Amerika

A 14-member military jury on Thursday found Martinez, 41, not guilty on two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito, 30, of Suffern and 1st Lt. Louis Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa.

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Prosecutors had said that Martinez planted a claymore mine in Esposito’s window and a set of grenades to simulate a mortar attack because he was afraid Esposito would have him removed from his job managing the unit’s supply room. Esposito believed that Martinez was selling Army printers and other equipment to Iraqis on the black market, and equipment worth more than $984,000 was found to be missing from the unit’s property books after the two officers’ deaths.

The black marketing charges were not admissible in the murder trial under rules established during pretrial hearings, and potentially incriminating statements that Martinez made to arresting officers also were disallowed. A military judge refused requests by the prosecution to treat the killings as having been committed during a time of war.

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Both families said the judges who oversaw the case made many concessions to the defense to ensure that a conviction was not overturned on appeal. That tied the prosecutions hands to such an extent that it wasn’t able to present the most effective case.

A husband and wife who said during jury selection that they were against the death penalty were allowed on the panel, family members said. Another panel member who said he didn’t trust the military’s Criminal Investigation Division because he had been unjustly accused in another crime also was admitted to the jury.

LOHUD

So… two men doing the right thing get killed, and because we want to avoid infringing on rights — because we’re all afraid for our own — we let a millionaire thief and killer go free.

Brilliant.