To the thousands of Michael Behenna supporters,
As you know from our last email Michael lost his appeal with the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) by a single vote (3-2). The court agreed that favorable testimony had been withheld by the prosecutors and that the trial judge’s instructions were in fact erroneous; but the majority ruled that none of that mattered because Michael had lost his right to self-defense the moment he pointed a gun at Ali Mansur. It is important to note that the government’s argument in the appeal was not that Michael had murdered Mansur (they have all but conceded that was not the case), but rather than he had no right to defend himself in a war zone once he pointed a gun at Mansur (regardless of how many American soldiers Mansur had killed as the leader of an al-Qaida cell.)
We have one more chance in the court system and that is to take Michael’s case to the United States Supreme Court. We know that the odds are long, but after consulting with lawyer’s who have tried cases in this venue we have taken their advice to pursue a petition to have Michael’s case heard before the highest court in the land. You can help support this effort by making a donation to Michael’s legal fund at http://www.defendmichael.com. As always, we appreciate all of your efforts to assist Michael in his pursuit of justice.
