The SS article didn’t say if Basel will be processed for an admin OTH discharge immediately upon his return to USFK custody, but I assume so. Unless the Korean court specified that he had to remain in Korea for the two years of suspension? This probably isn’t practical if his enlistment expires during that period.

Has there ever been a case where a Korean court imposed a sentence involving incarceration but then allowed the US SM to serve it out in US military prison? Seems like that would have been a better alternative in this case, rather than just letting the guy completely off with a “suspension” (though I guess he did spend time in Korean jail while awaiting his trial).

Before people start blaming recruiting you might want to get your facts straight:

http://www.defenselink.mil/new.....thfact.pdf

I have also posted reaction to the verdict on my site. This verdict actually shows that the Korean court system is maturing and giving rulings almost similar to what a Korean would receive in their court system.

As Joshua pointed out I always find the netizen outrage humorous when if they were tried by military court martial they would be doing more time.

SOMEHOW the blame falls on Koreans. WTF?

I don’t see anyone here defending the behavior of the soldiers. Are you actually telling us that this decision speaks favorably of the Korean judicial system?

American empire occupational forces

Right. And that would be this occupational empire?

If these guys had a history of drunkenness, curfew violation, and making trouble down-range, a well-run unit working closely with its JAG office could have chaptered them out in 30 days. Sending someone to a board to give them the OTH (other than honorable) is about as difficult as sending them to a court martial.

What I wish more commanders and NCO’s would do is (1) pull pass privileges from soldiers who abuse them, (2) chapter out soldiers who don’t obey orders and just give them their damn general discharge, (3) if the misconduct is too severe for an Article 15 and not quite court-martial material, consider a summary court martial, which can actually impose up to 6 months for junior enlisted. No, there’s no BCD, but it’s quick and easy, and by the time the soldier gets back from the Confinement Facility at Humphreys, the paperwork can be done and the soldier can be on his way home.

If I remember my military law correctly, a dishonorable discharge can only be imposed as a result of a US military general court martial. Double jeopardy precludes these men from being tried again for the same offense by a US military court.

The one convicted can be processed for an administrative discharge and this will happen. If I recall the administrative regulation correctly, an “other than honorable” is the “worst” category allowed — there is no such thing as an “administrative” “dishonorable” discharge.

The guy’s going to lose all his pay and benefits while he’s in Korean prison, and any veteran’s benefits after his admin discharge (which in this case I think will not be processed until he is released from Korean prison after completion of his incarceration).

I’m not sure what else you want to see happen to him. Did he get the crap beaten out of him by the Korean cops when he was arrested, like that GI a while back who went into the Korean police station trying to drunkenly stand up for his battle buddy? In this case I would say it was deserved; as a previous commenter said, he’s probably lucky to be alive.

Should be AR 635-200, you can check it out for yourself.

The odds of a court-martial are virtually nil now. If you court-martial someone who has already been convicted in a Korean court, you have to show that the offense is a different one from one tried in the Korean court (not as a matter of UCMJ, but of military case law interpreting the SOFA). This can be difficult, because in my limited experience, Korean criminal charges don’t carry distinct elements the way the UCMJ does. In one such case, I actually had to get an affidavit from the Korean prosecutor clarifying what he was charged with.

Realistically, if these guys do any time in Chonan, an admin sep board is the worst thing they’re facing, and the worst possible discharge the regulations allow is an OTH. This carries most of the same adverse consequences as a BCD in civilian life. The big difference is that a court-martial conviction for rape requires you to register as a sex offender in almost any state. With just a foreign conviction and an OTH board result, I’m less confident that would be the case here.

Although the regs technically don’t permit it (it used to be at AR 635-200, Ch. 14-7), board members may be interested in knowing what evidentiary basis the Korean court had for each conviction. Occasionally, a board will retain a soldier in service if they think the Korean court got it wrong. I’ve seen it happen.

Assuming the papers have their facts right — which almost never happens — had these guys been charged in a court-martial, my speculation is that the PFC would have gotten acquitted of Art 120 (rape), convicted on lesser charges (violating curfew and USFK orders on drinking, etc.), and gotten a BCD and about 6 months. The panel would have hammered the SGT big time, in large part because he’s an NCO who should have been controlling those junior enlisted, not leading them on a drunken tear. I wouldn’t even venture a guess as to what a panel would do. New panels tend to go light; experienced panels are tougher. There are no sentencing guidelines in the military, but double-digit time in a federal pound me in the ass prison would definitely have been a possibility.

Some things to consider as to the whole question of where these guys should have been tried….