J
jollyjacktar
Guest
In David Bright, he has a good lawyer. Cpl Megeney, I remember the night you died and the ramp ceremony. :brit poppy:
FlyingDutchman said:I know he has been discharged, but in the case of being found not guilty (which I highly doubt) would that reinstate him since he is no longer guilty?
A court martial judge has found a former Canadian soldier guilty of two charges in the 2007 shooting death of a fellow reservist in Afghanistan.
Military spokeswoman Capt. Colette Brake says Matthew Wilcox was found guilty Wednesday of criminal negligence causing death and negligent performance of a military duty.
A lawyer for Wilcox had told the court martial that his client fired his weapon in self-defence as he reacted to what he thought was a threat.
The shot fired by Wilcox of Glace Bay, N.S., killed his friend, 25-year-old Cpl. Kevin Megeney of Stellarton, N.S. Megeny died in his tent on March 6, 2007, at the Kandahar Airfield in what the military described as an accidental shooting.
Victim's family may speak Thursday
Brake says proceedings will continue Thursday, including possible statements by Megeney's parents and other family members. She says it's not yet clear when sentencing will occur.
It was the second court martial for Wilcox, 26. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ejected from the military after he was found guilty of the two offences following the first court martial in 2009.
That verdict was set aside last year and a new trial ordered after Wilcox's lawyers argued the makeup of the military jury was unfair.
The panel had four members instead of the usual five because one was excused due to a conflict with work.
The second court martial started in April.
jollyjacktar said:Good News. Now I hope he can man up and do the time he has sadly earned. I also hope that this will bring some closure for the Megeney family. :yellow:
PuckChaser said:No time in Club Ed, then release to civvie jail?
FlyingDutchman said:Was there a reason given for the request of a DNA sample? When I read that it had me scratching my head.
The prosecutor asked for a six-year prison term.
It also wanted Wilcox to provide a DNA sample, and have a lifetime ban on restricted weapons and 10-year ban on conventional firearms.
The judge questioned the need for the DNA order, asking if Wilcox should be tracked for the rest of his life.
You weren't the only one to pick up on that bit - this from The Canadian Press....Old and Tired said:.... Something the judge said has been sitting with me though. He looked at Wilcox and said be was to blame for wait happened, but there was also blame to share with the whole of the chain of command for letting such a permissive attitude with regards to weapons safety and handle that such an incident became an inevitable result ....
A military judge says officers in the Canadian military were partly to blame for lax firearms safety in Afghanistan as he sentenced a former reservist Friday to four years in jail for fatally shooting a fellow soldier.
Lt.-Col. Louis-Vincent d'Auteuil said Matthew Wilcox was well trained and "should have known better" than to point a loaded pistol at his best friend, Cpl. Kevin Megeney, on March 6, 2007.
However, d'Auteuil also said senior officers at Kandahar Airfield hadn't done enough to crack down on improper handling of firearms before and during the deployment of Wilcox's unit.
"No discipline was imposed other than warning soldiers," the judge said, referring to incidents where soldiers would fail to unload the magazines from their pistols after leaving a shooting range on the base.
"All combined brought an atmosphere ... where a human being forgot to unload his weapon, pointed and fired at somebody and killed somebody. He is responsible, but the Canadian Forces must be blamed for not having the proper leadership in the circumstances." ....
recceguy said:We can speculate in ad nauseum, or just wait for his sentence I guess.