Cruelbreed
06-30-2009, 10:36 PM
General denies clemency for Marine with PTSD
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 16:39:10 EDT
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The Marine Corps has denied clemency to a Marine who pleaded guilty in the death of an Iraqi policeman but is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder despite pleas from his Navy doctor to release him because confinement is aggravating his mental condition.
Pvt. Jonathan A. Phillips pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of the policeman in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, in 2007. Before the shooting, Phillips was sent for psychiatric evaluations three times. Each time, he was proclaimed fit for duty and returned to his unit.
“I have no concerns that Pvt. Phillips is a threat to anyone or himself, but I am concerned about the emotional impact of continued incarceration. I suspect that prolonged incarceration will also lead to a more protracted, complicated recovery,” wrote his Navy doctor, Lt. S.J. Stephens, in his clemency petition.
Stephens treated Phillips, a 22-year-old infantry rifleman from Middlesex, Mass., until April when he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay.
Brig. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, assistant division commander for the 2nd Marine Division, denied Phillips’ third clemency in June.
“In general, Pvt. Phillips’ repeated requests for clemency addressed the quality and effectiveness of personal care he receives while confined in the brig,” said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division. “In this instance, as well as with two previous clemency requests, health care professionals assessed the situation thoroughly and determined the care provided to Pvt. Phillips is both adequate and effective.”
Dick McNeil, Phillips’ lawyer, disagreed with the Marine Corps’ assertion that Phillips is getting quality mental health treatment.
“That would fly in the face of his latest health provider,” McNeil said. “You think once every four or five weeks with a doctor is good mental health care?”
Phillips’ unit was a week away from finishing its deployment when the Jan. 20, 2007, incident occurred. The tour in western Iraq had been bloody and several members of the unit were killed. One of his roommates was burned alive, according to court testimony. Stephens said Phillips told him he didn’t want to leave his unit short-handed, so he kept coming back despite his mental problems.
According to testimony in his Sept. 2007 hearing, Phillips had gone onto the roof of an Iraqi police station after his unit heard an explosion. Two marked police vehicles pulled up in front of the station and the victim — identified only by his first name, Monthir, to protect his family — got out of one of the cars. Phillips shot Monthir in the chest, according to testimony.
His “degraded mental health conditions” were due to the pace of combat operations and included PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, wrote Stephens. He argues in a three page memo that the medical care Phillips needs is only available after he is released.
McNeil said the shooting was a tragedy but that there were mitigating circumstances.
“Why risk, like Dr Stephens said, any further difficulties in his recovery? It just seems that he only has a couple of months left, you’ve kept him in their 18 months. Enough is enough,” McNeil said.
Phillips is scheduled to get out of prison in September. McNeil said he will likely return to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune so he can get a medical discharge. The Wounded Warrior Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas S. Siebenthal, wrote in a May memo that Phillips excelled at his job with the Marine liaison team, which helped wounded Marines and their families with housing, directions and other needs, and was a leader in the Wounded Warrior Barracks.
“I would recommend that Pvt. Phillips return to the Wounded Warrior Battalion upon his release from the Camp Lejeune Brig,” Siebenthal wrote. “His significant progress, although sidetracked by incarceration, is something that we need to recapture, and recapture at the earliest.”
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 16:39:10 EDT
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The Marine Corps has denied clemency to a Marine who pleaded guilty in the death of an Iraqi policeman but is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder despite pleas from his Navy doctor to release him because confinement is aggravating his mental condition.
Pvt. Jonathan A. Phillips pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of the policeman in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, in 2007. Before the shooting, Phillips was sent for psychiatric evaluations three times. Each time, he was proclaimed fit for duty and returned to his unit.
“I have no concerns that Pvt. Phillips is a threat to anyone or himself, but I am concerned about the emotional impact of continued incarceration. I suspect that prolonged incarceration will also lead to a more protracted, complicated recovery,” wrote his Navy doctor, Lt. S.J. Stephens, in his clemency petition.
Stephens treated Phillips, a 22-year-old infantry rifleman from Middlesex, Mass., until April when he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay.
Brig. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, assistant division commander for the 2nd Marine Division, denied Phillips’ third clemency in June.
“In general, Pvt. Phillips’ repeated requests for clemency addressed the quality and effectiveness of personal care he receives while confined in the brig,” said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division. “In this instance, as well as with two previous clemency requests, health care professionals assessed the situation thoroughly and determined the care provided to Pvt. Phillips is both adequate and effective.”
Dick McNeil, Phillips’ lawyer, disagreed with the Marine Corps’ assertion that Phillips is getting quality mental health treatment.
“That would fly in the face of his latest health provider,” McNeil said. “You think once every four or five weeks with a doctor is good mental health care?”
Phillips’ unit was a week away from finishing its deployment when the Jan. 20, 2007, incident occurred. The tour in western Iraq had been bloody and several members of the unit were killed. One of his roommates was burned alive, according to court testimony. Stephens said Phillips told him he didn’t want to leave his unit short-handed, so he kept coming back despite his mental problems.
According to testimony in his Sept. 2007 hearing, Phillips had gone onto the roof of an Iraqi police station after his unit heard an explosion. Two marked police vehicles pulled up in front of the station and the victim — identified only by his first name, Monthir, to protect his family — got out of one of the cars. Phillips shot Monthir in the chest, according to testimony.
His “degraded mental health conditions” were due to the pace of combat operations and included PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, wrote Stephens. He argues in a three page memo that the medical care Phillips needs is only available after he is released.
McNeil said the shooting was a tragedy but that there were mitigating circumstances.
“Why risk, like Dr Stephens said, any further difficulties in his recovery? It just seems that he only has a couple of months left, you’ve kept him in their 18 months. Enough is enough,” McNeil said.
Phillips is scheduled to get out of prison in September. McNeil said he will likely return to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune so he can get a medical discharge. The Wounded Warrior Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas S. Siebenthal, wrote in a May memo that Phillips excelled at his job with the Marine liaison team, which helped wounded Marines and their families with housing, directions and other needs, and was a leader in the Wounded Warrior Barracks.
“I would recommend that Pvt. Phillips return to the Wounded Warrior Battalion upon his release from the Camp Lejeune Brig,” Siebenthal wrote. “His significant progress, although sidetracked by incarceration, is something that we need to recapture, and recapture at the earliest.”