Another GI Gets What’s Coming To Him

by Brendon Carr

...which is not to say the GI got a fair trial.

Unfortunately, the Korean criminal justice system is happy to follow the “Dan Rather” school of evidence—“Fake But Accurate”—when it comes to American soldiers accused of crimes against Koreans. Sure, the accused are usually bad guys, and probably have even committed crimes for which they haven’t been caught, but it would be nice if criminal convictions required proof beyond a reasonable doubt. As it stands now, the patent unfairness of the trials which American soldiers receive in Korean courts is—or should be, if our Congress was worth a crap—an irritant to bilateral relations and probably a good reason to pull out of the so-called “alliance”. And it should be an embarrassment to Koreans as well. (Actually, it is—because the criminal-justice system is unfair to Koreans too, and there is a significant movement of attorneys and judges, as well as ordinary citizens, calling for reform. I haven’t noticed anyone decrying the injustice to our American servicemembers, though.)

The civil-justice system is, as these things go, reasonably good. It’s efficient (perhaps too efficient, since there is no discovery system) and the judges are professional and fair-minded in their peculiar way. In my experience working with foreign companies over the last 10 years, they get a fair trial in Korean court; our clients, in fact, usually win because they won’t charge into litigation they have no business pursuing. That’s what makes the contrast with the criminal screw-job so appalling.

See GI Korea’s ROK Drop for more on the latest installment of the “unfair Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).”

6 Responses to This Entry

1. Doug on August 04, 2007 @ 3:08 pm

   I agree that the Korean courts are bias toward GIs; however, the military courts attempting to apply the UCMJ seem to be way off base in administering fair punishment.  Without documented evidence, other than reading the Stars and Stripes, its seems that crimes against person (physically attacking another individual etc.) receive less punishment than other crimes (using a stolen credit card etc.)  Take the Horgan case for example.

2. Brendon Carr on August 04, 2007 @ 3:28 pm

   Doug, which case is “the Horgan case”? I don’t follow military-justice matters as closely as you might think. Although I’m a veteran, my service was not as a judge advocate, but rather as an enlisted crypologist. So my comfort level with defense of military criminals is much higher in respect of advising them on what’s going to happen in the Korean court, where my colleagues defend them and I assist.

3. J. on August 04, 2007 @ 7:22 pm

   “Sure, the accused are usually bad guys, and probably have even committed crimes for which they haven’t been caught,...”

   Seems like a pretty general statement to make…do you know something the rest of us don’t?  Maybe you are a lawyer and a mind reader?

4. Brendon Carr on August 04, 2007 @ 7:40 pm

   Thanks for writing, J.

   Yes, it’s a general statement. If one is unwilling to ever make generalizations, then it’s not really possible to deal with the real world. I’ve been a lawyer for over 10 years now, and have worked with the rare innocent clients, the very common guilty clients, and even helped victims press for justice under the Korean system. My generalizations are based on my own experiences.

   In any case, bad guys or not, I firmly believe that a good criminal-justice system would require the state to affirmatively prove the guilt of the accused, and to offer even guilty people the protection of not being jailed on the word of lying witnesses. Perhaps I’m old-fashioned that way.

   Plus, I am a mind reader as well. Don’t tell the National Security Agency!

5. Doug on August 05, 2007 @ 3:05 pm

   Did I get the name wrong?  Instead of “case” I should have said “situation”.  He was an English teacher that two GIs attacked in the bathroom of a local bar and kicked his butt until a customer stepped in stopped the attack.

6. Brendon Carr on August 05, 2007 @ 4:11 pm

   Doug, I thought that might be what you were referencing. I know a lot about the Michael Horgan case; in fact, the passer-by who put a stop to the beating is me. I also had to pay for his medical costs because he didn’t have any money and I couldn’t very well leave him without treatment. Michael had a very bad time as a result of that—he got fired and subsequently hung around waiting for “justice” that never came.

   Intervening to protect Horgan was really pretty scary. The two GIs were 6’1”/250lbs and 6’4”/200lbs. They had him in a corner of a fetid Itaewon bathroom and were stomping his head into the concrete. The screaming was quite loud out on the street, and I couldn’t very well walk off if somebody needed help. So I entered the bathroom, put on my “sergeant’s voice” and ordered them to stop. They did. Then they ran off.

   After I made sure Horgan was living, I chased these two villains down the street screaming bloody murder. It happened that there was an MP courtesy patrol and some Korean police. We went back and got Horgan off the floor, then I went to the police statement to make an eyewitness identification.

   Strangely, with a Korean-speaking eyewitness (me) who was unintoxicated, in a business suit, and with some social credit (you’d think), there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges. After a desultory effort to bully the GIs into making restitution (they signed a settlement for US$8000, but later reneged) the Korean police waived this one off to USFK jurisdiction, where they got NJP but no restitution was made to Horgan.

   Those two GIs who beat Michael Horgan viciously did not get what was coming to them. That’s because their victim was a foreigner. Korean police and prosecutors are decidedly uninterested in “wasting” state resources on prosecutions of military criminals where the victim is another foreigner.

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