Army gives local attorney new orders

A deputy Spokane County prosecutor had his orders switched and will now be called to defend soldiers embroiled in the biggest controversy tied to America’s war in Iraq.

Patrick Johnson, 36, said Friday that instead of heading to Baghdad to defend U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, he will go to Fort Knox, Ky.

There he will serve as a defense attorney for members of an Army National Guard unit out of Ohio that has been implicated in the abuse scandal at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

Army officials “said they needed somebody experienced to represent them,” Johnson said. “They noticed I had been activated. It’s looking pretty likely that Fort Knox will be my home for the next year.”

The unit in question served at Abu Ghraib when pictures surfaced earlier this year detailing what appeared to be the torture of inmates who were also placed in humiliating positions. That unit has since been sent home, Johnson said.

The Army plans to return the unit to active duty so that some of the soldiers can face courts martial, he said.

“They have been sitting on the couch thinking they are all done. They are going to get a big surprise when they find out they are back in active duty,” Johnson said.

Since 2002, Johnson has prosecuted more than 50 trials for the county’s special assault unit. Those cases have included murder, rape and drug charges.

Now he’s being asked to defend soldiers as a captain in the 22nd Legal Support Organization of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Johnson entered the Army 16 years ago as a private. He served during the first Gulf War as a specialist with U.S. Army Psychological Operations from 1989 to 1992 but he didn’t deploy to Iraq.

He then spent five years in the Army Reserve.

His Army experience will help him defend the soldiers now facing courts martial, he said.

“I remember being an Army private. I didn’t do anything without someone telling me to do it,” Johnson said. “That’s the way the Army is built.”

That structure will probably become the backbone of his defense arguments, he said.

“I have a lot of trouble believing that these privates and sergeants just came up with this organized scandal,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing if there was something that led these guys to do this – if somebody else was directing their actions.

“I’ll be the one issuing the subpoenas for (Vice President) Dick Cheney, (Secretary of Defense) Donald Rumsfeld and all the generals.”

Military trials are based on the same constitutional rights, but they operate differently than civilian criminal trials. Unlike civilian trials that require unanimous jury decisions to secure convictions, courts martial only need two-thirds majorities to reach a verdict.

Also, the jurors are drawn from the military and they can ask questions during the hearing, which Johnson said he prefers to civilian courts.

Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker said earlier this month that Johnson’s caseload will be spread to other prosecutors.

Johnson said he leaves for Fort Knox next Friday. His wife, a 5-year-old son and twin 2-year-old sons will remain in Spokane.

“It’s going to be tough,” Johnson said of his year away from Spokane. “I think it will be a lot harder for my wife than for me.”