Charges dropped against Canadian soldier who was allegedly playing quick draw?

[GAP]

Charges dropped against Canadian soldier who was allegedly playing ?quick draw?
THE CANADIAN PRESS June 11, 2008, EDT.
Article Link

TRENTON, Ont. - The Canadian military has abruptly ended court martial proceedings against a soldier from CFB Trenton, Ont., who was charged with playing "quick draw" while serving in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Sterling Strong was charged in 2007 with three counts under the National Defence Act after allegedly refusing to stop playing "quick draw" in his sleeping quarters at the Kandahar airfield.

A court martial was held at the Trenton base in May.

Sterling was charged with careless use of a firearm and disobeying a lawful command from a superior officer.

He was also charged with committing an act to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

The military hasn't given a reason for why the charges against Sterling were dropped.
More on link

 

[Red 6]

Do ya'll have a process/system for non-judicial punishments in the Canadian Forces? Down here, something like this would most likely be handled as an Article 15 by the Soldier's commander instead of through a court martial.

 

[dapaterson]

Red-6:  Unit COs (and officers they delegate) can conduct summary trials, subject to limitations in the National Defence Act and some associated regulations.

However, certain charges must be tried by court martial, and with certain others the individual charged may elect for a court martial - that is, the unit CO would have the accued in front of them, and the accused would ask for a court martial instead of a summary trial.

Not enough details here to know what happened - either in theatre or at the court martial.

 

[Navy_Blue]

We have the right to opt for a courtmartial as far as I know.  I have never had the pleasure of any disciplinary action taken against me.  I know many guys that have done the hatless dance after a run ashore goes longer than expected.   

 

[vonGarvin]

We have the right to opt for a courtmartial as far as I know.  I have never had the pleasure of any disciplinary action taken against me.  I know many guys that have done the hatless dance after a run ashore goes longer than expected.   

As stated previously in this thread, some charges are automatically done as a court martial (sometimes due to the charge and sometimes due to the rank of the accused).  Some charges can be elected by the accused, and others the accused has no choice: it's summary trial.

 

[Red 6]

It sounds like ya'll have a similar system to what we have down in the USA. When a Soldier is charged with a minor offense, he always has the right to request a trial by court martial, even for something as simple as being AWOL. By waiving the right to trial by court martial, he then is processed for NJP. When a Soldier is charged with an offense under the UCMJ, he always has the right to consult with a JAG officer, although he can waive this right. Just like in the CF, some offenses, by their nature or severity, automatically go straight to court martial proceedings.

 

[medicineman]

I'm thinking the careless use of a firearm is what brought it to court martial - unless things have changed since I took mil law, disobeying a lawful command is  supposed to be tried by summary trial - I think the firearm charge is Criminal Code is it not?

MM

 

[Pte_Martin]

I'm thinking the careless use of a firearm is what brought it to court martial - unless things have changed since I took mil law, disobeying a lawful command is  supposed to be tried by summary trial - I think the firearm charge is Criminal Code is it not?

MM

disobeying a lawful command can be tried by a court martial too

 

[meni0n]

The media didn't do their research. You can see the decision on the JAG website. It was stopped due to a technicality as the accused wasn't offered the choice of a court martial.

 

[geo]

Some individuals think they are being a "smart a$$" when they chose to go the Courts Martial way... little consideration going to the fact that the power of punishment in Courts Martial is greater than what is reserved to the CO / OC in a Summary trial.

When Afghanistan started, we had a fairly high level of Negligent discharges.  As time and experience has progressed, things have ironed themselves out & I don't believe it is such a big problem any more... at least from what I heard about ROTO4.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Some individuals think they are being a "smart a$$" when they chose to go the Courts Martial way... little consideration going to the fact that the power of punishment in Courts Martial is greater than what is reserved to the CO / OC in a Summary trial.

Maybe so, but there is method to the madness.  The punishments are more severe with a Courts Martial Trial (CM) vs Summary Trial (ST), true.  But, the burden of truth upon the Crown is greater as well.  This means it is harder to get a conviction in a CM than it is in a ST.  The risk can be worth the reward for some.

 

[geo]

Overall, I've found that the CO had a principal vision of dealing with the "crime" quickly and getting the soldier back to work ASAP...  COs punishments I've seen have been "examplary" but, more than fair.....

But those are the COs I've dealt with.

 

[GeorgeD]

Really Stupid question, but what is a "quick draw"

 

[geo]

Think Wild west "B" movies.....

Pistol in an open holster at your hip and someone yells.... DRAW!! (and we ain,t talking pencil sketches)

 

[GeorgeD]

Thank You

 

[khawk006]

What a waste of time to charge this guy. Just some guy having a little harmless fun.

 

[Franko]

What a waste of time to charge this guy. Just some guy having a little harmless fun.

Ummm....no. The whole point is the moron was playing around with a weapon and was ordered to stop.

He didn't and was charged for it.

Past instances of this "harmless fun" resulted in NDs.

Regards

 

[Trinity]

What a waste of time to charge this guy. Just some guy having a little harmless fun.

Do you know something about the situation that we don't???

 

[X-mo-1979]

Ummm....no. The whole point is the moron was playing around with a weapon and was ordered to stop.

He didn't and was charged for it.

Past instances of this "harmless fun" resulted in NDs.

Regards

Agreed.
Makes me wonder who the heck he thinks he is being told to stop by someone senior to him,and carrying on being a twit.I'm sure if he stopped when he was told it maybe would have ended there with a "talking to".Obviously not only is he childish and irresponsible,he's insubordinate.
Was he regular or reserve?Unit?

 

[Haggis]

Was he regular or reserve?Unit?

Does it really matter?  He was DAGed "Green" and declared OPRED by his chain of command, who then deployed him.  After that, cap badges matter very little.