| Dispute halts Watada court-martial. Judge might have to declare mistrial. |
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MIKE BARBER,Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 7, 2007 FORT LEWIS -- The court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada ground to a halt Wednesday as his lawyer and the judge sparred. Again the issue was Watada's views on the Iraq war -- opinions that kept him from going with his unit to the conflict and that the judge, Lt. Col. John Head, doesn't want brought up at the court-martial. The dispute kept Watada off the witness stand Wednesday morning, where he was to testify in his defense, and prompted the judge to suggest there might have to be a mistrial.
Watada, a Stryker Brigade soldier, is the first commissioned officer to refuse to be deployed to Iraq. Watada's unit left this sprawling base for Iraq in June, but Watada remained behind. He said he believes the war is illegal and that his duty is to not abide by illegal orders. But Head has tried to keep the court-martial from becoming a tribunal on the war and its legality and has ruled that Watada's attorney cannot present witnesses to question the war's legality. Outside the base, that has been the issue as peace activists from across the country have rallied to Watada's side. Watada is charged with missing movement to Iraq and with two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. Those last two charges result from statements Watada made against the war in a video tape released to reporters after he made his refusal to go to Iraq public and to a Veterans for Peace convention at the University of Washington. He had been charged with two other counts of conduct unbecoming for interviews he gave. Prosecutors dropped those charged in return for Watada's signing a stipulation that he had given the interviews. He also acknowledged in the stipulation that he didn't go with his unit to Iraq, though he didn't admit his guilt to the missing movement charge. With the jury of officers out of the courtroom Wednesday morning, Head wanted to question Watada about the stipulation to make sure that it was accurate and to protect the lieutenant against any mistakes in it. The stipulation would be used in instructions to the jury. But Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, objected to the questioning. He said the stipulation should include Watada's reasons for not going to Iraq: His views that the war is illegal. "It has always been his position that not only would he miss movement but he would not participate in a war he considered illegal" and not participate in war crimes, Seitz said."His specific intent was of a different character all together" than simply missing his unit's deployment to Iraq, Seitz said. But Head said he wanted to inquire about the stipulation to make sure there wasn't a "material misunderstanding" in it. If Head can't question Watada and make sure the stipulation is accurate, he would have to throw the document out. That would mean the two charges that had been dropped would be returned against Watada. And the judge said he might have to declare a mistrial. With the court-martial delayed, the judge and lawyer tried to work out their differences to keep a mistrial from being declared. Mike Barber can be reached at 206-448-8018 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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