FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Herbert
W. Titus, Attorney 757-421-4141 forecast22@pinn.net
Henry
Hamilton, Attorney 803/779-0700
Daniel D. New, Project Manager 254-796-2173 ddnew@mikenew.com
Michael New dismissed
by US Court of Appeals
District of Columbia - The US Court of Appeals released on Tuesday its decision to dismiss the case of former Army Specialist Michael New, who was court-martialed in 1996 for his refusal to wear a United Nations uniform, to deploy to Macedonia under United Nations command, and to serve under the command of a general officer from Finland
Writing for the court, in a unanimous decision, District Judge Williams summed it up with, “Because New fails to identify fundamental defects in the military courts resolution of his claims, we affirm the district courts denial of relief." [1]
According to Daniel New, Project Manager for the legal defense team, “This court is now in violation of its own rules, and establishes a very bad precedent for the future, if they are not overturned. If this new ‘Michael New Rule’ is applied across the board, then never again will the government have to worry about presenting evidence in order to find someone guilty. All they will have to do is say, ‘He had his day in court -- case dismissed.’ ”
At issue is the question of whether an American soldier,
having taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, may be forced instead to serve under
the military command of a foreign power, specifically the United Nations.
The military courts ruled that this was a political question, outside the
jurisdiction of their courts. Thus, New was denied his day in court in
order to protect the Clinton administration from having to justify the deployment.
According to legal observer Joseph Dale Robertson,
"Every judicial circuit court of appeals in the federal system - except
the District of Columbia - has ruled that in all criminal cases it is the jury, the trier of fact, that must
exclusively determine each and every essential element of the alleged crime.
Michael New was denied this fundamental right in his original court-martial.
Every circuit court in the United States has said so with the singular exception of the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia. It is now time for the DC circuit court of appeals to join with all other
federal circuit court of appeal in the land and hold in the Michael New case
that the constitution applies to criminal court martial trials as well.
Further, that Michael New was denied a fair trial in that he was denied the
fundamental right to have every element of the alleged crime determined by a
jury and not a judge."
And what does Michael New think of all this? "Right is right, and
wrong is wrong. They can argue until the End of Time, but I will never
serve the United Nations." New is pursuing a degree in Information
Management Systems in Texas.
- 30 -
www.MikeNew.com/
Complete opinion may be viewed at
http://www.mikenew.com/docs/opinion5.2006.pdf
Timeline:
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12/1995 US
District Court refuses to hear case
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1/1996 Army
Court-martial - Bad Conduct Discharge
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[1] US Court of Appeals, D.C., Case No. 05-5023, Page 2