Military judge releases Navy SEAL before trial for murder

May 31, 2019, 03:54 UTC

By Associated press

SAN DIEGO – A decorated Navy SEAL who was tried for the murder of an Islamic State prisoner was released on Thursday, after a military judge spoke of an interference by prosecutors.

This unexpected gesture made a leap into an audience hall in San Diego after the special operations chief's lawyer, Edward Gallagher, presented evidence to have the case dismissed on the grounds that he was in danger. misconduct of the prosecution.

The judge has not yet decided whether to file the case or to dismiss prosecutors for having made unusual efforts to track e-mails sent to defense lawyers and a journalist in order to to find the source of information leaks in the case of a political nature. This hearing continues on Friday.

Judge Aaron Rugh, Judge, stated that he was releasing Gallagher as a remedy for prosecutors who were hindering his right to the assistance of a lawyer in accordance with the Sixth Amendment.

Andrea, Gallagher's wife, who led a campaign to free her husband, put her hands in the face and burst into tears.

"I have the impression that it's a small victory on the way to wider victory," said Andrea Gallagher in court while her husband stood silently by his side, in the White Navy. "He is now free because of the misconduct of these prosecutors."

He declined to comment.

A spokesman for the navy prosecutors would not comment on Gallagher's freedom or developments at the hearing.

Defense lawyer, Tim Parlatore, had accused prosecutors of a "rogue, implacable and illegal cyber-campaign" that could have violated the solicitor-client privilege and adversely affect Gallagher's ability to protect his clients. obtain a fair trial.

Evidence at the hearing showed that prosecutors used an intelligence specialist from the Naval Criminal Investigation Service to conduct criminal background checks on three civilian lawyers, including Parlatore, and a Navy journalist. Times, who had recounted several stories based on leaked documents.

The defense said that most leak-based articles were favorable to the prosecution, but that the investigation did not target prosecutors or NCIS investigators.

Efforts to get the case closed come at a time when President Donald Trump is considering pardoning several members of the Armed Forces accused of war crimes, including Gallagher. Gallagher will be tried on June 10th.

Trump had previously removed Gallagher from the brig and transferred him to better conditions in a Navy hospital.

At Thursday's hearing, Rugh said that he had been kept secret by prosecutors about e-mail monitoring.

Rugh said prosecutors had told him privately that they planned to incorporate code into what he thought was a court document to help them find the source of the leaks. But he said that he did not have the power to authorize such an investigative tool and that he had not been informed about the project. code implementation in e-mails sent to defense lawyers or a journalist.

Rugh said that he thought the prosecutors were coordinating the investigation with the US Attorney's Office in San Diego. Rugh said that he did not know that a federal prosecutor had asked the military prosecutor to ensure the judge's approval before launching the tracking process.

Parlatore withdrew his request that the judge be struck off the list after learning that he had not authorized the scheme.

The senior prosecutor played down the gesture at a related hearing earlier in the day. Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak said that the code embedded in the e-mail recorded nothing more than where and when messages were opened by the recipients.

Gallagher pleaded not guilty to the murder of a wounded youth activist in Iraq in 2017 and in an attempted murder for allegedly kidnapping civilians from the roost of a sniper.

Lieutenant Jacob Portier, his platoon superior, complains of conduct unbecoming an officer who allegedly presided at Gallagher's re-enlistment ceremony next to the activist's corpse.

Czaplak said the hunt ended on May 10 after defense lawyers uncovered the code in an unusual logo depicting an American flag with a Bald Eagle perched on the scales of justice under Czaplak's signature.

Czaplak acknowledged the efforts made during an in camera hearing held three weeks ago. He did not reveal any other details at the time.

On Thursday, Czaplak said the emails were similar to those that marketers use to find out when an email is open and which device was used to open it.

"It's still a Web virus and it's still not ethical," said defense attorney Jeremiah J. Sullivan III, who portrays Portier.

Judge Jonathan Stephens, judge in the Porter case, said that, from what he had seen, the tracking effort had not allowed viewing of the content mails.

Several experts said that the code embedded in a signature line in e-mails collected information on Internet protocol addresses and could indicate the browser used, the duration of its opening and see if the message had been transferred. But information can not usually be used to identify a specific person or to capture content.

Josiah Roloff, a data forensic examiner from Spokane, Washington State, said the code was typically used by marketing companies and that he had used it in surveys under blanket. But he said that he had never seen that targeting the defense lawyers.

Melley reported from Los Angeles.

This story was corrected to reflect the fact that the intelligence specialist who conducted the background check was working for the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, not for the Navy.