Military has called off 10 executions

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Ten of the 16 U.S. military personnel sentenced to death since 1984 have had their sentences overturned, officials say.

McClatchy Newspapers reported Sunday military appellate courts spared the defendants the death penalty because of mistakes made throughout the military's judicial system.

Most of the former death row inmates have been re-sentenced to life in prison.

McClatchy said critics say in many cases, defendants charged with capital crimes are given young, inexperienced lawyers to represent them.

"If you have a system where it's always amateur hour and where the lawyers are always trying their first capital case, you're going to guarantee the same kinds of mistakes that have resulted in many, many cases being reversed -- because of ineffective assistance of counsel -- for the last 30 years are going to be made over and over again," David Bruck, director of the legal aid organization Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, said.

"Even worse, you may have cases where the person is not only sentenced to death because of their lawyers' mistakes but because the courts will say that it's close enough for government work."

Military officials have argued they can't provide the top-shelf attorneys most civilian courts require because defense attorneys and prosecutors generally rotate out of their jobs every couple of years.

The Army started a review in January of how it handles capital cases but officials said no specific red flags popped up, McClatchy said.

"Any good criminal justice system worth its salt is constantly looking at how it does business," said Col. Chuck Pede, who oversees criminal law policy for the Army's Office of the Judge Advocate General.

"I don't see any major systemic issues that cry out for action on the part of the armed forces."

Still, the military's 80 percent death sentence-reversal rate contrasts with a 47 percent reversal rate in civilian courts.