Lawyer for Afghan killings suspect to visit him - Seattle Post Intelligencer

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Lawyer for Afghan killings suspect to visit him GENE JOHNSON, Associated PressCopyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Updated 08:15?p.m., Sunday, March 18, 2012

View: Larger | Hide In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. A senior U.S. official, Friday March 16, 2012 identified Bales as the man accused of killing 16 civilians in an attack on Afghan villagers five days ago. The man at the right is unidentified.Photo: DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock/ APIn this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System... In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, soldiers from Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, including Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, take part in exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. Five days after an attack on Afghan villagers killed 16 civilians, a senior U.S. official identified Bales as the suspect in that attack.Photo: DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock/ APIn this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System... In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. Five days after an attack on Afghan villagers killed 16 civilians, a senior U.S. official identified the shooter in that attack as Bales. The man at left is unidentified.Photo: DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock/ APIn this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System... Paul Wohlberg, talks to reporters as he stands in front of his home Friday, March 16, 2012, in Lake Tapps, Wash., which is next door to the home of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians. Neighbors of a Washington state man accused of gunning down 16 Afghan women and children in a nighttime rampage describe him as a family man, playing with his two kids outside his home.Photo: Ted S. Warren/ APPaul Wohlberg, talks to reporters as he stands in front of his home... The home of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, is shown, Friday, March 16, 2012, in Lake Tapps, Wash. Bales has not yet been charged. He was being flown Friday from Kuwait to a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the military's only maximum-security prison.Photo: Ted S. Warren/ APThe home of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of... Boxes and a U.S. flag sit Friday, March 16, 2012, in Lake Tapps, Wash., on the front porch of the home of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians.Photo: Ted S. Warren/ APBoxes and a U.S. flag sit Friday, March 16, 2012, in Lake Tapps,... FILE - In this Sunday, March 11, 2012 file photo, men stand next to blood stains and charred remains inside a home where witnesses say Afghans were killed by a U.S. soldier in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 11, 2012. U.S. investigators have determined that the suspect had been drinking alcohol prior to leaving the base the night of the attack, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. How much of a role alcohol played in the attack is still under investigation, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because charges have not yet been filed.Photo: Allauddin Khan/ APFILE - In this Sunday, March 11, 2012 file photo, men stand next to... A white van, believed to be transporting Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, leaves Kansas City International Airport Friday, March 16, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. Bales is is accused of gunning down 16 Afghan women and children.Photo: Ed Zurga/ APA white van, believed to be transporting Staff Sgt. Robert Bales,... A white van, believed to be transporting Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, leaves Kansas City International Airport Friday, March 16, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. Bales is is accused of gunning down 16 Afghan women and children.Photo: Ed Zurga/ APA white van, believed to be transporting Staff Sgt. Robert Bales,... This Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper clipping provided by Steve Berling, shows Norwood High School football teammates from left, Berling, Scott Marcum, Marc Edwards and Robert Bales, posing for a photo during the 1990-91 school year, in Cincinnati. Bales is the Army soldier accused of gunning down 16 Afghan women and children in a nighttime rampage in Afghanistan. MANDATORY CREDIT;Photo: The Cincinnati Enquirer/ APThis Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper clipping provided by Steve... FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. A senior U.S. official, Friday March 16, 2012 identified Bales as the man accused of killing 16 civilians in an attack on Afghan villagers five days ago. The man at the right is unidentified.Photo: DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock/ APFILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution... In this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. A senior U.S. official, Friday March 16, 2012 identified Bales as the man accused of killing 16 civilians in an attack on Afghan villagers five days ago.Photo: DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock/ APIn this Aug. 23, 2011 Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System...

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Font Download the seattlepi.com mobile apps for iPhone and Android. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Page 1 of 1 SEATTLE (AP) — With formal charges looming against his client within days, the lawyer for an Army sergeant suspected in the horrific nighttime slaughter of 16 Afghan villagers flew to Kansas and was preparing for his first face-to-face meeting with the 10-year veteran.

John Henry Browne of Seattle said he planned to meet Monday with Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is being held in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth's military prison.

Bales, 38, hasn't been charged in the March 11 shootings, which have endangered relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threaten to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war. But formal charges are expected to be filed within a week and if the case goes to court the trial will be held in the United States, said a legal expert with the U.S. military familiar with the investigation.

That expert said charges were still being decided and that the location for any trial had not yet been determined. If the suspect is brought to trial, it is possible that Afghan witnesses and victims would be flown to the United States to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say once attorneys involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a service member have what they believe to be a solid understanding of what happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they draft charges and present them to a commander. That person then makes a judgment on whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the accused committed it.

That commander then "prefers" the charges to a convening authority, who typically is the commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned but could be of higher rank.

Bales' defense team said in a statement late Saturday that "it is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records, and interviewing witnesses."

The lawyers' statement also said Bales' family was "stunned in the face of this tragedy, but they stand behind the man they know as a devoted husband, father and dedicated member of the armed services."

Military officials have said that Bales, after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, crept away March 11 to two slumbering villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.

Court records and interviews in recent days have revealed that Bales had a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also faced a number of troubles in recent years: a Florida investment job went sour, his Seattle-area home was condemned as he struggled to make payments on another, and he failed to get a recent promotion.

Legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show. He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed, the records show.

Rebecca Steed, spokeswoman at Fort Leavenworth, said Bales would be able to meet with Browne in what is described as a privileged visit. Along with medical visits, such meetings are generally more private than others conducted in the prison.

Browne, 65, has represented clients ranging from serial killer Ted Bundy to Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "Barefoot Bandit." He has said he has handled only three or four military cases. Bales will also have at least one military lawyer.

Tall and stylish, Browne has been a prominent figure in Washington state legal circles since the 1970s, known equally for his zeal in representing his clients and his flair before television cameras.

_____

Also contributing were Associated Press writers Manuel Valdes in Seattle, John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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