Merry Christmas to all Michael Behenna Supporters!

To the thousands of Michael Supporters,

God bless each of you. We have been in this fight together for the past two years and your encouragement and support has been the driving force behind all we have been able to accomplish. Last year, the Clemency Board gave Michael a reduction of 5 years off his 20 year sentence. On December 2nd we again pleaded Michael’s case before the Army Clemency Board. We pointed out to them that Michael’s sentence was 50% larger than the highest sentence given to any soldier convicted of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone. We also addressed Michael’s unblemished record in prison for the past two years, his many accomplishments while incarcerated, and his unblemished civilian record. We stressed that he was not a threat to anyone and offered many letters of reference including those from the Governor of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Attorney General, Law Enforcement Agency Heads, and all of the supporters who took the time to write letters of support for Michael. In addition, the entire Oklahoma Congressional Delegation offered their support for Michael’s clemency. We also had three letters of immediate employment for Michael upon his release. After our arguments to the Clemency Board, the Board had no additional uncompleted factors for Michael, and the Chairman of the Clemency Board stated that Michael had “turned the corner.” Unfortunately, on December 22nd, Michael was notified that all of our efforts fell on deaf ears and he was denied even ONE day of clemency by the Clemency Board and the Secretary of the Army John McHugh. We have no idea why they denied Michael’s clemency request and can only surmise that the Secretary of the Army desires Michael to spend a substantial amount of time in prison.

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Merry Christmas to all Michael Behenna Supporters!

We wanted to give everyone an update regarding Michael’s clemency hearing which was held on December 2nd in Washington D.C. The Army Clemency Board gave us ample time to discuss Michael’s case. They seemed genuinely interested in Michael’s story as well as the mitigating circumstances of his case. The Board asked relevant questions which led us to believe they not only knew the narrative, but also were concerned about Michael’s future.

Hearing from Michael’s parents as well as his girlfriend Shannon, the Clemency Board listened to us for almost 50 minutes. We asked the Board to either suspend the rest of Michael’s sentence or to significantly reduce it. Michel’s sentence for unpremeditated murder is now at 15 years; which is still 50% higher than any other combat related unpremeditated murder sentence. In other cases the sentences handed out ranged from 1 to 10 years. We expect to hear a decision from the Army Clemency Board in 1 to 2 weeks.

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To the thousands of Michael Behenna supporters:

The New York Times recently reported (see link below) that the US military has initiated a policy to “reintegrate” imprisoned Taliban fighters to their Afghan communities. These Taliban fighters were caught with evidence that they had killed our soldiers, but are released to their families in an active war zone with merely a ‘pledge’ that they will not return to the Taliban. This appears to be the latest attempt to win the hearts and minds of our enemies and taking the ‘catch and release policy’ to a whole new level.

This brings us to Michael’s case. Michael has been incarcerated by the Army for over a year now. We have asked at every level that Michael’s constitutional right to a fair trial be granted so that all the evidence is disclosed to the jury. Doesn’t seem too much to ask for an American citizen who fought for his country does it? Yet Michael’s request for a new trial has been stranded. The Army seems to be in no hurry to have Michael’s case in front of the Army Court of Appeals as they have yet to file their response to Michael’s brief which was filed back in December 2009.

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Crossposted from Support Michael Leahy Jr

Honorable soldiers unjustly serving time at Fort Leavenworth:

• 1Lt Michael Behenna
• MSG John Hatley
• SFC Joseph Mayo
• SPC William Hunsaker
• Sgt Evan Vela Carnahan
• Pfc Corey Clagett

1Lt Michael Behenna

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