Eating Our Own Some More

Via Billy

Dated

Sgt. Derrick Miller, 27, of Hagerstown, MD, was convicted this past week of the premeditated murder of an Afghan man in 2010. The husband and father of two was assigned to a Connecticut National Guard unit and attached to the 101st Airborne Division at the time of the shooting in Eastern Afghanistan. After joining the National Guard in 2006, Miller had three combat deployments and had recently been promoted.
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From the AP last week:

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A US Army National Guardsman was sentenced yesterday to life in prison with the chance of parole for the murder of an Afghan civilian.

Sergeant Derrick Miller, 27, of Hagerstown, Md., shook hands with several soldiers in his unit after the 10-member military jury delivered the sentence after two hours of deliberation. He was found guilty of premeditated murder.

Clue #1 to smelling yet another rat in our military justice system. Miller is still on good terms with fellow soldiers. Would several soldiers want to shake hands with a "premeditated murderer"?

His attorney had argued during two days of testimony that Miller acted in self-defense when he shot a man last September. The military has identified him as Atta Mohammed but his name was not used in court.

Defense attorney Charles Gittins told the jury that Miller stopped the man for questioning when he walked through a defensive perimeter that Miller’s unit had set up around a mortar unit.

What was an innocent bystander doing walking through a defensive perimeter?

Gittins said Miller believed the man could be a threat to his unit and that during questioning the man tried to grab Miller’s weapon.

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