PLEASE READ!

[GRACE]

All,

I hope I am not posting this where I shouldn't so if it is in the wrong place, could a moderator help me out?

I realize this is a LEO BB and I know you guys (and gals) support justice in a variety of ways, but I think this needs some attention!

For those Marines on the board who have been stationed in Okinawa (myself included) this is NOT AT ALL surprising!

I hope that you all read the entire link and make up your own minds! Please, if you can, help right this terrible injustice!

http://www.majorbrown.org/index.htm

Thank you for your time

Gracie

[SGT Dave]

Well, I'll have to admit...just the face value of his story sounds like any other "excuse" I've ever heard made up by a suspect, with all the peaks and valleys and "then we's", but if the local police have INDEED determined her to be "not credible", then this is TRULY an injustice.

It also is SMEARED with politics.

I HATE politics and polititians!

With all the hype and "bad blood" right now between the Goverment of Japan (GOJ) and the US military personnel, his is an UPHILL battle.

This goes back decades, but REALLY flared a few years ago. And probably some US servicemen that might have NEEDED charging skated. But with the bad blood that flared to the boiling point with us almost losing bases a few years ago over another incident like this, and the guys getting off easy (in the eyes of Japanese) I'm afraid the US wont have the guts or nuts to DEMAND Major Brown be turned back over, or another hearing.

ESPECIALLY with the current sitrep we're facing in Korea and the Middle East.

[GRACE]

Sgt Dave,

I, too, was skeptical at first....I am curious to see how this one pans out, but I am afraid that all of your comments are TRUE to the bone!

Thanks for the imput and take care

Gracie

[Jim Burnes]

quote:

---

Originally posted by SGT Dave:
Well, I'll have to admit...just the face value of his story sounds like any other "excuse" I've ever heard made up by a suspect,
.

---

But, the harsh truth is that Major Brown is innocent, falsely accused and all parties have acknowledged it so.

The Japanse legal system is the nightmare as described.

America should bring smoke down on Japan instantly, and keep it up until Major Brown is released.

Jim Burnes

[GRACE]

UPDATE:

Legal motion disputes Okinawa's claim to Marine

By David Allen, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Wednesday, February 12, 2003 NAHA, Okinawa

Japanese police delayed too long in their decision to claim jurisdiction over an attempted rape complaint filed against a Marine major in December, his lawyers claimed in a motion filed Monday in Naha District Court.

Okinawa attorney Toshimitsu Takaesu said that on Nov. 8, Okinawa police told the U.S. military Brown was a suspect in an alleged sexual attack Nov. 2 near Camp Courtney.

Under the U.S.-Japan status of forces agreement, Takaesu said, Okinawa police then had 30 days to announce they wanted to handle the case.

"They informed the military that Major Brown was a suspect on Nov. 8. But prosecutors did not announce they were exercising jurisdiction until Dec. 16," Takaesu said during a news conference Monday at the Harborview Hotel.

"That was too late," he said. "They failed to meet the deadline, and jurisdiction should therefore be reverted to the U.S. military."

Takaesu also filed a petition for Brown's release from custody, claiming that Japanese police officials failed to exercise jurisdiction properly.

Naha District Court officials could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Brown, 39, assigned to the command element of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, was arrested Dec. 19 after he was indicted on charges of attempted rape and destruction of private property. A woman, a temporary Camp Courtney employee, had complained that Brown tried to rape her Nov. 2 when she offered him a ride to his off-base home.

She said he grabbed her cellular phone and threw it into a stream when she attempted to call police.

Brown denies the attempted rape charge. He told police the woman became upset with him when he spurned her sexual advances and she grabbed his wallet. He told police he tried to wrest the wallet from her but failed and instead threw her cellular phone out the car window in frustration.

The trial is to start March 13.

Brown hired Takaesu, a former Okinawa prosecutor, and New York attorney Michael Griffith last month to take over the case. Both have handled international criminal cases. Griffith was to arrive on Okinawa on Tuesday.