongoing Defense

As a former JAG, I understand the need for the laws of war. I just don’t believe ultimately that the decisions that are made on the battlefield are so easily codified and analyzed as to fit in the Geneva Conventions. If SSG Warner and LT Behenna had deliberately decided to kill Ali Mansur when they picked him on that first day, would that have gotten LT Behenna 25 years of jail?  Probably not.

At the court martial, however, military prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence provided by their own expert witness from the defense team until after the trial wrapped up:

Soldier’s Conviction in Death of Iraqi Insurgent Challenged – Cites Evidence Withheld by Prosecutors

One of the government’s expert witnesses; a highly respected forensic expert, Dr. Herbert Leon MacDonell, Director of the Laboratory of Forensic Science in Corning, N.Y.  Dr. MacDonell consulted in the O.J. Simpson case and participated in investigations into the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. MacDonell insisted Behenna was innocent and he could prove it. His testimony would have proven that the angle of the gun shots and the blood spatter were consistent with self-defense not premeditated murder.

Dr. MacDonnell told Behenna’s lawyer Jack Zimmerman, who had successfully represented one of the Haditha Marines, that he fully agreed with Behenna’s account of what happened, essentially destroying the government’s case he had been called to support.

This dropped a bombshell on the government’s case.

Incredibly, the key witness in the case was not called to testify in the case. After telling prosecutors what the forensic evidence showed – that Behenna was guiltless – this expert witness was sent packing. Before he retrieved his coat from the prosecution room he told the three prosecutors, “The explanation that Lt Behenna just testified to was the exact same scenario I told you yesterday. Lt Behenna is telling the truth.”

MY TAKE ON THIS?

This is yet another example that you can’t conduct a war like a law enforcement operation. Behenna knew Ali Mansur was dirty – and yet the Army in its wisdom released the al Qaeda operative back into the custody of 1LT Behenna; whose platoon had been ripped apart by the al Qaeda-planned operation.

The Army shouldn’t have released the al Qaeda operative, MOST CERTAINLY not to 1LT Behenna; we know what happened after that. Behenna decided to conduct an impromptu interrogation – something he wasn’t trained to do – and from there things (predictably) got out of hand.

Once it went to court martial, the Army sat on their own expert witness testimony; testimony that would have cleared Behenna of the ‘premeditated’ portion of the charges at very least.

Originally posted at STORMBRINGER.