Lawyer decries refusal
to delay hearing

Two Army soldiers with
Hawaii ties are accused of
prisoner abuse in Afghanistan

Joseph Simpliciano: His accuser is lying to protect himself in another Army inquiry, he says

An Army decision to hold a preliminary hearing for two 25th Infantry Division soldiers without their chosen attorney later this month is "absolutely wrong" and will create problems for the military, the attorney said yesterday.

The two soldiers, Sgt. Joseph K. Simpliciano and Staff Sgt. Marcus Edwards, have been charged with mistreating a suspected Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan on Nov. 2.

Their attorney, Eric Seitz, said yesterday he will not be able to make it to Afghanistan in time to defend both men, and asked the Army for a continuance.

The Army refused, he said.

Seitz said the Army erred in denying his request for a continuance in a preliminary hearing, known as an Article 32 hearing in the Army, in Afghanistan.

Both have been charged in an alleged beating that occurred near Forward Operating Base Cobra. The soldiers are members of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry, which is assigned to Task Force Bronco.

Simpliciano, a 1993 Waianae High School graduate, was charged Jan. 5 with draping a rope around the neck of Gul Mohamed-Nurzi and placing a knee on the suspect's back "to hold him stiff."

The Army claims that Edwards, who has a family in the islands, then hit the Taliban suspect repeatedly in the left kidney area for 15 minutes to try to get information from him.

Seitz said he requested a continuance for Simpliciano's hearing, which is set for Feb. 11, and for Edwards' session, scheduled for Feb. 21, because he was having problems getting to Kandahar.

"I told them (the Army) that the earliest I could get there was Feb. 23, and I would be ready by Feb. 24," Seitz said, "but the Army refused. They are hellbent on going ahead, which is absolutely wrong since the two soldiers have a right to civilian counsel.

"I have instructed my clients to stand mute and not participate. The Army just wants to ram these cases through, and they are wrong. If the Army goes ahead with the hearings, it will create serious legal problems down the road," said Seitz, who has been representing military personnel for 35 years.

"I know. I have been down that road before with the military. They don't know what they are doing."

Seitz said the Article 32 hearings were postponed once at the end of January since the two did not have military lawyers. In an Article 32 investigation, the investigating officer reviews the evidence and makes a recommendation on whether the case should go to a court-martial.

Since then the Army has provided Edwards and Simpliciano with military attorneys, but they have chosen to be represented by Seitz.

"They vehemently deny the charges," Seitz said. "We have witnesses that support my clients, and they didn't do anything wrong."

Simpliciano said it was a local interpreter who accused him of taking part in the beating and torturing the prisoner. Simpliciano said the interpreter had been accused of stealing soldiers' property and is lying to protect himself and get himself a deal.

He had wanted his hearing and any court-martial to be held outside Afghanistan because he says the Army is discriminating against him because he is Hawaiian.

Simpliciano, who fought in Iraq from April to August 2003, said there were more than a dozen soldiers present when the Taliban prisoner was being interrogated. His unit was told the suspected Taliban -- a contractor working on building walls at the base -- was plotting to attack it.

When the contractor reported to work on Nov. 2, Simpliciano was working as a gate guard and was ordered to search him, as had been done for the past five days. He turned the suspect over to an officer and other soldiers who interrogated him.

Simpliciano re-enlisted in November so that he could be assigned to the 25th Division's new Stryker 2nd Brigade.