JUSTICE DEFERRED: Army deploys soldiers accused of felonies, leaving victims, judges, to wait for co

[unhappycamper]

Seth Rippee had his jaw broken in two places when, he says, he was assaulted by Fort Carson staff sergeant Michael Cardenaz. Rippee sought to have the sergeant pay $15,000 in medical bills, but never got his day in court because Cardenaz deployed and was killed serving in Afghanistan. He was photographed in the courtroom at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Thursday, January 6, 2011.


JUSTICE DEFERRED: Army deploys soldiers accused of felonies, leaving victims, judges, to wait for court date
January 08, 2011 6:26 PM

The fight that led to Chester Duncan’s arrest started over whether the dog could sleep on the bed.

Duncan was a 27-year-old Fort Carson specialist who had come home to Colorado Springs from a bloody tour in Iraq six months before. He didn’t want the dog on the bed. His wife did. They got into a shouting match. Duncan began throwing things and then, according to police, jumped on his wife and started to choke her.

She scratched at his face as she gasped for breath. Their 8-year-old daughter heard the struggle and ran in, hitting her father and screaming for him to stop. Police said he knocked the girl to the ground with one hand, then she called 911.

Police arrested Duncan that night on suspicion of menacing, harassment and child abuse. It was Sept. 6, 2009.

The soldier made bail the next day and was appointed a lawyer by the state.

[peace13]

1. So sad.

Victims everywhere.

[obxhead]

2. There is a really easy way to stop this problem.

End both of these pointless wars.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Am I a bad person if I hope for the occurrence of a certain event that often occurs in wars

to occur upon Mr. Duncan in Afghanistan?

[TheMadMonk]

4. So reduce the force by one more. Send the sherrif in to arrest the base...

...commandant. "Attempting to pervert the course of justice", is what we call it over here.

And it's not a new thing.

IIRC It took the Japanese Govt. threatening to shut down Okinawa and ejecting every last US soldier from the country before the USG finally handed over a soldier who had raped a 12 year old girl.

And it's not just an Army thing either. It arised from an attitude which permeates the whole culture. You see it in movies and in real life: Americans who use (or attempt to use) their nationality as a club or magic shield when called to face the consequences of their actions. The Brittish were very good at the same game in their own time.

Enough of the time they're even correct enough in their assumptions, that their accusers will back down, or someone will intervene on their behalf. Often enough that the attitude takes on a dangerous validity. It's one of the things that makes Americans less than welcome in many parts of the world, and all too often targets when the protection is absent.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Some here need to look the the Soldiers & Sailors Civil Relief Act (SSCRA)

Its instructive.

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/sscra/a/sscra.htm