Military court hears Colombia drug and weapons smuggling case in Ames

[struggle4progress]

Andrew Kalloch
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News

On Thursday, February 5, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) heard oral arguments in a case involving an appellant convicted of distributing 81 kilograms of cocaine, laundering almost a quarter-million dollars, and illegally transporting firearms while serving as part of the United States' counter-narcotics effort in Colombia. The case, U.S. v. Staff Sergeant Daniel Ross, was presided over by Brigadier General Clyde J. Tate II, the Chief Judge of the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, who described the case as, "the most complex scheme to buy, sell, and move drugs," he had ever seen before the ACCA. The event was hosted by the National Security and the Law Association.

The ACCA was created by federal statute to hear appeals in particularly serious cases involving Army personnel. It sits in three judge panels and possesses powers similar to federal appeals courts within the context of proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The attorneys for both parties are normally officers of the Judge Advocate General corps, although defendants may on occasion retain civilian counsel. The ACCA is bound only by the decisions of two higher courts-the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

BG Tate was joined on the panel by Colonel Paul P. Holden, Jr., a Senior Judge on the ACCA, and Lieutenant Colonel Gregory E. Maggs '88, an Associate Judge on the ACCA. The major issues argued before the Court were whether the appellant, by not objecting at trial, had waived his right to appeal on the issue of corroboration and whether a "continuous course of conduct" had been established such that corroboration of each particular "transaction" was unnecessary for judgment. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Potter argued the case for the appellant (Lieutenant Colonel Mark Tellitocci on the brief). The Government was represented by Captain Mark Goodson (Major Lisa Gumbs on the brief). Because the proceeding was an official ACCA proceeding, the Massachusetts State Flag, which usually hangs to the right of the bench in Ames Courtroom was removed.

The appellant, SSG Ross, was the purported leader of conspiracy involving six other U.S. soldiers, several U.S. citizens, and one or more Colombian co-conspirators. His offenses occurred over a two-year period during which appellant was assigned as a mission supervisor for aerial electronic surveillance flights over Colombia. His unit's mission was to assist the Colombian government and U.S. commanders suppress narcotics trafficking ...

http://media.www.hlrecord.org/media/storage/paper609/news/2009/02/19/News/Military.Court.Hears.Colombia.Drug.And.Weapons.Smuggling.Case.In.Ames-3637790.shtml