Trial Book: I Walk Along My Own Flag of Freedom

By Private Accused

Injustices are done by men and women not by the rule of law. The capabilities of mankind are simple! Tell the truth and reveal the facts. The last twenty two years have been the most challenging. Waiting for my innocence to be proven, once being told that it would take an act of God to reverse, can have debilitating effects. The example, of my trial, is how the rule of law is ignored by these individuals. No soldier deserves this type of injustice!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796061352

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Copyright © 2019 by Private Accused.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019915063

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-7960-6137-6

                Softcover        978-1-7960-6136-9

                eBook             978-1-7960-6135-2

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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/24/2019

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations of the Command

Preface

Trial Transcripts

General Court Martial

Acknowledgements

Hemingway once said, The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places. My strength derives from the endurance of determination that was taught by my Father, Mother, Father in Law, and Mother in Law.

My wife, has cried, suffered, and endured this journey. Times of desperation she walked with confidence. In times of happiness she responded with class and charity. My vision of a genuine spirit, peaceful soul, and indisputable dedication to her work and family cultivates the meaning of her love. You are the rose that sprouts with gentle thorns! You are the strength of my stride! You are you.

To my four children thru our cries and smiles we have seen true beauty within your souls. Strive to become true, strive to create beauty, and strive to give the pureness of your heart to this world.

To my close friends, thank you for all of understanding and patience.

To my brothers and sisters, we have tolerated life to hurt us. We have taken the suffering of this lifetime and spread our forgiveness. We have shown the world that dedication and education defeats the leaps and bounds of evil.

To the four companions at the USDB that would provide a safe haven for my life in times of peril.

To my counselors for allowing me to convey my story and having a patient ear.

Numerous of individuals that have helped me thru these times and I would like to thank them for their support: The soldiers in combat medic platoon that stood by me with the truth, Spc. O. , Pvt. G., Pfc. W., Spc. R., Spc. N., , and to O. G. the writer and daughter to one of the most prominent attorneys that there was in Pennsylvania. To all of the people in the landscaping and DES for helping in times of need.

Abbreviations of the Command

Colonel P. L. J., MILITARY JUDGE;

Captain D. H., TRIAL COUNSEL;

Captain C. B., TRIAL COUNSEL;

Captain M. M., DEFENSE COUNSEL;

Captain K. S., DEFENSE COUNSEL;

Lieutenant Colonel G. M. W.;

Major M. R. F.;

Major J. C. P.;

Major G. L. G.;

Major P. H.;

Command Sergeant Major J. R. P.;

Command Sergeant Major R. R. Stub.;

Sergeant Major A.B. O.;

First Sergeant G. B. K.;

Master Sergeant V.J. J..

Preface

As a youth, it became the days of learning how defend yourself. This was a constant thing and it was almost normal until the age of eighteen. I grew up in the age of the famous mobsters like Gotti. Since Philadelphia was across the ways, I would say around five minutes or so. The family was always hearing of things that happened between the wise guys on the news. The day that they shot up the restaurant in Philly some of us took the train across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to see what it looked like; never knowing that this was going to be part of our history.

Next to our house was a factory, we all did not know what was the factory all about because there was hardly any business that would come out of there. Later on as I was growing up we find out that one of the guys that would come in and out of the factory was a boss. He was an older man with white hair and always had a half lit cigar in his mouth. The man always said high to my father and my father had a lot of respect for him. We met once and he called me over the car and asked me how old I was and I told him, seventeen. He replied, I always see you out here alone don’t you go to school or have a part time job. So we went back and forth talking and then he said, Kid if you ever need anything just ask me, your dad is a nice guy. Jersey, Philly, and New York was known for their wise guys and growing up there one always knew one sacred rule was to mind your own and keep your mouth shut. This almost became a prayer in my family.

The railroad tracks were right in front of the house were we lived in row homes. Coming from a family of eight it was hard to have your own room so we had bunk beds. The train made us fall asleep because every time it came threw it shook the house. I was staring out of the window one day and I noticed someone in a blue car with a black suit and black glasses with binoculars looking across the street to the liquor store. It was weird because the only people that use to park there was the family and neighbors. Later on the old man asked me, If I had seen anything that seemed weird to me. I told him about the car and man parked in front of the house. Then he came out of know where and ask me if I wanted to work? The answer just flew out of my mouth and said, Shit yes! I quickly apologized and he pointed at the Canal’s liquor store across the way and he told me, "Go there and say so and so told me to come here to work. In the matter of one minute they gave me a t-shirt and told me to go load the fridge with alcohol. There I was fifteen and working for seven dollars an hour. The world was looking pretty good right now, I thought to myself. The job was alright but my father wanted me to go to school.

There was computer schools popping all around us and the day would come that I registered to business school for data processing. Never knowing in that era that women were the ones preferred to do this job and me being the only student that was a male; it almost became impossible to get a job. This led me down the road to think about joining the Armed forces. Since, my brother was a Navy soldier; I took interest in the medical field because he was a core man. The recruiter from the Army department came to me and asked me to take the entry test and then came the physical. Things worked out and I joined the Armed Forces. Once finishing basic training and having to be a platoon leader; I was anxious to go to my main duty station. It was totally different and hard core. There he was a captain looking at me with a grin. Later, I find out that he was the company commander. This officer was a Ranger, graduate from the Army Academy, I was told. He believed in unreal training and that is it. We would go for ten mile runs like it was nothing. This was fine for me because I loved running and having to run for in track and field club for the city, was heaven. The city knew me as, Running Man, because all they seen me do was run in the streets training. I ran 4:10 mile at the age of seventeen and would compete in the 100, 200 meter dash. Tying Carl Lewis record in the 100 meters at the Vocational Championships; since, I was fast and had endurance Coach Tabb wanted me to run the two mile. That was never to happen.

The road would be short lived in the Army because I had a roommate that would change the circumstances forever! I would spend a year in the Tenth Mountain Division before these outrageous accusations would be blamed on me. Until this day I am labeled as a, Rapist. I entered the United States Disciplinary Barracks as a virgin to crime with an alleged charge that only meant torture.

The next few months I spend in and out of the clinic with my face looking like a pumpkin. Until, the day I decided to join the Latino family in prison. This was not my way but this was the only choice between being a punching bag or death. But, that is a different matter!

Time would come that I faced a court martial for something I had no dealing with. The only reason why I’m alive right now is because of the four guys that swore to join me in fighting while I was in prison. They would read some of the verbatim record of trial, that the government sent me, because I never had the full record of trial since. They realized I was the escape goat. Since then we were like spaghetti and meatballs. What happened to one happened to all.

I would think back to when I was a kid and all of the examples that my family and the old man taught me. I held my ground, did not rat on no one, never stood in trial and disgraced the uniform, I faced death and luckily I pulled thru. This is my character not someone that preys on innocent people. I disclose my, record of trial and also try to put together the transcripts as clear as possible. The reason is the government sent the transcripts scrambled, as you will see, and having to sort it out has taking me a fairly good amount of time.

My true passion is art. I have established myself as artists with the collaboration with other artists were I reside. The burning of portraits, sceneries, and animals on wood has become my medium to create my art. The donation of my paintings would help the city zoo in 2016 raise more money than the previous year, over $80,000 dollars more. This helped various programs for children on summer leave from school. The paintings that I donated were selling for $300 to $400 dollars each. I call the form Pyro-art; having to discuss this title with a colleague about the character in the X-Men movies.

Injustices are done by men and women not by the rule of law. The capabilities of mankind are simple! Tell the truth and reveal the facts. The last twenty two years have been the most challenging. Waiting for my innocence to be proven, once being told that it would take an act of God to reverse, can have debilitating effects. The example, of my trial, is how the rule of law is ignored by these individuals. No soldier deserves this type of injustice!

I fight for the ones that cannot.

I was walking back from my fiance’s place and when I arrived at the barracks of Headquarters where all the combat medics lived. When I opened the door of my barracks room there was a female by the name of Ms. B sitting on Spc. M’s bed. I asked her, what she was doing in the room and Ms. B replied that Spc. M was coming back he had to go do something. Well, two hours had past and I told Ms. B that I will call a taxi for her. Ms. B replied that was, Ok. I asked her where Spc. M met her at because she looked a little young. Ms. B told me that a friend of Spc. M had introduced her to him. When the Taxi arrived I immediately went to the car and accompanied her and dropped her off at her families place on post.

Later, I found out that the mother of Ms. B was pressing charges because she thought that it was me that was having a relationship with her. I tried to get Spc. M to clear things up with the mother but he refused. I had a couple of arguments with him telling him that this was my career on the line but he refused anyway.

The fact was that I was the lowest enlisted soldier in the unit. Rank meant everything to Spc. M. I tried to stay on his good side because he was the only one that could clear all of this, by telling the truth. I even invited Spc. M. and Spc. N. to my family’s house for Christmas at New Jersey, because they had no money to go home. Spc. M. had told me not to worry about Ms. B. that this was going to blow over because Sgt. M. had pull with upper command. Sgt. M. (company medic NCO), was the best medic in the nation having won the competition that is held for the combat medics. Command had him high on a pedestal as far as an example of an excellent combat medic. Sgt. M. was part of the posse and would listen to his advice at all times. Spc. M. (roommate) would talk with him constantly of what was going on. After the Christmas break I had no choice but to approach CID. Spc. M. was acting like nothing was happening as far as the investigation. I made an appointment to talk to the investigator. Since CID was investigating they refused to listen to me when I approached them and told them that Spc. M. was the one that left her in the barracks room and I had to call her a taxi home on post. That’s why the mother thought I was Spc. M. Spc. M had numerous of affairs with other soldier’s wives. There was one incident that a soldier that was married was aware of his affair that Spc. M. was having with his wife. The soldier was from another unit and specifically asked for Spc. M. When this was going on I had asked if I could change barracks room and I was told, no because it was the higher ranked enlisted to make the choice of barracks change." I was only a private so I had no kind of pull with the other soldiers. Things where just getting worse because Spc. M did not clear the circumstance that I was in. That meant that he would have to face the CID investigators and for me it was clear that he was not going to tell the truth.

When the investigation was going on I finally called the number that Spc. M had on his desk. Ms. B answered the phone and I recorded the whole conversation. To prove to the defense counsel that I was not the one having a relationship with Ms. B.

The next day I took the tape too Cpt. S. the assistant attorney to Cpt. M. the leading defense counsel and she told me it was inadmissible but I told her but this proves that Spc. M was the one that has the relationship with Ms. B not me. Since my leading attorney had her own opinions of me and told me that she did not believe that Spc. M was involved. I secured the tape and told Cpt. S. that I will present the tape to the judge when we would go to court.

I had just arrived from having food with my fiance’. It was Ms. J’s birthday and we spend most of the day together. When I walked into my room, Spc. M, Ms. P, and Pfc. N. was smoking marijuana and drinking liquor. They stayed in the room and I told Spc. M to take it somewhere else since they were smoking and drinking. Spc. M told me that as soon as the time for the movie was to start that they would leave the room. He invited me to go with them at first I refused but then Spc. M. said, it’s only a ride. Then Ms. P. said, as she pulled me by the waist, come on! There were too many people going so I had to drive another car. I went and drove Ms. P’s car to the movies and I decided to pick up something from Wendy’s. Ms. P. was complaining of feeling sick so she really didn’t want to go and sit thru a movie. Ms. P. said to me, take me back so I can sleep it out. When we arrived at the barracks we entered thru the front and at first we met with the NCO that would sign us in. Then since she was going to sleep it off she went to Spc. M’s room and I stayed in the hallway talking to the NCO in charge of signing everyone in. I was bored so I walked into Spc. Mar’s room and started listening to music. I had pizza grease all over my hands so I was going to use Spc. Mar’s sink but his was piled with pizza boxes and dirty dishes. So, I went to my room where I noticed Ms. P. was sleeping on Spc. M’s bed, so I washed my hands and went back to Spc. Mar’s room. There I stayed with the guys for a good hour or more.

The screaming started from next door so the guys and I thought it was coming from the hallway. It started again so I went outside to the hallway and it was coming from my room. As I came out the room PFC. N was in the hallway. I asked him what is going on? He replied that he went to check the door for Spc. M because he decided to leave us at the movie. Then he was telling me that everyone was in Spc. P’s room hanging out. Then the screams started again so Pvt. N and I tried to open the door in the hallway and it was locked. So Pvt. N took off and I went thru the room next door bathrooms that were adjoining the bedrooms. Spc. R. asked me what was wrong and I told him. Spc. M had 5-50 cord around the knob of the door. Spc. R. and I would go and try to open the door and Spc. M. would show thru the crack of the door in his underwear. Pfc. R. told CID about this and that I was in the hallway when this was happening. I told Spc. M. to get out of the room and he took at least 15 minutes and Spc. M. finally came out of the barracks room. When Spc. M opened the door he immediately walked to the hallway. Since the room was pitch black I turned on the light and I saw that Ms. P is on my bed and screaming. Ms. P seemed hysterical because she would not let me get her off my bed. I looked and Spc. M and asked him what the hell happened and he would not talk. Spc. M decided to take her back to her place because I did not want anything to do with it. Later, I find out that CID wanted to talk to me about Ms. P because she was saying that I was the one that was trying to rape her. I notified CID that Spc. M was the one in the room with Ms. P, not me. Well, CID had said that Ms. P would say that it was Pvt. Accused.

I thought to myself the only way I could explain Ms. P accusation was that Spc. M was telling Ms. P that he was me. Spc. M was in the room in pitch black darkness with Ms. P that was intoxicated and high. The room is made out of concrete blocks and a dark colored bed sheet, on Spc. M side, that covered the window. So my guess would be that Ms. P saw me as soon as Spc. M ran out the room when I turned on the lights.

Ms. P tested positive for THC and had a high volume of alcohol in her system. Later, I found out that the liquor was Goldenslauger with gold chips in it. They later tried to blame me with consumption and distribution of marijuana and my test were all negative. The test for Ms. P was positive and Spc. M was positive and they were not charged with anything. The government decided to give Spc. M immunity. I also would test negative for a DNA match from Ms. P.

The company was already training for the Bosnian Theater. This led me to believe that they were going to leave me out to dry. The presumption was clear because of Spc. O’Neal’s statement that I reveal.

The prosecutor would change statements whenever he wanted to sway all that he was planning, at trial, on his behalf. While the soldiers were going and making their statements they also told me that the prosecutor Cpt. H. would call them back and change statements. He did not think about any consequences. He was working on his own set of rules. Now, if you pay attention to the dates of the, The newspaper published an article implicating my prosecutor Cpt. H. in illegal acts; my case was just before, this makes it very possible for the same misconduct to take place in my trial.

The article reads,

ALTERED TRIAL TRANSCRIPT WAS WRONG, JUDGE SAYS

ID: 848273

TAG: 9707290028

Date: July 29, 1997

By Staff Writer

Dateline: F. Drum

A division prosecutor acted improperly by allowing a court reporter to record events that never happened in a verbatim trial transcript, a military judge found Monday night.

However, the judge, Col. P. L. J, stopped short of citing Capt. D. H. with Prosecutorial misconduct- a serious finding a soldier’s defense team was seeking to support its motion for another trial, among other corrective measures.

During a special session to investigate alleged wrongdoing after a February court-martial, it was found that Capt. H., division trial counsel, wrongly have his consent for Sgt. 1st Class C. W. S. to insert finding of guilt- equal to about 10 lines- into a transcript. The post-trial 39A session, ordered by division commanders, stemmed partially from defense allegations that the government deliberately mistreated the records, constituting prejudicial treatment of the accused soldier and delaying his parole from military jail.

While the prosecutor could face Army disciplinary action based on the ruling, lead defense attorney S. J. D. said he has already taken his allegations to the Criminal Appeals as a back-up measure. It may decide to independently explore the allegations in the near future, he said.

The case goes back to Feb. 25, when Spc. M S. K., pleaded guilty in division court to seven specifications involving larceny of government property, housebreaking and conspiracy.

The trial appeared to proceed normally. Col. J. accepted the specialist’s pleas and sentenced him to one year of confinement, reduced his rank to private, took away pay and allowances and discharged him with a bad-conduct discharge. While preparing the trial’s transcript in the preceding months, the court reporter, Sgt. S., noticed that the judge never officially found Spc. K. guilty, which was confirmed upon listening to the trial tape.

It turned out that Col. J. accidentally skipped a procedural requirement that he announce each charge, followed by the finding of guilty, in between the plea acceptance and the sentencing phases.

According to testimony and defense records, Sgt. S. alerted his superior, Capt. H., of the mistake during a one-to- three minute conversation in the staff judge advocate offices.

Sgt. S. was not the court reporter during Monday’s session.

Much of the seven-and-a-half-hour hearing focused on whether Capt. H. ordered the reporter to insert the findings of guilt to keep the case running smoothly, as the defense alleges, or if the captain merely gave his approval without knowing the consequences of his actions, as government attorneys argued.

Capt. H.’s actions are preventing Spc. K. from applying for parole because the post-trial proceedings necessary to clear them up are delaying final confirmation by the commanding general, which is needed for a parole application, the defense alleges.

The specialist also risks double jeopardy because of the falsified findings since he was never formally found guilty, and could therefore face the same charges at a later date, according to the defense. During the hearing, Col. J. signed a certificate of correction that, in effect, deleted lines 5 through 14 of the transcript and admitted that he forgot to say the findings in February.

There appears to be no dispute that I omitted the findings, he said, as the parties cosigned the certificate.

Defense attorney S. J. D. said before the session that he and the senior defense co-counsel, Maj. J. A. M., were not aware during the trial that the judge omitted the findings, even though they were sitting before him.

Making sure procedures are followed is the government’s responsibility, he said, and the defense team was busy preparing for the sentencing phase while the findings were supposed to take place.

Capt. H. and Sgt. S. took the stand Monday to provide testimony for the defense allegations of fraud and prosecutorial misconduct, which were the basis of defense motions to throw out the case and move future trials away from Division.

The captain said he could not recall the judge failing to announce the findings, or many details of what took place during his conversation with Sgt. Sw. in the spring.

He said he did put it in there or was going to put it in there, and I said Okay, Capt. H. said of the findings being inserted, which he insisted he did not order directly. The government counsel, led by Capt. C. T. and Maj. L. W., division chief of military justice, said the captain was under a lot of pressure because it was the first prosecution he headed.

However, Mr. D. said that was an unacceptable excuse because he is licensed to practice law, and should have known the double jeopardy and parole ramifications of the findings.

It never occurred to you that inserting words into a verbatim record of trial is improper? Mr. D. asked Capt. H..

The Captain said the matter was not important to him because he was not aware at the time of his duties to closely monitor the procedure and reports. It also had little consequence because Spc. K. admitted being guilty, and everyone present knew it.

I didn’t in any way intend to prejudice the rights of Specialist K., he said, as the specialist looked on from the defense table.

Sgt. S. said he could not recall details of his conversation with Capt. H., but the captain did not directly order that the documents be falsified.

I recall an agreement not insert the findings into the record, based on the judge finding the pleas probable and sentencing Spc. K., the court reporter said.

Col. J. ruled that Capt. H.’s actions were not serious enough to constitute fraud or prosecutorial misconduct, so he rejected the defense motions. Therefore, the actions did not prejudice Spc, K.’s rights for parole or in any other matter, he said.

The accused is not up for parole until Aug. 26 at any rate, he said.

The defense, if anyone, is to blame for prejudicing the soldier and delaying his parole by litigating the matter instead of bringing it to occur for the correction upon finding the problem, the colonel said. The defense must assume some responsibility for allowing the issue to fester, he said. Mr. D. said he was not surprised by the ruling, but hopes to have the prosecutorial misconduct charge considered on appeal.

Author: This article reveals how cases in Division were handled at the time and time would come that the Prosecutor D. H. would take a seat at my trial; to decide my fate in the Division.

A sworn statement from one of the witnesses and friend that was not allowed to testify again for the defense.

On or about the last week of August 1997, or the first week of September 1997, Pvt. Accused and I had a conversation about his pending trial. This was not unusual, as Pvt. Accused had been talking to me quite a bit about the case. I was one of his best friends, and the only one he felt he could trust talking about the trial to. During this particular conversation he told me that he and Spc. M had gotten drunk in the room of another soldier together the night before. It seemed unusual to me because Accused and Spc. M had not spoken to each other since sometime in February, 1997. Accused told me that Spc. M had admitted to him that night that he had made the whole thing up with Ms. P, in order to keep Ms. P relationship with Spc. S intact. I have heard many rumors about Spc. S and Ms. P, but I have no firsthand knowledge of their relationship. Pvt. Accused also told me that Spc. M was feeling guilty about lying this whole time because of a phone conversation with his wife about the case. Accused also indicated that Spc. M had decided to change his testimony in regards to this case. That night I ran into Spc. M in the barracks. I had also only a small talk conversation with Spc. M since about the middle of March. That evening I told him that I thought he was doing the right thing in changing his testimony. Spc. M told me replied that the pressure was getting to him and he couldn’t go through with it. That was the extent of the conversation; Spc. M never denied anything about lying in his testimony to me. I was told that on the same night, Spc. M spilled his guts to Spc. C, who was working as Staff Duty in B and C Companies. Just before the trial, I was contacted by Cpt. H. of the Prosecution. He told me that he needed to speak to me about the Accused’s case. He had been trying to get a hold of me for the past one and a half days, I was told later by people who were working in our BAS. When I arrived in the office, I was quickly rushed back into his office, and when I left, I was sent out the back door, apparently because Spc. M was the next person Cpt. H. was to see, and he didn’t want us to see each other. I knew Spc. M was the next one to see the Prosecutor because we had both been given a ride by the same soldier. During our conversation, Cpt. H. started by saying why I was there to see him. I told him that he had called me, and I wasn’t sure. He started asking me about the 2-14 Medical Platoon. I told him about the people in the platoon without much detail. He then started asking me about the relationship about Pfc. W and Pvt. Accused. I told him that they were roommates, and had a bit of a clash of personalities. He continued to ask me questions about Pfc. W and Pvt. Accused, asking if I ever saw them together. I answered that they were roommates, so when I went to their room, they were both usually there. It was at that point that I asked Cpt. H. why he had asked me to come see him. He replied that my name had come up on