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Should Two American Pilots be Sent to Prison for Deadly Mistake?
Aired January 14, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now a case of military justice, and a question, should two American pilots be sent to prison for a deadly mistake that occurred in the fog of war, the war on terrorism?
CNN's Ed Lavandera standing by to tell us the story at Barksdale Air Force Base in northern Louisiana -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, this article 32 hearing, which in essence, is probably the equivalent of a grand jury hearing that will determine whether or not Major Bill Umbach and Major Harry Schmidt will face a court-martial trial. The evidence started to be presented today. The hearing started about 9:00 Central Time this morning. Basically a lot of formalities being shoved aside here this morning as a lot of the attorneys and the government representatives inside that room taking care of the formalities that they need to.
These two pilots face four counts of involuntary manslaughter, eight counts of aggravated assault and one count of dereliction of duty, which means if they go to court marshal and are convicted, they face up to 64 years in prison.
Now this accident, friendly-fire accident, happened last April. The two were flying over Kandahar, and when they came across what appeared, they thought, was enemy ground fire coming from Al Qaeda troops just outside of Kandahar, they were told that Al Qaeda troops were in that area before they took off on their 10-hour mission. It turned out it was Canadian army troops working in a live-fire situation, and they say they were never told that the friendlies would be down on the ground working in that area at that time of night. They say they dropped a 500-pound bomb, killing four Canadian soldiers, but they say that never would have happened if they were told the Canadians were there.
So defense attorneys say there was a communication breakdown, that's why the accident happened. Canadian families, however, say that this article 32 hearing and perhaps a court martial should continue just to prevent anything like this from happening again, but defense attorneys say that this is a very slippery slope that the military is considering here, if it continues to go forward with a court martial hearing -- trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID BECK, WILLIAM UMBACH'S ATTY.: At a moment in time, two American patriots who were well trained based on what they saw believed they were under attack, and there is no way that there should be a criminal prosecution for an honest mistake. It happens in the fog of war. It always has. What we should do is fix these problems so we lessen the chance of it happening again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, this hearing is expected to last two weeks.
And, Kyra, to give you an idea what's happening in the room, basically the two pilots, they each have three attorneys working with them. There are four government representatives, which are the equivalent of prosecutors, and there's also an investigating officer, which is the equivalent of a judge. And what happens now is that the investigating officer will continue to listen to this testimony. That will continue for two weeks, and then that investigating officer will make his recommendations to the general here at Barksdale Air Force Base, and that person will determine, that general will determine, whether or not these two pilots will face a court-martial trial -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Live from Louisiana, Ed Lavandera. Thanks, Ed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Mistake?>
Aired January 14, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now a case of military justice, and a question, should two American pilots be sent to prison for a deadly mistake that occurred in the fog of war, the war on terrorism?
CNN's Ed Lavandera standing by to tell us the story at Barksdale Air Force Base in northern Louisiana -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, this article 32 hearing, which in essence, is probably the equivalent of a grand jury hearing that will determine whether or not Major Bill Umbach and Major Harry Schmidt will face a court-martial trial. The evidence started to be presented today. The hearing started about 9:00 Central Time this morning. Basically a lot of formalities being shoved aside here this morning as a lot of the attorneys and the government representatives inside that room taking care of the formalities that they need to.
These two pilots face four counts of involuntary manslaughter, eight counts of aggravated assault and one count of dereliction of duty, which means if they go to court marshal and are convicted, they face up to 64 years in prison.
Now this accident, friendly-fire accident, happened last April. The two were flying over Kandahar, and when they came across what appeared, they thought, was enemy ground fire coming from Al Qaeda troops just outside of Kandahar, they were told that Al Qaeda troops were in that area before they took off on their 10-hour mission. It turned out it was Canadian army troops working in a live-fire situation, and they say they were never told that the friendlies would be down on the ground working in that area at that time of night. They say they dropped a 500-pound bomb, killing four Canadian soldiers, but they say that never would have happened if they were told the Canadians were there.
So defense attorneys say there was a communication breakdown, that's why the accident happened. Canadian families, however, say that this article 32 hearing and perhaps a court martial should continue just to prevent anything like this from happening again, but defense attorneys say that this is a very slippery slope that the military is considering here, if it continues to go forward with a court martial hearing -- trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID BECK, WILLIAM UMBACH'S ATTY.: At a moment in time, two American patriots who were well trained based on what they saw believed they were under attack, and there is no way that there should be a criminal prosecution for an honest mistake. It happens in the fog of war. It always has. What we should do is fix these problems so we lessen the chance of it happening again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, this hearing is expected to last two weeks.
And, Kyra, to give you an idea what's happening in the room, basically the two pilots, they each have three attorneys working with them. There are four government representatives, which are the equivalent of prosecutors, and there's also an investigating officer, which is the equivalent of a judge. And what happens now is that the investigating officer will continue to listen to this testimony. That will continue for two weeks, and then that investigating officer will make his recommendations to the general here at Barksdale Air Force Base, and that person will determine, that general will determine, whether or not these two pilots will face a court-martial trial -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Live from Louisiana, Ed Lavandera. Thanks, Ed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Mistake?>
