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MILITARY
Abu Ghraib Defense: Just Following Orders
Attorneys for a former Army dog handler convicted of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq told the U.S. military's highest court Thursday that he was following orders when he allowed an unmuzzled dog to bark and lunge at prisoners.
The case of former Sgt. Michael J. Smith is the first one connected to the Abu Ghraib scandal to go before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington.
Smith, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was among 11 low-ranking soldiers convicted after photographs of naked detainees in humiliating positions emerged in 2004. He was sentenced in 2006 to 179 days in prison and demoted to private.
At the hearing before the five-judge panel, Smith's attorney, Army Reserve Lt. Col. Jonathan Potter, argued that the trial judge failed to properly instruct the jury to take into account whether Smith had been following a lawful order. A lawyer for the government, Army Reserve Maj. Karen J. Borgerding, said that such an order would have been illegal and that a trained dog handler would have known that.
-- Associated Press
COURTS
No Mistrial for Error in Abramoff-Related Case
A federal court struggled with a mix-up that improperly revealed information to jurors about a pending case in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle denied a request for a mistrial by attorneys for Kevin Ring. She told the jury to disregard information about a plea agreement involving another figure in the case.
The lawyers said jurors' knowledge of the plea agreement would taint their view of Ring, because Ring frequently had dealings with that figure, Robert Coughlin, a former Justice Department official. Department prosecutors were supposed to have removed references to the plea agreement from court files handed to jurors.
Ring is charged with conspiracy, paying gratuities, and scheming to defraud taxpayers.
-- Associated Press
