Layne Morris
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Sergeant Layne Morris is a soldier in an American Special Forces unit. Sergeant Morris was wounded during a fire-fight on July 27, 2002 that left Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer dead.
Although the 15 year-old Canadian Omar Khadr was responsible for Speer's death, it is uncertain who actually wounded Morris.
Khadr's father Achmed Said Khadr had been a close associate of Osama bin Laden and worked alongside Al-Qaeda. In a controversial move Sergeant Morris joined with Sergeant Speer's widow, Tabitha Speer, in a legal action against Achmed Khadr's estate. His argument is that since Omar Khadr was only fourteen, he couldn't be held responsible for his actions -- but his father could.
Normally "acts of war" are not subject to civil suits. Morris and Speer argue that Khadr was a terrorist, not a soldier -- so his actions were not an act of war, but terrorism, and were therefore subject to civil suits.
Speer was wounded at the end of the skirmish, by a grenade thrown by Omar Khadr, the only survivor in the ruins of the compound. But Sergeant Morris was wounded at the beginning of the skirmish, so it is unclear whether one of Khadr's comrades wounded him.
Guantanamo military commission prosecutor Morris Davis said, on January 10, 2006, that he plans to call Layne Morris as a witness against Khadr.
On February 16, 2006 U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell awarded Morris and Tabitha Speer triple damages, totalling $102.6 million.[1]
[edit] Guantanamo military commissions
Omar Khadr was named as one of the ten detainees who faced charges before special military commissions. These commissions were not courts martial.
Colonel Morris Davis, the chief Prosecutor, announced that he was going to call Layne Morris as a witness against Khadr. Colonel Davis indicated that he was going to call on Sergeant Morris to testify that he too knew he was injured by Khadr.
On June 29, 2006 the US Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling that the commissions were unconstitutional, violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the USA's obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
Sergeant Morris told interviewers he was disappointed that the military commissions had been overturned.
- "It is justice delayed. I don't think that's a good thing ... I think those tribunals could have provided a trial viewed as fair by most of the world. In that sense, I think it is unfortunate,"[2]
- "I guess I don't agree with giving these people all of the legal rights that citizens have,"[3]
- "I think everyone on both sides of the political aisle just wants to see some sort of resolution to their status and I guess it's just going to take longer now to figure out how that process is going to work."[4]
- "I've always believed, with the military culture, the U.S. would want a pound of flesh for one who allegedly killed one of its own."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ GI injured in Afghan war wins lawsuit: Unique case: Court awards default judgment to man blinded in one eye, Salt Lake Tribune, February 16, 2006
- ^ Wounded soldier miffed tribunal for Canadian detained in Guantanamo is off, National Post, June 30, 2006
- ^ US ruling won't close Guantanamo camp-Pentagon, Reuters, June 30, 2006
- ^ a b Send Khadr home, lawyers urge U.S.: Top court deems tribunals illegal Toronto teen held at Guantanamo, Toronto Star, June 30, 2006
