Your friend, the Group JAG officer, calls you up and asks you to come by and see him. You know that this isn’t going to be a social call.
When you get there, he tells you that because of chain of custody and search and seizure concerns, it’s not likely that Jody is going to face charges for the marijuana or the weapons; he’ll just claim you planted them in the vehicle to set him up or that the material belonged to Bradley and he didn’t know it was in the car. There are no prints on any of the weapons. The serial numbers on the weapons did not match up to anything that had been reported stolen, or to anything that had been in the Army inventory. All of the other items in the vehicle were Bradley’s, except the bayonet and gas mask, which had markings on them indicating that they had been taken from the armory where Jody had worked.
He also explains to you that Jody’s chain of command is extremely reluctant to prosecute even on the matters that came to light during your deployment. In fact, they’re thinking about allowing Jody to just serve out his remaining few months in the Army and ETS. With an honorable discharge.
“No fucking way does that guy leave the Army with an honorable discharge, not after everything he’s done,” you declare angrily, “no fucking way.”
“Well, the only thing I can think of that might help is for you to do up an impact statement,” the JAG begins, “that may help his chain of command see how big a turd this guy really is. I can help you write-“
“This is bullshit,” you interrupt, “ I shouldn’t have to do up a freakin’ memo. We’ve got all of the other evidence. It’s bullshit that his chain of command won’t prosecute.”
“Yeah, UCMJ can be a two-edged sword,” says the JAG consolingly. "Commanders have a lot of leeway in deciding what gets prosecuted and what doesn’t. JAGs have a lot of leeway in deciding what has merit, and what doesn’t.”
“That’s a bunch of crap,” you say. “Commanders shouldn’t have that much discretion. If a guy commits a crime, he should have to pay for it.”
“Really? Why do you think you’re not getting prosecuted for that little stunt you and your first sergeant pulled in the parking lot the other day? Is it because no crime was committed, or because the commander used his discretion?” he asks. You hadn’t considered it that way. He slaps a packet of papers down in front of you. Paperclipped to the front of the packet is a color photo. A barely-recognizable Jody Schum peers out through two black eyes. Both lips are split, his nose is swollen and obviously broken, and there’s a huge lump on the left side of his chin. You can’t help but feel just a little proud when you realize that’s where you caught him with that first punch.
But, still- “I just want what’s right for Bradley,” you say, deflated. You were SO close to getting Jody. “There’s got to be something you can do. Bradley’s dead, remember.”
“Yes, I know he’s dead. I was there in Iraq with you when we found out it happened, remember? And I don’t need you waving the bloody shirt at me to motivate me to do my job.” “Look,” he sighs, “You really messed things up by attacking him in the parking lot, even though he deserved it. You’re really lucky that you’re not the one getting prosecuted here. Schum’s lawyer hinted that they won’t pursue charges against you if the charges against his client are dropped. Schum’s chain of command is leaning that way anyway, they haven’t been involved in this from the beginning like we have.”
“Do the impact statement,” he urges, “Make it as lengthy, specific and detailed as you can. Maybe that will get someone’s attention. If it sticks, it sticks. If it doesn’t, you did the best you could.”
“OK fine, I’ll do it,” you say as you leave his office, a little more angrily than you intended.
What kinds of things do you think you should focus on in the impact statement?
