Hicks pleads guilty

[cal04]

Source: Mark Coultan

David Hicks has entered a guilty plea, after an initial hearing which was immediately thrown into disarray when the judge effectively disqualified two of his three lawyers.

Hicks appeared in court wearing an olive green outfit, and thongs on his feet. The judge warned his defence counsel that in future he should not appear in prison-type clothes, in order to make sure that his presumption of innocence was maintained.

Hicks's hair was long, reaching down to his shoulder blades, but he had shaved off a long beard for his first court appearance in two and half years.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hicks-pleads-guilty/2007/03/27/1174761419519.html

---

(snip)
He appeared in reasonable spirits at the beginning of the proceedings, but as his defence team left the room, leaving only Marine lawyer Major Michael Mori, he appeared increasingly worried.

[Skink]

1. Star magazine perhaps?

Cover shots can be unpredictable.

[cal04]

2. Tuesday, plead guilty to one of two counts

(snip)
Kohlmann ordered attorneys to attend another session Tuesday to sort out details of the plea. He did not discuss sentencing.

Hicks' Pentagon-appointed attorney, Marine Corps Maj. Michael Mori, told the judge that his client would plead guilty to one of two counts of providing material support for terrorism and innocent to the other. Hicks, standing by Mori's side, told the judge that was his wish.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6510804,00.html

[noel adamson]

3. Wouldn't want to have the appearance that he wasn't presumed innocent until..

...given a "fair" trial with attorney's approved by the Bush administration and their approved lackies who have pleasured the President, er... served at the pleasure of the President. And we all know how careful the Bush administration is to keep the judiciary as fair and objective as possible by filtering all politics out of it's selection process. :sarcasm:

[cal04]

4. Hicks home 'in months'

CHIEF prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis said today that David Hicks' guilty plea meant the Australian terror suspect could be winging his way home in a matter of months.

Hicks would be sentenced by the end of the week, under a deal in which Hicks can serve out any more time to be served in an Australian jail, Colonel Davis said.

"My best guess is that in the next few days we will wrap this up," he told reporters.

"Somebody asked a long time ago if it was possible that he would be home by the ed of the year _ if I was a betting man I would say the odds are pretty good.''

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21454470-601,00.html
Video: Hicks pleads guilty
Matt Price: Not so simple exit for Hicks

[rodeodance]

5. this must have happened after pbs reported he did not enter a plea cause

of the procedual maneuvering today

[Eugene]

6. Australian lawmakers say Hicks plea is flawed

Source: Reuters

Australian lawmakers say Hicks plea is flawed
27 Mar 2007 05:03:21 GMT

By James Grubel

CANBERRA, March 27 (Reuters) - Australian Guantanamo Bay
detainee David Hicks pleaded guilty to terrorism charges to
speed up his return home and to escape a flawed system of
U.S. military justice, Australian lawmakers said on Tuesday.

"His guilty plea is simply a plea for release for exit from
the inhumane Guantanamo Bay gulag. That's a human
response," Greens Senator Bob Brown said.

-snip-

Howard said on Tuesday the Australian government welcomed
the latest development and progress towards resolving the
Hicks case.

-snip-

Brown, who heckled Bush about Hicks when the president
addressed the Canberra parliament in 2003, said the guilty
plea would not have held up under the Australian legal
system.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD97172.htm

[Aussie leftie]

7. How convenient for our prime minister

Theres an election on later this year and his poll ratings are the lowest they have ever been. Now he can say that the guilty plea vindicates his and Bush's stance on letting Hicks rot in hell for 5 years while he was being tortured both physically and mentally. No wonder the poor sod pleaded guilty. If it was me, I would have pleaded guilty to crucifying Christ, just to get out of there. They better not sentence him to 1 second more than he has already served.

[Heidi]

8. Kick.

:kick:

[The Sushi Bandit]

9. Australian pleads guilty at Guantanamo

Source: Washington Post

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Australian David Hicks, the first prisoner to face a new U.S. war crimes tribunal, unexpectedly pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of helping al Qaeda fight American troops during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Hicks entered his plea following the first day of hearings in the military tribunals created by Congress after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that President George W. Bush authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600205.html

[LynnTheDem]

10. Couldn't take the waterboarding anymore.

What a wuss!

:sarcasm:

God help America. PLEASE!

[Harper_is_Bush]

11. In a related story, Mr. Hicks will have his injuries due to torture treated at the Gitmo hospital...

the entire f'n world doesn't give a flying fuck about your "confessions".

[Canuckistanian]

12. No evidence to challenge, no hearsay to defend against

No wonder the Aussies coined the phrase "Kangaroo Court".

[Nevernose]

13. The phrase, like most evil, comes from California

At least according to Wikipedia:

The term seems not to originate from Australia, the native country of kangaroos, as the oldest available evidence stems from the California Gold Rush, with the first written reference (1853) in a Texas context (also mustang court), from the notion of proceeding "by leaps" like the eponymous marsupial. It is possible that the phrase arose out of a combination of informal courts convened to deal with "claim jumpers," the many Australian participants in the Gold Rush, and a bit of word play.

[Canuckistanian]

14. Thanks

I never miss a chance to be more educated.

:hi:

[Nevernose]

15. Your welcome, but to be honest

I'm just a big fan of the OED and etymology in general. Until I read your post, the origin of the phrase "kangaroo court" had never occurred to me.

There is a story that Cooke mistakenly transliterated the word Kangaroo from an aboriginal phrase meaning "I don't understand." He was pointing at a kangaroo and saying, "What is this?" and the Aborigine kept saying, "I don't understand what you're saying."

Would you mind telling me if the link works? The OED is a subscription site, and I have no idea if links will work (or even if I'm allowed under DU's TOS to link to a subscription site).

Cook and Banks believed it to be the name given to the animal by the natives at Endeavour River, Queensland, and there is later affirmation of its use elsewhere. On the other hand, there are express statements to the contrary (see quots. below), showing that the word, if ever current in this sense, was merely local, or had become obsolete. The common assertion that it really means ‘I don't understand’ (the supposed reply of the native to his questioner) seems to be of recent origin and lacks confirmation. (See Morris Austral English s.v.)
1770 COOK Jrnl. (1893) 224 (Morris) (Aug. 4) The animals which I have before mentioned, called by the Natives Kangooroo or Kanguru. 1770 J. BANKS Jrnl. (1896) 301 (Aug. 26) The largest was called by the natives kangooroo. 1787 ANDERSON in Cook's Voy. (1790) IV. 1295 We found, that the animal called kangooroo, at Endeavour River, was known under the same name here . 1792 J. HUNTER Port Jackson (1793) 54 The animal..called the kangaroo (but by the natives patagorong) we found in great numbers. 1793 W. TENCH Compl. Acc. Port Jackson 171 The large, or grey kanguroo, to which the natives give the name of Pat-ag-a-ran. Note, Kanguroo was a name unknown to them for any animal, until we introduced it. 1834 THRELKELD Austral. Gram. (Hunter's River) 87 (Morris) Kóng-go-róng, the Emu..likely the origin of the barbarism, kangaroo, used by the English, as the name of an animal called Mo-a-ne. 1835 T. B. WILSON Narr. Voy. World 211 (ibid.) They distinctly pronounced ‘kangaroo’ without having heard any of us utter the sound. 1850 Jrnl. Ind. Archipelago IV. 188 (Kangaroo.) It is very remarkable that this word, supposed to be Australian, is not to be found as the name of this singular marsupial animal in any language of Australia..I have this on the authority of my friend Captain King.]

1. A marsupial mammal of the family Macropodidæ, remarkable for the great development of the hind-quarters and the leaping-power resulting from this. The species are natives of Australia, Tasmania, Papua, and some neighbouring isles; the larger kinds being commonly known as kangaroos, and the smaller ones as wallabies. (Also used by sportsmen as a collective plural.)
The first species known in Europe was the great kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), discovered by Captain Cook in 1770; the male of this is about 6 feet in height when standing erect.
1773 J. HAWKESWORTH Voy. III. 578 (1st Voy. Cook) The next day our Kangaroo was dressed for dinner and proved most excellent meat. 1774 GOLDSM. Nat. Hist. VII. xvi. II. 434 The kanguroo of New Holland, where only it is to be found, is often known to weigh above 60 pounds. 1796 Gentl. Mag. LXVI. I. 467 The Gamgarou, or as Pennant calls it Kangaroo, is a native of New South Wales. 1845 DARWIN Voy. Nat. xix. (1852) 441 Now the emu is banished to a long distance and the kangaroo is become scarce. 1884 BOLDREWOOD Melb. Mem. iii. 23 Though kangaroo were plentiful, they were not..overwhelming in number.

http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50125290?query_type=word&queryword=kangaroo&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=CalW-eivdKH-21248&hilite=50125290

[cal04]

16. Hicks return may not appease government critics

David Hicks may soon be on his way back home, but the government remains under pressure over concerns the Australian pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge to escape Guantanamo Bay after more than five years in US custody.

(snip)
A guilty plea gives him a ticket home because Canberra and Washington have struck a deal which will allow Hicks to serve any custodial sentence in Australia.

(snip)
But Hicks' return may not be enough to appease critics who believe he hasn't had a fair go - and won't be treated justly until he's given a proper day in court.

There are even those in government ranks who aren't entirely satisfied.

Outspoken Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce, a critic of the US military commissions, hasn't changed his mind about a process he says is flawed.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hicks-return-may-not-appease-government-critics/2007/03/27/1174761464597.html