tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46957411603634919772024-03-13T02:55:38.867-04:00Siobhan Esposito's BlogI am Siobhan Esposito, the widow of Captain Phillip Esposito, who was brutally murdered in Iraq along with First Lieutenant Louis Allen by Alberto Martinez, a soldier under my husband's command.
This is my personal testament to the injustice to which I have been forced to stand witness.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-69531526066207172942017-01-26T10:41:00.002-05:002017-01-30T19:12:59.234-05:00Alberto B. Martinez, an Obituary<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpFirst">
Alberto Martinez, the soldier who murdered my late husband, Army Captain Phillip Esposito and Army 1st Lieutenant Louis Allen, is dead. At least per this page [subsequnetly removed] posted by the Bevis Funeral Home of Crawfordville, Florida.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpFirst">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
Alberto Martinez’s essence was twofold. There was his murderous rage. And there was his stunning ability to get away with it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
From the evidence presented at trial, Martinez murdered my husband because Phillip was perhaps the only leader to ever hold Martinez to the standard of a soldier. For this, Martinez felt set upon and picked upon, so he destroyed my husband’s life with a claymore mine. Lou Allen was simply Martinez’s replacement. That alone merited Lou's death in Martinez’s eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
Nevermind myself, or Lou’s wife, Barbara. Nevermind my daughter, Madeline, or Lou’s sons, Trevor, Colin, Sean, and Jeremy. Nevermind Phillip and Lou's parents and siblings. Our hearts were mere collateral. They probably didn’t even figure.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
Suffice it to say that the court-martial that acquitted Martinez did so without cause—at least without any cause that the panel members who voted to acquit have been honorable enough to share publicly. Thus Martinez was the man who murdered and got away with it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpMiddle">
Should the Army also get away with it? Should it not be judged for its errors and be made to reform itself accordingly? Whether it does, or not, remains to be seen.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacingCxSpLast">
But it should be seen. And it will be seen when those associated with this tragedy honestly answer the following question: just what was it about Alberto Martinez that allowed him to get past you?</div>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-40816839874070070222016-05-30T13:45:00.000-04:002016-05-30T13:51:15.519-04:00Memorial Day for Phillip Esposito<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOnC_junmarK0Z27fpAdD1oAkAdvA-H4iwNbBFlt-_pWsW8KvjvoEPILmxVJhtOzJy3fRiMGuCcfIQFzMedmBNrHcG4RGEUszEJTvRBs0WdYZ_vyGc1Vu4VUV5NTYVmAcgDtBjxKW1_A/s1600/Phillip-and-Madeline-New-Hampshire-Vacation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOnC_junmarK0Z27fpAdD1oAkAdvA-H4iwNbBFlt-_pWsW8KvjvoEPILmxVJhtOzJy3fRiMGuCcfIQFzMedmBNrHcG4RGEUszEJTvRBs0WdYZ_vyGc1Vu4VUV5NTYVmAcgDtBjxKW1_A/s320/Phillip-and-Madeline-New-Hampshire-Vacation.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phillip Esposito, with daughter Madeline.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is what I would consider an appropriate Memorial Day tribute to Army Captain<span style="background-color: white; color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;"> </span>Phillip Esposito—perhaps the only appropriate Memorial Day tribute given the circumstances of Phillip's unpunished murder and the subsequent acquittal of his accused killer. I would like the soldiers who voted to acquit Phillip's accused murderer to come out and explain their votes. I would like these soldiers to step up and show exactly what their reasons were to find Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez "not guilty."<br />
<br />
We know why the jurors in the OJ case voted to acquit OJ. We know why the jurors in the Casey Anthony case acquitted her. I can think of no infamous case that ended both in acquittal and where the reasons for the acquittal remained as opaque as they are with Phillip's murder. The soldiers who voted to acquit Phillip's murderer have hidden in silence. That's cowardice. That's disgusting.<br />
<br />
Yes, if these soldiers who voted to acquit Phillip's murderer attempted to explain themselves, I'd probably be able to demolish their arguments while standing on one foot. Yes, I would analyze their reasons and lay any flaws I saw bare. But also, I would point out where I might agree with them, or where I saw reasons for honest disagreement.<br />
<br />
But at least, for the sake of the victims' survivors—who should be of our utmost concern—there would come the clarity of knowing precisely why these soldiers saw fit to acquit Alberto Martinez of the crimes alleged to him. At least there would come the ability to say, "this is what happened, and this is why it is right, or wrong."<br />
<br />
If such honesty is too much to ask for, then these military jurors should never consider Memorial Day a day where they remember fallen patriots. They should just treat it as any other day—a good day to buy a cheap car or a mattress, but not a day of honoring and respecting our dead. Dead soldiers like Phillip Esposito—a soldier who deserved far, far more justice than he ever got.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-10873473717860409812016-04-21T19:44:00.003-04:002016-04-21T22:50:37.029-04:00Alberto B. Martinez, Convicted FelonI have always maintained that while the Army jurors who sat in judgement of Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez allowed Martinez to escape punishment for the murder of my late husband, nothing could ever allow Martinez to escape his own character. In my view, Martinez is simply doomed to be the man that he has chosen to be.<br />
<br />
For instance, today, I learned via an anonymous comment on my blog that Martinez was convicted in 2015 of a Florida felony contraband offense. I can only surmise that this was likely the product of the information I received <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2014/07/where-in-world-is-alberto-b-martinez.html">here</a> indicating that Marinez had been dismissed from his position at Florida's Taylor Correctional Institution for allegedly smuggling contraband into the prison.<br />
<br />
Upon visiting the Florida Department of Corrections <a href="http://www.dc.state.fl.us/AppCommon/">website</a>, I found the information copied below.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Corrections Offender Network<br />
<table cellpadding="0" class="dcCSStableMedium" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; color: black; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border: none; padding: 2px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" colspan="2" style="border: none; padding: 2px;"><b class="h4" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border-left-color: rgb(149, 149, 149); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; color: #669966; display: block; font-size: 1.3em; font-style: italic; padding: 5px 10px 5px 5px;">Supervised Population Information Detail</b></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="lightsmall" style="border: none; padding: 2px;"></td><td align="right" class="light" nowrap="" style="border: none; padding: 2px;">(This information was current as of 4/17/2016)</td></tr>
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<br style="background-color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
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<tr><td align="left"><img align="LEFT" alt="Alberto B. Martinez" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPj_stB9dm3ouzBDFMEDPWIbZ0rJIlggvJiAMc4sj0nCSyd3Dv74ILx02yHr_Ykxl9xZDMPmD-NbWpfgA4JU28V2dsleCIVs3ROlyKEnCDmUFotkvNXNiWG7EoL9cq5VWi-2hBlrCE674/s1600/I14712.jpg" title="" /></td></tr>
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</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="70%"><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>DC Number:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> <span class="DCNum" style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: larger;">I14712</span></td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Name:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> MARTINEZ, ALBERTO</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Race:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> HISPANIC</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Sex:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> MALE</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Hair Color:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> BLACK</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Eye Color:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> BROWN</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Height:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> 5'10''</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Weight:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> 200 lbs.</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Birth Date:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> 08/07/1967</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Supervision Begin Date:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> 02/09/2015</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left"><b>Current Location:</b></td><td align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.dc.state.fl.us/facilities/comcor/02.html" style="color: #0e409c; text-decoration: none;">TALLAHASSEE</a></td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left"><b>Current Status:</b></td><td align="LEFT"><a href="http://www.dc.state.fl.us/ActiveOffenders/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=52082965#AOStatusDefinition" name="AOStatusLink" style="color: #0e409c; text-decoration: none;">ACTIVE</a></td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Supervision Type:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> PROBATION FELONY</td></tr>
<tr valign="BOTTOM"><td align="Left" width="40%"><b>Scheduled Termination Date:</b></td><td align="LEFT" width="60%"> 02/08/2018</td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/servlet/SubjectSearch?siteID=10000&agency=900&offenderID=I14712" style="color: #0e409c; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Click here to register for notification on changes to the offender's custody status." border="0" src="http://www.dc.state.fl.us/AppCommon/images/VINELinkButtonSmall.gif" /></a></td></tr>
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</td></tr>
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<tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">126 KIRKLAND DR</td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">CRAWFORDVILLE, FL 32327</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table border="1" bordercolor="#ececd7" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" class="dcCSStableLight" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin-top: 15px;"><tbody>
<tr><th align="left" bgcolor="#B0C4DE" style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Aliases:</b></th></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">ALBERTO MARTINEZ</td></tr>
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<br style="background-color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><i>Note: The offense descriptions are truncated and do not necessarily reflect the crime for which the offender is on supervision. Please refer to the court documents or the Florida Statutes for further information or definition.</i></span><br />
<table border="1" bordercolor="#ececd7" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" class="dcCSStableLight" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: CenturyGothic, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin-top: 15px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" bgcolor="#B0C4DE" class="dark" colspan="8" style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;"><b>Current Community Supervision History:</b></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#B0C4DE"><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Offense Date</b></th><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Offense</b></th><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Sentence Date</b></th><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>County</b></th><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Case No.</b></th><th style="background-color: #565656; border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); color: #f2f2f2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 2px; padding: 2px;"><b>Community Supervision Length</b></th></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">06/01/2014</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">CONSTRUC.POSSESS CONTRAB.</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">02/09/2015</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">TAYLOR</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">1400250</td><td nowrap="" style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">3Y 0M 0D</td></tr>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">06/01/2014</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">CONSTRUC.POSSESS CONTRAB.</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">02/09/2015</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">TAYLOR</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">1400250</td><td nowrap="" style="border: 1px solid rgb(216, 216, 216); padding: 2px;">0Y 6M 0D</td></tr>
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</blockquote>
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<br />
It is jarring for me to see this. Martinez is a man I would just as soon never contemplate again. Yet here he is, and yet again I must look at this man who I believe murdered my husband and got away with it.<br />
<br />
But I will say this: I am not in the least surprised that Martinez has again found himself in trouble with the law. We shall see soon enough what the future holds for the likes of him.<br />
<br />Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-15229730111768028592016-04-11T12:42:00.000-04:002016-04-11T12:49:41.877-04:00Writing Lessons from an Unpunished Murder<i>Cross-posted from <a href="https://nprovenzo.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/writing-lessons-from-an-unpunished-murder/">Nicholas Provenzo</a>.</i><br />
<br />
In my study of Army Captain Phillip Esposito’s murder and the subsequent acquittal of Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez, the government’s only suspect in the slaying, I’ve heard it frequently argued that the court-martial panel that sat in judgement of Martinez did not properly understand its instructions, and thus acquitted Martinez in error. <br />
<br />
Without hearing directly from the panel members who voted to acquit Martinez, it is difficult to confirm these claims. To date, none of members who voted “not guilty” have come forward to explain their reasoning. As difficult as it may seem for them, I hope that they will soon come forward and explain their votes. <br />
<br />
But in the meantime, if it’s possible that some members of the Martinez panel misconstrued the instructions they received from the court, I see two questions: <br />
<ol>
<li>Were the court’s instructions to the panel unclear, even if the instructions otherwise met the requirements of the law; and, </li>
<li>If the court’s instructions were unclear, how may we improve upon them to prevent future errors in justice? </li>
</ol>
<br />
In a May 28th talk before the <a href="http://www.atlos.org/">Atlanta Objectivist Society</a>, I’ll discuss my findings. I invite those interested in the Martinez case, and any writer who seeks to improve the clarity of their writing, to hear my argument. <br />
<br />
Here’s the flyer for the talk:<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-52507759347481060762015-09-29T15:30:00.002-04:002015-09-29T15:30:38.053-04:00Bonis nocet qui malis parcit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB97eSXjWqMGCU16kEUg6jd-XqJqMMqrjfocgKhyQ7yemRceId3om9Pe5ahyV7h-PocUvD3X6UCqlUsmu3pXq7rGdw1sYYwCF6QLbXF5Kzzryg74_6hUEi9xqzLF8UiG5uk92VFYP6Lg4/s1600/Veterans+Marker+for+Phillip+Esposito+II.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB97eSXjWqMGCU16kEUg6jd-XqJqMMqrjfocgKhyQ7yemRceId3om9Pe5ahyV7h-PocUvD3X6UCqlUsmu3pXq7rGdw1sYYwCF6QLbXF5Kzzryg74_6hUEi9xqzLF8UiG5uk92VFYP6Lg4/s400/Veterans+Marker+for+Phillip+Esposito+II.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
Phillip's government marker was installed at his grave this week. "<i>Bonis nocet qui malis parcit</i> — He harms the good who spares the evil."<br />
<br />
Let
that be the message to the Army jurors who acquitted Phillip's
murderer—and to anyone who seeks to avoid a tragedy such as Phillip's
needless, preventable, and unpunished murder in their own lives.<br />
<br />
<br />Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-60885559691208001792015-08-28T17:44:00.001-04:002015-09-03T11:53:47.834-04:00The Real BetrayalWhat if someone told you that you had betrayed your late husband on the grounds that you found fault with the system of justice that acquitted your husband’s murderer? That is precisely what Tony Skala has accused Siobhan of in regards to her late husband Phillip via a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4695741160363491977&postID=1873413638055128276">comment</a> Skala left on Siobhan’s blog earlier this week.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to Skala, </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Y]our husband donned a uniform to protect certain values we deem important and label American. A portion of which is the American Justice system. And this system is based on a set of rules we universally accept. And those rules state to convict a person of a charge there must be min level of proof, and that was not done in this case. I am not sure if Mr. Martinez is innocent or not. But he was aquitted (sic) in our system of courts, and these courts derive their power from folks like your husband, and I putting on a uniform and saying we will lay our lives down to defend this system. That must be respected. The system must be respected for it to work. It is the only reason the system remains powerful.</blockquote>
Skala concludes,</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So I am not sure looking at the system we entrust to render justice with distain (sic) and doubt and saying we want to invalidate it because it gave us a judgment we don't like honors your husbands (sic) service to his country. Invalidating that system t (sic) in-validates (sic) your husbands (sic) service and my service at the same time.</blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When you strip away the stunning gall of an individual who believes that he is in a position to lecture Siobhan on any issue regarding her late husband, you are left with the argument that our American system of military justice is simply above reproach, and that any attempt to call out errors actually weakens the system. Here, reform is the enemy of justice. Needless to say, I disagree.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the Martinez case, I have read through the trial record and examined the evidence presented. Through this review, I have reached the personal conclusion that Staff Sergeant Martinez murdered Siobhan’s late husband and 1LT Allen and that the government proved as much at trial. In this light, the pertinent question is why did the court nevertheless acquit Staff Sergeant Martinez of murder.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Through my examination of the case, I see several issues that may have contributed to what I see as Staff Sergeant Martinez’s unjust acquittal. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I see an issue in how the members of a court-martial are selected and subsequently vetted for bias, particularly in death penalty-eligible cases and particularly when some selectees are opposed to capital punishment.</li>
<li>I see an issue in how the members of a court-martial are instructed in the law prior to their deliberations and the clarity of their instructions.</li>
<li>I see an issue in how jury members in a strict, hierarchically-based organization must somehow put aside their rank structure and deliberate as equal peers.</li>
<li>And I see an issue in the possible conflicts of interest that arise when the military disciplines itself when defects in its own culture are an issue in a case.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At root, I see several issues surrounding Martinez’s acquittal that merit close examination and reform, if only to prevent future injustice. In the face of Phillip’s death, those who treasured him or empathize with the plight of his survivors have a natural interest in achieving a larger justice. Nevertheless, Skala would prefer that Siobhan—and by extension, me and anyone else with an interest in the case—silence ourselves and respect the system.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Based upon what? Skala’s intimate knowledge of the evidence in the case? His understanding of the trial? His understanding of the law? No. Just Skala’s claim that “the system must be respected in order for it to work.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I’ll say this in answer: I find it cowardly and detestable to sit on one’s hands when another human being is murdered and our courts allow the killer to get away with it. If there is an error within the system, good and just people must repair that error, lest the system continue producing erroneous results. In this nation, we have the freedom to petition our government and the freedom to work to amend our laws. This is the system that soldiers like Phillip dedicated themselves to protect. Shame on us if we do not use that system to make our nation better and address injustice when it occurs.<br />
<br />
<i>8/29: minor edits for clarity.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-18734136380551282762015-06-08T11:37:00.000-04:002015-06-09T21:37:28.353-04:00Ten Years Later, the Haunting Murder of Phillip Esposito and Louis AllenTen years ago this week, Army Captain Phillip Esposito, of Suffern, New York, was killed while serving with the 42nd Infantry “Rainbow” Division in Iraq. Killed alongside him was First Lieutenant Louis Allen, of Milford, Pennsylvania. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0nWXgzWsA1dtyJyT7dbtGLPxhdjvM-vkx7eMvPxQiNB9bOhO1SK7AwfEXaYa378M9rXLqR9OP3t31eVdZT90jfqRD0o87_Yc9T8T-ExX4lXHBG3CuUAMhM6iOoRSh0fh2EcGuT5n9lY/s1600/Alberto+Bas+Martinez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0nWXgzWsA1dtyJyT7dbtGLPxhdjvM-vkx7eMvPxQiNB9bOhO1SK7AwfEXaYa378M9rXLqR9OP3t31eVdZT90jfqRD0o87_Yc9T8T-ExX4lXHBG3CuUAMhM6iOoRSh0fh2EcGuT5n9lY/s400/Alberto+Bas+Martinez.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Neither soldier died fighting a foreign enemy or by accident. Instead, according to military prosecutors, the two were deliberately murdered by Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez, a soldier under Esposito’s command. Martinez allegedly detonated a wire-activated landmine in Esposito’s office window and then threw several grenades, all to cover his actions under the guise of an insurgent attack. According to prosecutors, Martinez’s motive was little more than pecuniary: after months of conflict, rather than accept Esposito firing Martinez from his position after Martinez lost accountability for sensitive military equipment, Martinez simply murdered Esposito and Allen, Martinez’s would-be replacement. In 2008, an Army court-martial tried Martinez for two counts of murder. After a two month trial, a panel of fourteen Army soldiers acquitted Martinez of all charges, apparently one vote shy of the two-thirds necessary to secure a conviction. During that trial, I watched Esposito’s daughter, Madeline, then age 5, in Northern Virginia, while Esposito’s widow, Siobhan, attended the proceedings at Fort Bragg. <br />
<br />
In the time since Martinez’s acquittal, I have studied his trial in detail. I have read thorough the trial transcript, reviewed the evidence generated by the case, interviewed key witnesses and trial participants, and analyzed the laws in play. My study has led me to the following conclusions: first, that Esposito and Allen’s murders were an utterly needless and preventable product of an undisciplined culture that permeated the 42nd Infantry and set the stage for murder, second, that laws governing Martinez’s court-martial slanted the trial toward an unfair result and have the potential to do so again, and third, that the Army has yet to engage in the soul-searching necessary to prevent similar tragedies in its future. <br />
<br />
<b>A Needless and Preventable Death </b><br />
<br />
If the standard that one walks by is the standard that one accepts, evidence shows that in 2004 and 2005, soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Division were perfectly willing to walk by Alberto Martinez’s repeated expressions of contempt and threats made against his commanding officer. According to testimony at Martinez’s trial, Martinez made literally hundreds of threats against Esposito—all behind Esposito’s back, but in front of other soldiers and Army leaders. At trial, some soldiers testified that they <i>almost </i>elected to do something about these threats, with one officer testifying that he informed Esposito that Esposito needed to have a “heart to heart” talk with Martinez, but the record indicates no soldier actually informed Esposito that Martinez had verbally threatened him. <br />
<br />
Nevertheless, had soldiers properly responded to Martinez’s threats under long-established standards of military discipline, I believe these soldiers would have likely stopped Martinez before his actions rose to the level of murder. In my view, the inaction of these soldiers helped set the stage for Esposito and Allen’s deaths. <br />
<br />
In reviewing Esposito’s personnel file and fitness reports, I found an officer uniquely praised by his superiors. One reviewer found Esposito a “magnificent performer” who “makes everything he does look easy” and remarked that Esposito possessed a drive and maturity “well beyond his years.” Another reviewer found Esposito the best out of the twenty-six lieutenants that he rated and thought that Esposito would “excel in any position where capability and proven performance are necessary for success.” Yet another wrote that Esposito was the best lieutenant in his battalion and “the best S1 my Command Sergeant Major and I have seen in a combined thirty-nine years of service.” Even as a Captain, with less than a year to live, Esposito’s rating superior found him as the type of leader who “puts the good of the soldier always in the forefront” while “providing the catalyst for his unit to do the same.” <br />
<br />
In contrast, trial records indicate that Martinez thought Esposito a “Little Mussolini,” a “lunch money victim,” and a “fucking asshole,” and with no one seemingly disagreeing enough to compel Martinez to cease with his words of contempt. <br />
<br />
I conclude that when Esposito took command as the 42nd Infantry Division, Headquarters and Headquarters Company Commander, he faced a culture governed more by clique than by professional military standard, and he was the unwelcome outsider. Especially brought in by division leaders to transform his unit out of garrison and prepare it for battle, Esposito’s by-the-book style harshly grated upon the reservists he was tasked to lead. <br />
<br />
Moreover, Esposito wasn’t “one of the cool kids.” In my discussions with those who knew him, I repeatedly heard Esposito described as “bookish” and “nerdy” (yet at the same time, incredibly athletic and fit). I also repeatedly heard Esposito described as earnest, hardworking and dedicated—but clearly not “one of the boys.” I was particularly struck by how those around him reported to me that Esposito repeatedly downplayed his background as a West Point graduate, as if he was aware of the values and reputation that West Point engenders and how those values conflicted with the guardsmen he was tasked to lead. Esposito did not want to be seen as special or somehow above his men—yet in a large scene, he was. In my view, Esposito wasn’t hated for being <i>bad</i>—quite the contrary. Esposito was hated for being <i>good</i>. <br />
<br />
In contrast, trial records indicate that Martinez was largely perceived as a clown. In a certain sense, witnesses reported Martinez as hardworking, with several testifying that Martinez always endeavored to keep soldiers properly equipped in his role as supply sergeant—and I believe them. Nevertheless, Martinez was clearly overwhelmed with the responsibility of proper supply accountability, and in my opinion, was unlikely to equal the demands placed upon him. At root, Martinez was given a role that for his personal attributes, he was doomed to fail in. <br />
<br />
But therein lies the heart of what I believe is Martinez’s wickedness. If Martinez had simply admitted, like a man, that he was overwhelmed, and that he was put in a position where he could never hope to succeed, <i>Phillip Esposito would have done all within his power to help Martinez overcome his challenges</i>. And if not Esposito, the division’s inspector general, or some other commander, would have helped Martinez to overcome the odds set against him. Martinez would have had to have framed his issues correctly—it would not (and did not) suffice for him to merely blame Esposito as was Martinez's habit. Nevertheless, had Martinez asked properly for assistance, I believe that he would have likely received it.<br />
<br />
Yet instead, like a narcissist, trial testimony revealed that Martinez held Esposito responsible for his all problems, focusing on the <i>person </i>of his commander instead of the <i>problem </i>of supply. And here, I believe the evidence shows that Martinez chose to solve his problems via claymore landmine and premeditated murder. <br />
<br />
<b>Slanting a Court Martial </b><br />
<br />
In reviewing the evidence and testimony from the trial, I have come to the conclusion that the government did, in fact, prove its case against Martinez as the law requires, and that Martinez did not raise a compelling defense in response. Had I been a panel member at trial, I would have voted to convict Martinez for Esposito and Allen’s murder. And thus for me, the relevant question here is exactly why then did the Martinez panel elect to acquit him. <br />
<br />
In studying the members of the panel who sat in judgement and their testimony during <i>voir dire</i>, I am not convinced that all the members of the panel were impartial—that is, I am not convinced that all the members of the panel strictly applied the law, as instructed to them by the judge, to the facts of the case. I suspect that these panel members allowed their opposition to capital punishment to cloud their judgement when it came to determining Martinez’s guilt, either by outright refusing to vote to convict Martinez if death was a possible punishment, or by substituting a higher standard of proof than required by the law.<br />
<div>
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div>
<b><i>The refusal to convict Martinez if death was a punishment</i> </b><br />
<br />
Evidence for my first condition—a refusal to convict Martinez if death was a possible punishment—squares with the <i>voir dire</i> testimony of at least one a panel member who ultimately sat in judgment of Martinez. When asked to explain his affirmative answer on the pre-trial panel questionnaire inquiring if he was “personally, morally, or religiously opposed to the death penalty regardless of the facts and the law in the case,” Major Carmelo Crespo answered by saying “I don’t know all of the law, all the facts, ….[a]nd every situation and circumstances change, but that [affirmative answer] was my—the best answer that I could give at that point and that’s what I believe.” Nevertheless, Martinez’s attorneys successfully rehabilitated Crespo when they elicited him to state his willingness to at least consider the death penalty in his deliberations, based upon Crespo’s view that “nothing is impossible.” <br />
<br />
I question the law—here from as august a source as the U.S. Supreme Court—that allows a juror to sit in judgment when they say out of one corner of their mouth that they are opposed to the death penalty regardless of the facts, and then say out of the other corner that they are nevertheless willing to consider applying the death penalty on the grounds that “nothing is impossible.” To me, I see a person utterly rudderless in their principles, and not only did such a person sit on the panel that acquitted Martinez—they sat in judgment alongside their spouse, who <i>also </i>held similar anti-death penalty sentiments. <br />
<br />
And I cannot help but notice that if the shoe had been on the other foot—if the panel member had indicated that he supported <i>imposing </i>the death penalty regardless of the facts and the law in the case, but was nevertheless willing to consider <i>not </i>applying the death penalty on the grounds that “nothing is impossible,” such a monster would rightly be thrown off of any murder jury. In fact, there were a host of panel nominees that were rightly excluded from the panel for their inelastic unwillingness to consider punishments <i>other </i>than death for the crimes which Martinez was accused of committing. <br />
<br />
But here is the thing about military juries: they are not random, but picked—handpicked even—by the convening authority that initiates the trial. And here, Article 25 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice governs a convening authority’s discretion in selecting panel members. Article 25 states that “[w]hen convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall detail as members thereof such members of the armed forces as, in his opinion, are best qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament.” <br />
<br />
To me, a judicial temperament, in terms of armed service, speaks to a servicemember’s steadfast willingness to uphold the law on the grounds that the rule of law under our Constitution is the one consideration that properly trumps all others. It means, in plain terms, that you are personally willing to support our form of government and its laws, even in disagreement—and that is why we as a people entrust you with the tools of war. In my view, not all of the panel members nominated by the convening authority were fit to serve on the panel—or even as soldiers. If the military’s rules nevertheless allow such individuals to sit in judgement, and if a commander can be so blasé as to think that such people have the requisite “judicial temperament,” then I submit that the laws underpinning such a pretense require change.</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><i>An impossible standard of proof</i> </b><br />
<br />
If I have some evidence to justify that there may have been a refusal to convict Martinez if death was a possible punishment, I argue that my second conclusion—that some on the panel may have substituted a higher standard of proof for conviction than required by the law, is properly inferred by the evidence presented by the government at trial and Martinez’s answer to it. <br />
<br />
When I first read through the record of Martinez’s trial, I must admit that I hoped that my reading would reveal a cogent and believable argument in favor of Martinez’s innocence. After all, if Martinez had not murdered Esposito and Allen, the door would then be open to prosecute whomever actually did.<br />
<br />
My review of the evidence did not sustain my hope. While a largely circumstantial case, the government was nevertheless able to show that Martinez had a powerful, long-standing, and ultimately overwhelming animus against Esposito, that Martinez had unique access to the murder weapon, that Martinez was present at the scene of the crime, and that Martinez displayed guilty behavior after the attacks. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In defense, Martinez merely argued that others in the unit disliked Esposito and that they, instead of Martinez, had motive to kill him. Much ado was made over the possibility that the claymore landmine used in the attacks could have been detonated from the roof of the building where Esposito and Allen were killed, but for me, that claim evaporated when I considered the unique manner in which the landmine was emplaced, through a metal window grate and wrapped with wire—an emplacement only possible from the ground, where Martinez was ultimately found. And while not presented in argument, I dismissed the idea that Martinez acted in concert with others, for once Martinez was on trial for murder, he had a powerful incentive to turn against any co-conspirator in hopes of securing a better outcome for himself than what a trial might deliver. <br />
<br />
Futher ado was made over Esposito’s sometimes fractious relationship with his first sergeant, but here, I could see a clear distinction between the friction between these two and the friction between Martinez and Esposito. Other possible suspects were mentioned—more like thrown against the wall in hope that perhaps something would stick, and miscues in the investigation and witness testimony were of course presented as grounds for reasonable doubt. But for me, after taking in all the evidence presented at trial, I can only reach one conclusion: Staff Sergeant Alberto Bas Martinez murdered Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen, and that the evidence of Martinez’s crime met both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion necessary to convict Martinez under our law. I thus conclude that some on the panel that judged Martinez, knowing that Martinez could be eligible for death, either voted “not guilty” to strategically nullify a possible guilty verdict, or held the government to such a high standard of proof so as to squelch any proof presented short of either eyewitness or DNA-like evidence. </div>
<div>
<br />
Perhaps, one day, the panel members who voted to acquit Martinez will come forward, and each explain his or her reasons, for better, or for worse. It will not make for pleasant conversation. I believe it is a conversation that is necessary all the same. Until then, I am only able to conclude that Martinez's acquittal is the result of gross error on the part of the jury that judged him. </div>
<div>
<br />
<b>The Need for Soul-Searching </b><br />
<br />
If one reaches back to the circumstances behind the murders of Esposito and Allen, the tragedy of needless and preventable death combined with the seemingly unjustified acquittal of the accused murderer creates a literal worst-case scenario of horrific injustice. Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen were each laid to their eternal rest in the uniform of their military service, yet in almost every aspect of their case, their fellow soldiers utterly disgraced that very uniform. That two widows and five children, along with the parents and brethren of the dead, all must live in the face of this stunning injustice shocks the conscience. This is not how such people are properly treated. This is not who we are as a people grateful to those who serve in the armed forces and defend our way of life. <br />
<br />
Because the members of the Armed Forces will forever have to confront the challenge of facing down the criminals within their ranks, there are clear lessons from the tragedy of Esposito and Allen that we should apply to the struggle. First, that standards of military discipline exist in order to protect servicemembers from those who would let their base ends detract from the military’s proper focus and mission. Second, that compromising these standards of discipline can easily lead to unforeseeable, yet horrific outcomes. Third, that responsible military leadership demands that one insist upon a military where members are held both to account for their actions, and for their failures to act. Fourth, that even when judging from the outcome of this one tragic case, it is clear that the method for selecting the panel members of courts-martial is fundamentally unbalanced, unfair, and unjust, and demands reform. <br />
<br />
We have all heard of Blackstone’s famous formulation that “[i]t is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” But if justice is to give a person what they deserve, and if human life is the standard through which we make our determination, no one ought to be satisfied with an otherwise guilty man living his life free and unpunished. No one ought to be satisfied that two men lay slain, and yet the institution to which they dedicated their lives has yet to learn and apply the necessary lessons from their loss. <br />
<br />
In this article, I have glanced upon just a handful of the controversies that surround this tragedy, leaving unaddressed still-lingering questions surrounding the competency of courts-martial to justly adjudicate capital murder, the competency and experience of the military bar to prosecute and defend these cases, the seemingly inordinate delay between the offense and trial, and the inherent conflict of interest when an institution at fault is nevertheless left to police itself. None of these questions and the problems they represent will go away on their own. <br />
<br />
And thus the legacy of Phillip Esposito and Louis Allen must be an increased devotion to justice, to those who serve our nation under arms, and to the families that help make such service possible. Echoing Lincoln and applying his thoughts here, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.” <br />
<br />
<i>6/8: minor edits for grammar and clarity.</i><br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-57054228488017842752015-03-13T11:28:00.000-04:002015-03-13T11:28:59.015-04:00Watching the Daughter of a Murdered SoldierOn March 25th, my partner, Nicholas Provenzo, will give a talk at the University of Baltimore School of Law on my late husband Phillip's murder, how Nicholas came to watch Phillip's and my daughter during the court-martial of Phillip's murderer, and what came of it all. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This talk is being hosted by the University of Baltimore chapter of the Federalist Society and will be of particular interest to those who seek to make the Army a better institution in the face of Phillip's unpunished murder.</div>
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Below is a copy of the event poster.<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnTUiPPoHCv-LWw12PX-RU3FmoJfN0kmSWAWFFNVDM7Z4WYUhDQ6LKVGew3bJNvCV5RGNRZNixrdCCsvRtbbNG0eOnuhoDVT0cXyBf83kg-tiy9BwG4EKQ0s13JZnWziVeRtqtqFo0g8/s1600/Daughter-of-a-Murdered-Soldier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnTUiPPoHCv-LWw12PX-RU3FmoJfN0kmSWAWFFNVDM7Z4WYUhDQ6LKVGew3bJNvCV5RGNRZNixrdCCsvRtbbNG0eOnuhoDVT0cXyBf83kg-tiy9BwG4EKQ0s13JZnWziVeRtqtqFo0g8/s1600/Daughter-of-a-Murdered-Soldier.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
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For those interested in attending the talk and needing directions, the address of the Angelos Law Center is:<br /><br />1401 N. Charles St.<br />Baltimore, MD 21201<br /><br /><b>Parking Garage Locations </b><br /><br /><i>The Maryland Avenue Garage</i><br />(between Biddle and Chase Streets)<br />1111 Maryland Avenue<br />Baltimore, MD 21201<br /><br /><i>The Fitzgerald Garage</i><br />(between Maryland and Mt. Royal Avenues)<br />W. Oliver Street<br />Baltimore, MD 21201<div>
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In addition, the law center is easily accessible by Amtrak and MARC trains as the law center is directly across the street from Baltimore's Penn Station.</div>
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Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-69515548815700844152014-07-04T14:10:00.001-04:002014-07-05T00:05:14.934-04:00Where in the World is Alberto B. Martinez?Yesterday, an anonymous commentator left the following comment on my post <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/seven-years-ago-today-us-army-staff.html?showComment=1404426644422#c4567980535884558296">Seven years ago today, US Army Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez murdered my husband</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is amazing story! Due to the fact that this guy [Alberto B. Martinez] was working at Taylor Correctional Institution in Maintenance, and nobody knew his past! I spoke with him about once a week over the last few months and would have never thought this man would have such a background. Makes me wonder who else the Florida Department of Corrections has hired. Also...it should be noted that he was just terminated for "Introduction of Contraband" aka...bringing shit to inmates!</blockquote>
<br />
<div>
Through research, I have determined that Martinez recently lived in a worker's compound adjacent to the prison, but I was unable to explicitly confirm that Martinez worked for Taylor Correctional Institution, or that he was recently fired by it for smuggling contraband to prison inmates. Nevertheless, if true, the anonymous commentator’s post on Martinez's status leads me to conclude that 1.) Martinez is able to secure employment in positions of trust seemingly despite his benighted past, and 2.) Martinez cannot escape his character. <br />
<br />
Since Martinez's 2008 acquittal for the murders of my late husband and First Lieutenant Louis Allen by Army court-martial, it has been my hope that the larger court of public opinion would nevertheless hold Martinez to account for his crimes. Knowing that the families of Martinez’s victims believe that Martinez is guilty of premeditated murder, my hope was that people of goodwill would elect to shun Martinez, compelling him to operate in the dark margins of society, where, in my view, he belongs. Yet in the face of the injustice that I have endured since Phillip's murder, even Martinez’s shunning is apparently too much to wish for. Despite my husband having attempted to fire Martinez for cause from the National Guard and subsequently winding up dead, Martinez seemingly still finds work. <br />
<br />
Yet in that work, Martinez seems unable to hold himself to a just moral standard. To the best of my knowledge, his alleged firing by the Florida Department of Corrections would mark the third time that Martinez has been fired in connection with unethical conduct upon his part, the first being Martinez’s termination from UPS for alleged package-insurance fraud and the second being the relief for cause initiated by my late husband against Martinez in Iraq in 2005.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Ultimately, I believe that Martinez will reap all that he has sown. I believe that the cumulative effect of Martinez’s immorality, viciousness and cowardice will result in his own self-inflicted destruction. When that day comes, I will be glad for it, for Martinez will have finally received what I believe he deserves.<br />
<br />
Moreover, if Martinez produces secondary victims along the way, I will remind the panel members of the court-martial that acquitted Martinez for Phillip's and Lou's murders of all that they have wrought. He who spares the wicked harms the good, and those who have spared the wicked require reminder of it. </div>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-91966787871980332242014-06-07T13:31:00.000-04:002014-06-07T13:31:13.270-04:00'[A]s a leader he always showed a quality of courage beyond the strongest of leaders.'Dominic Oto, the officer who replaced Phillip as H&H Commandant
after Phillip was murdered, has posted a fitting tribute to Phillip's
memory on his <a href="http://www.dominicoto.blogspot.com/2014/06/guys-i-hope-with-these-e-mails-there-is.html">website</a>. Here is an excerpt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Straightness, honesty, naturalness, loyalty, courage—all these qualities could be used to describe Phil, but none is quite right, for the quality that made him a good man and great friend embraces all these. Many of the heroes I write about possess courage, charm and professional skill. Phil, by contrast, is celebrated as a hero because his intelligence, nobility and most of his all his generosity matched his courage. He was braver than any of us. He was the best of us. He is missed fiercely. </blockquote>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-34121926919430285422014-02-01T13:24:00.001-05:002014-02-01T16:23:29.039-05:00Vote 'NO' on Debo Adegbile<i class="tr_bq">I recently sent a letter, key parts included below, to Senators Patrick Leahy and Charles Grassley, the Chairman and ranking member of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary. My purpose was to share with the committee my opposition to Mr. Debo Adegbile, President Obama’s nominee to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. ~SME</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
As the widow of Captain Phillip Esposito, USA, who was murdered in Iraq in 2005 and whose killer was subsequently acquitted by court-martial held before XVIII Airborne Corps in 2008, I wish to voice my opposition to Mr. Debo Adegbile, the President’s nominee to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In reviewing the letters sent to you in support of Mr. Adegbile, a reoccurring theme is evident: Mr. Adegbile’s actions in defense of death-row appellant Mumia Abu-Jamal are ostensibly above reproach on the grounds that every criminal defendant is entitled to the assistance of legal counsel.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
This claim misses a corollary truth: while every criminal defendant has a right to a zealous defender, they do not enjoy a right to an <i>over</i>-zealous defender. Moreover, a lawyer’s actions in support of a client, both in and out of court, while technically permissible, may nevertheless reveal substantial defects in character, temperament, and philosophy that make that lawyer unsuited to positions of great national trust and power. I need not engage in an extended soliloquy to successfully argue that the 1982 trial of Abu-Jamal and his subsequent appeals were caustic affairs, or that Abu-Jamal and his defenders, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Mr. Adegbile among them, resorted to some of the most vicious tactics in memory, to include a multi-year propaganda campaign against the Philadelphia Police Department, Abu-Jamal’s victim, Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, and Officer Faulkner’s widow, Mrs. Maureen Faulkner.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
It is this propaganda campaign, stunningly world-wide in scope, which troubles me most, particularly for its flippant regard for the truth, divisive racial smears, and unjust impact upon Officer Faulkner’s widow. To turn around and claim that those linked to it are nevertheless qualified to hold positions of great trust—and in Mr. Adegbile’s case, great trust related to enforcing laws related to the mission of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice—is jarring in its arrogance and cruelty. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
At root, the Civil Rights Division requires greater leadership and more nuanced discretion than Mr. Adegbile seemingly possesses. I ask that your committee reject his nomination accordingly.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Sincerely,</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Mrs. Siobhan Esposito</blockquote>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-30492685731505766342013-12-22T21:19:00.000-05:002013-12-22T21:19:02.336-05:00Mr. "Anonymous" strikes againYesterday, I received <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/seven-years-ago-today-us-army-staff.html?showComment=1387557155214#c22929613814712999">the following unsigned comment</a> to my post, <i>"<a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/seven-years-ago-today-us-army-staff.html">Seven years ago today, US Army Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez murdered my husband</a>"</i>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Same thing Anonymous said. I was in the 42ID when this happened. Your husband was not a well liked officer who honestly was a jerk to most people. When someone dies we glorify them but I knew your husband and he was not well liked by his piers (sic). It could have been anyone. I am sorry you lost a husband but Alberto B. Martinez was declared innocent. Quit defaming his name. </i></blockquote>
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This comment is apparently made in response to <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/seven-years-ago-today-us-army-staff.html?showComment=1375061995088#c6939439146887622817">an earlier comment</a>, made by an anonymous individual who argued that Staff Sergeant Martinez “was declared innocent by a jury of his piers (sic).”
<br />
<br />
For inanimate objects associated with fishing, mooring sea vessels, and long walks, “piers” nevertheless play a central role in these individuals’ claims—that is, if there even are, in fact, two separate people posting these comments.<br />
<br />
These comments are beneath me. They are the vile, inarticulate emanations of the morally depraved. As I have answered this person before, <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2013/07/an-anonymous-comment-defending-staff.html">I direct them to that answer</a>. This time around, I only remind the reader that none other than Martinez himself admitted to murdering my late husband when he offered a <a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/20090220_MARTINEZ.pdf">plea deal in order to forgo execution</a>.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-54506777024901770152013-09-19T12:06:00.001-04:002013-09-19T12:06:09.623-04:00A Mother's SorrowAccording to the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/navy-yard-shooting-main/">CNN</a>, Cathleen Alexis, the mother of the Navy Yard killer, has expressed her sympathies to the family-members of her son's victims.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis' mother apologized Wednesday
for her son's actions, saying she was glad that he is "now in a place
where he can no longer do harm to anyone." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I don't know why he did
what he did, and I'll never be able to ask him why," Cathleen Alexis
said in a statement recorded by CNN.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I'm so, so very sorry this has happened. My heart is broken," she said.</blockquote>
Through her statement, Ms. Alexis has done something that family of Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez has never seen fit to do: express heartfelt sorrow over the cruelty unleashed by her son. As the spouse of one of Staff Sergeant Martinez's murdered victims, I commend Ms. Alexis for her moral courage and sense of decency.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-85416211266944084772013-07-31T17:55:00.001-04:002016-04-21T22:55:53.978-04:00An anonymous comment defending Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez On July 28th, the <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/seven-years-ago-today-us-army-staff.html?showComment=1375061995088#c6939439146887622817">following comment</a> was left on my blog by an anonymous commenter:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Your husband was murdered but not by his accuser. There was no lack of
discipline in the 42nd ID. Maybe its (sic) your perspective but your husband
was not some "amazing: (sic) leader maybe mediocre at that. His accuser was
declared innocent by a jury of his piers (sic) and you should stop these post (sic)
that defame his name."</i></blockquote>
<br />
It appears Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez has a champion, or perhaps Martinez himself has paid a visit to my blog and shared with us his thoughts. In any case, I will address the anonymous commenter's claims in the order presented.<br />
<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><i>"Your husband was murdered but not by his accuser."</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Tortured syntax aside, this sentence seems to assert that Staff Sergeant Martinez did not murder my late husband, Phillip, yet the commenter provides absolutely no evidence to justify such a claim beyond bare assertion. My answer: <i>quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur—</i><span class="st">what is asserted without reason may be denied without reason.</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i><span class="st">"There was no lack of discipline in the 42nd ID."</span></i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="st">I find it stunning that veterans of the 42nd Infantry Division just bristle at my charge that members of their division were grossly unprofessional and that this lack of professionalism is a stain on the division as a whole. Here, my thoughts are straightforward: my husband lies dead because soldiers in his division failed to enforce standards of military discipline that would have checked a murderer long before his actions rose to murder. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">In fact, </span><span class="st"><span class="st">soldiers </span></span><span class="st"><span class="st"><span class="st">of the 42nd Infantry Division</span></span> </span><span class="st"><span class="st">permitted </span>Staff Sergeant Martinez many indulgences that only emboldened him in his rage against my late husband. Martinez told practically anyone who would listen that he hated my husband Phillip and that Phillip deserved violent harm. Granting Martinez mercy and forbearance for such statements was utterly unjustified—and my husband and his fellow victim, </span><span class="st">1st Lieutenant Louis Allen, paid the ultimate price for it. An honorable veteran of the </span><span class="st"><span class="st"><span class="st"><span class="st">42nd Infantry Division</span></span></span> would recognize such a failure for the black mark it is and feel regret and shame for it, even if he or she wasn't directly responsible for the failure. </span><span class="st">An honorable veteran of the </span><span class="st"><span class="st"><span class="st"><span class="st">42nd Infantry Division</span></span></span> would say "yes, such an injustice was grossly wrong, and we were all lessened for it."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">In contrast, a </span><span class="st"><span class="st">veteran </span><i>without </i>honor would whimper about being judged unfairly—even in the knowledge that my late husband Phillip and </span><span class="st"><span class="st">1st Lieutenant Allen</span> suffered a fate far, far worse then they will likely ever know. </span><br />
<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><i><span class="st">"</span>Maybe its (sic) your perspective but your husband was not some "amazing: (sic) leader maybe mediocre at that."</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Again, <i>quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur. </i>Yet for argument's sake, let us take the anonymous commenter at his word: my late husband was ostensibly a mediocre officer. Do mediocre officers deserve to die by Claymore mine, without any sort of hearing, and without any opportunity to defend themselves, all for their alleged mediocrity? The thought is patently absurd, yet Staff Sergeant Martinez's defense team implicitly argued as much as they tried to shift attention away from their client. How weak a defense though—to blame the victim for his own murder—how deeply shameful and pathetic.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><i>"His accuser was declared innocent by a jury of his piers (sic) and you should stop these post (sic) that defame his name."</i> </li>
</ul>
<br />
If Staff Sergeant Martinez's defender thinks that Martinez was "declared innocent" of murdering my late husband Phillip and 1st Lieutenant Allen, he or she would do well to study a primer on the American criminal justice system. A court martial found Staff Sergeant Martinez "not guilty" of the charges brought against him. Taken in a light most charitable to Martinez, all this verdict means is that the government did not successfully prove its case against Martinez "beyond a reasonable doubt"—the legal standard required by our law. Such a verdict does not imply that Martinez was somehow "declared innocent" of the charges levied against him.<br />
<br />
Of course, based upon the testimony and evidence that I observed at Alberto Martinez's pretrial hearings and at his court martial, there is no doubt in my mind that Martinez murdered my late husband and 1st Lieutenant Allen. I find the court martial's verdict acquitting Martinez utterly unjustified and morally indefensible. All the same, I respect that honest readers will have to form their own opinion based upon their thorough reading of the evidence in this case. This is my way, and it was my late husband Phillip's way as well. <br />
<br />
Nevertheless, there is one thing that the anonymous commenter and I agree fully upon: <u>Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez was judged at court martial by a group of soldiers very much his peer; so much so that I think that they all deserve one another, each the others equal in virtue.</u><br />
<br />
Justice is hard—it can take volumes of thought and work to give a person what they honestly deserve. The anonymous commenter probably thinks that they are defending Martinez and they are certainly not alone in attempting to give this wicked man comfort.<br />
<br />
Yet as Dr. Martin Luther King once observed, "<span class="st"><span class="st">the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice</span>." Try as they may, they cannot refine a murderer, and they shall not succeed in silencing me. </span><br />
<ol>
</ol>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-80098440116538176332013-05-25T01:43:00.001-04:002021-11-16T20:07:33.354-05:00Remembering my husband, Phillip Esposito, on Memorial Day“Are you doing anything fun for Memorial Day?”<br />
<br />
The question comes innocently enough, but it jars me all the same. In 2005, my late husband, Army Captain Phillip Esposito, was murdered when a subordinate solider detonated a claymore anti-personnel landmine in my husband’s sleeping quarters, killing my husband and another soldier. In 2008, Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez, of Schaghticoke, NY, was acquitted by court martial of any responsibility for the slayings, this despite evidence that placed Martinez at the scene of the crime, connected him to the weapon used, and established his overwhelming hatred against my husband for attempting to relieve him for cause.<br />
<br />
In this light, I do not celebrate Memorial Day as much as I endure it.<br />
<br />
The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor servicemembers who died in defense of our nation. These servicemembers all took an oath that defined the nature of their commitment. Today that oath is as follows:
<br />
<blockquote>
I, [NAME], do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.</blockquote>
I believe that Phillip and his fellow slain soldier, 1st Lieutenant Louis Allen, each lived up to the terms of that oath. The tragedy of their deaths is that far too many of their fellow soldiers did not.<br />
<br />
Phillip’s fellow soldiers did not live up to their oath of enlistment when they left Staff Sergeant Martinez’s repeated threats and gestures of contempt against Phillip go unpunished, in defiance of military law. Had Martinez been properly held to account for these threats, Phillip and Lou would likely be alive today.<br />
<br />
But there is another group of soldiers who failed to live up to their oath of enlistment. I believe that the jurors who voted to acquit Martinez also failed to live up to their oath when they allegedly allowed their bias against capital punishment cloud their judgment, when they allegedly used their rank to squelch honest deliberation, and when they allegedly failed to properly vote upon all the charges sent to them by the military judge administering Martinez’s trial. If these allegations are true, I find the actions of these jurors—all soldiers in the Army— irresponsible and cowardly. Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez is a liar, a thief, and a murderer. His jury should have found as much and punished Martinez accordingly.<br />
<br />
I wonder, as Phillip’s friends and family grieve his loss this Memorial Day, how will a villain like Staff Sergeant Martinez mark the holiday? Does he grill burgers and hot dogs with his friends and family who are indifferent to his blood-stained soul? Does he hold his children close? Does he even dare speak of his time in Iraq—time spent avoiding his professional responsibility and instead fomenting his wicked plot to murder his commander and his executive officer? Does Martinez even think of Phillip’s daughter, or Lou’s four sons, and the tears and sadness his actions have brought to their lives, on Memorial Day?<br />
<br />
I must accept that Alberto Martinez does not think of these things—at least not as a moral person would, for if Martinez were moral, he never would have committed murder in the first place. Instead, he would have performed the tasks assigned to him as his own oath of enlistment demanded, and falling short, he would have accepted his circumstance like a soldier.<br />
<br />
Like a <i>soldier</i>. The word conjures up a host of contradictions. The best of America’s soldiers have defended and preserved our constitution and republic through the most trying of times. The worst—well, I don’t have to imagine what the worst have done. I only have to think of Phillip as he lay in his coffin, the innocent victim of unbridled cruelty, to be reminded of what the worst of America’s soldiers have brought to my life.<br />
<br />
But on Memorial Day, I will remember my husband Phillip. I will remember his virtue, his honesty, and the love we shared together. Our daughter shall remember Phillip as well, and together, we will recommit ourselves to the brand of justice that says that Phillip’s life mattered, and that in his death, we seek just accountability and reform. Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-56384802444409295552012-10-24T09:08:00.000-04:002012-10-24T09:08:17.503-04:00Army Public Affairs strikes againIn the face of the claims made by members of the Martinez court-martial alleging that a senior member of the panel used her rank to prematurely squelch deliberations before their proper conclusion, and that as an ostensive time-saving measure, the panel did not vote on the specifications of the charge concerning the murder of 1st Lieutenant Allen, the Army could respond in a number of ways.<br />
<br />
The Army could keep a proper silence, refusing to comment on the matter until it possesses all of the relevant facts. The Army could conduct a formal investigation to determine the truth behind these allegations. The Army could seek Mrs. Allen and me out, if only to have us formally submit our claims.<br />
<br />
Instead, we have Army Public Affairs spokesman Lt. Col. Laurel Devine. According to a <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Army-widows-Martinez-jury-tainted-3972108.php#photo-3627351">report filed by Times Union reporter Robert Gavin</a>: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When reached Monday, a Pentagon-based Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Laurel Devine, would only say, "We stand behind the jury's decision." </blockquote>
We stand behind the jury's decision—to acquit Staff Sergeant Martinez, the government's only suspect in the murder of my late husband and 1st Lieutenant Allen. We stand behind the jury's decision—even in the face of these serious and life-altering allegations of jury misconduct. We stand behind the jury's decision—without so much as a cursory inquiry into the allegations that have been made by the widows of the victims. <br />
<br />
I have heard this song before. When I opposed former 42nd Infantry Division commander Major General Joseph Taluto's nomination to serve as director of the National Guard in 2009 on the grounds that I believe that General Taluto failed to enforce well-established and broad-based principles of military discipline and ensure that these principles were enforced throughout his division, I was met with Army Public Affairs spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Durr. Answering me in a media interview, Lt. Col. Durr attempted to downplay the seriousness of the <i>hundreds</i> of vicious death threats and other gestures of contempt that court witnesses testified Staff Sergeant Martinez uttered against my late husband. According to Lt. Col. Durr:<br />
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"I would just submit that if you took the instance where everybody said "I hate that S.O.B." or "I'm going to take care of him" in a moment of anger in any organization, in hindsight it all seems wonderfully clear, but as we go through our day-to-day life it is never that crystal clear." </blockquote>
My answer then to Lt. Col. Durr was that Article 89 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice does not have a "wonderfully clear" clause that absolves a soldier of his obligation to enforce the law prohibiting death threats against a superior commissioned officer in moments of alleged ambiguity. <br />
<br />
My answer today to Lt. Col. Devine is that she has just made it clear why the Army cannot be trusted to properly investigate the allegations of jury misconduct in the Martinez court martial. Barbara Allen and I echo a report of unlawful command influence and other misconduct in the jury room—and Lt. Col. Devine has indicated the Army's stance in the face of it. <i>"<u><b>We stand behind the jury's decision.</b></u>" </i><br />
<br />
The Army can stand behind the Martinez jury and its decision all it wants. I want accountability, fair play, and justice, and I will not rest until I have it, for Phillip, for our daughter Madeline, for Phillip's parents and family, and for myself. </div>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-85912891595461327652012-10-22T20:33:00.004-04:002012-10-22T20:55:46.395-04:00Albany Times Union: Army widows: Martinez jury tainted<span class="userContent">In <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Army-widows-Martinez-jury-tainted-3972108.php">this article released today</a>, reporter Robert Gavin of the Albany Times
Union examines the recent allegations of juror misconduct in the trial of the soldier who murdered my late husband Phillip and First Lieutenant Louis Allen.</span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">Here is a key quote from Barbara Allen, the widow of </span>First Lieutenant Allen:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Not only does this news emotionally shock me, but legally, it is a disgraceful breach of protocol," Allen, 40, the mother of the lieutenant's four sons, ages 9 to 13, told the Times Union from her home in Orange County. Allen said she has learned from jurors that the high-ranked juror told lower-ranking jurors to "shut up" if they wanted to continue deliberating.</blockquote>
Read the full report <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Army-widows-Martinez-jury-tainted-3972108.php">here</a>.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-71896408556909852632012-10-17T09:55:00.002-04:002012-10-17T10:18:08.451-04:00The Journal News: 'Soldier's widow challenges Army, jury's acquittal' Today, the <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20121017/NEWS03/310170060/Soldier-s-widow-challenges-Army-jury-s-acquittal?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s">Journal News</a> published reporter Hema Easley's <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20121017/NEWS03/310170060/Soldier-s-widow-challenges-Army-jury-s-acquittal?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s">story</a> covering my allegation of misconduct in the court-martial of Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez.<br /><br />Here is a short excerpt from Easley's <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20121017/NEWS03/310170060/Soldier-s-widow-challenges-Army-jury-s-acquittal?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s">report</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Now, seven years after her husband, Capt. Phillip Esposito of Suffern, was killed, and nearly four years after a military jury found the staff sergeant charged with murdering her husband not guilty, Siobhan Esposito will be asking the Army to investigate concerns that the acquittal was the result of deliberate misconduct in the jury room."</blockquote>
Read the whole report <a href="http://www.lohud.com/article/20121017/NEWS03/310170060/Soldier-s-widow-challenges-Army-jury-s-acquittal?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s">here</a>.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-69376184413265100252012-10-13T16:02:00.002-04:002012-10-13T16:06:35.594-04:00Address of Siobhan Esposito before the Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1997<i>Note: Yesterday, I spoke at the fifteen-year reunion of the US Military Academy Class of 1997. Below is the text of my address. </i><br />
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I thank the Class of 1997 for providing me this
opportunity to address its members—the classmates of my late husband Captain
Phillip Esposito. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the fifteen years since the members of the Class of
1997 threw up their hats in celebration of their graduation from the Military<b> </b>Academy, eleven members of its ranks
have died. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The largest number died in armed combat with a foreign
enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan. A smaller number died from accidents or disease.
One member of your class, my husband Phillip, was murdered by a subordinate
soldier while deployed in Iraq. Phillip's death and its consequences—for you
and the institution both you and Phillip served—are what I shall speak about today.
In the interest of time, I will speak in broad essentials.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am told that the depth and intensity of the West Point
experience reveals a person’s character for all to see. If a person is deceitful
or lazy, they will not be able to hide it for long, but if a person is moral
and true, their virtue will propel them to positions of great trust and
authority. My husband Phillip was honest, hardworking, and just, and his virtue
propelled him to the responsibility of commissioned leadership in the Army and the
National Guard. Yet it is the sad truth of Phillip's life that his virtue was
not met in kind by the Army in which he served.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phillip's virtue was not met in kind when Staff Sergeant
Alberto Martinez, a subordinate under Phillip's command, made literally <i>hundreds</i> of death threats and gestures
of contempt against Phillip in the year leading to Phillip's death. These
threats, observed by both officers and enlisted soldiers of the 42<sup>nd</sup>
Infantry Division and known throughout the chain of command, were left
unchallenged and unpunished under Article 89 of the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, which proscribes disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phillip's virtue was not met in kind when, on the night
of June 7, 2005, in the darkness of an Iraqi sandstorm, Staff Sergeant Martinez
acted upon his rage and placed a claymore anti-personnel landmine in the window
of Phillip's command post and then detonated it, murdering both Phillip and Martinez's
replacement, 1<sup>st</sup> Lieutenant Louis Allen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phillip's virtue was not met in kind when military
investigators arrested and interrogated Staff Sergeant Martinez absent probable
cause as demanded by the Fourth Amendment, leading the trial judge to exclude Staff
Sergeant Martinez's statement from the evidence presented at Martinez's
court-martial. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Phillip's virtue was not met in kind when, despite
overwhelming evidence that placed Staff Sergeant Martinez at the scene of the
crime, linked him to the weapon used, and established Martinez's murderous
hatred against Phillip for attempting to relieve Martinez for cause, Staff
Sergeant Martinez was nonetheless acquitted by a court-martial of any
responsibility for Phillip's and 1<sup>st</sup> Lieutenant Allen's slaying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the ultimate finders of fact, a jury enjoys great
deference in both our system of government and our society—so great in fact
that I have observed that the typical response to the acquittal of Staff
Sergeant Martinez is for observers to conclude that there must have been
something missing from the evidence presented at Martinez's court-martial to
justify the jury's verdict. These observers are half right; there was something
missing, but it was not evidence necessary to prove Martinez's guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike a civilian
jury, where jurors are randomly selected to sit in judgment, in the armed
forces, the members of a court-martial are selected by the commanding general
convening the trial. Here, Article 25 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
governs the convening authority's discretion in selecting panel members.
Article 25 states that the convening authority shall choose members who are
"in his opinion, [b]est qualified for the duty by reason of age, education,
training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Let me focus upon the last qualification noted in Article
25: a "<i>judicial temperament</i>."
To give justice is to give a person what they deserve. Accordingly, a judicial
temperament must be a disposition to give a person—any person—what they
deserve.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But to give a person what they deserve presupposes a
standard of value—a standard of determining just <i>what</i> it is that a person deserves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For a member of the armed forces, this standard of value
is determined by one's oath of enlistment—one's solemn promise of what they
will do as a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine. Upon taking the oath of
enlistment, a service member pledges to "support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; [to]
bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and [to] obey the orders of the
President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over
[them], according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."<o:p></o:p></div>
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The oath of enlistment has a serious moral and legal
meaning—it defines both the purpose of one's enlistment and the legal code that
will animate one's service. To swear to it means that one freely subordinates
themselves in support of our American form of government, the laws enacted by Congress
that govern the armed forces, and the leaders selected by the commander-in-chief
to lead the armed forces. I doubt I have to remind this audience that men and
women have accepted death rather than disgrace that oath.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thus, in this context—that a service member freely
subordinates him or herself to the Constitution and our laws that he has
pledged his life to defend—let me ask you the following:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is a judicial temperament indicated by a service member
who states that anyone convicted of murder should <i>automatically</i> be executed, <i>regardless</i>
of the law?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is a judicial temperament indicated by a service member
who says that military investigators routinely <i>lie</i> and <i>cheat</i> in order to
secure convictions?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is a judicial temperament indicated by a service member
who says that only <i>God</i> can take a
life, and therefore that they would <i>refuse</i>
to impose a sentence of death even upon a person guilty of premeditated murder?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is a judicial temperament indicated by a service member
who says on one hand that they <i>oppose</i>
the death penalty regardless of the facts and the law, but on the other hand,
that they would <i>consider</i> imposing the
death penalty because quote "<i>anything
can happen</i>"?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is a judicial temperament indicated by a married couple
sitting in judgment, knowing that a jury must not begin their deliberations
until the end of a case, and knowing that most married partners communicate and
are able to sway one another without uttering so much as a single word? <o:p></o:p></div>
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I say "<i><u>no</u></i>."
I say that these examples indicate a temperament that is <i><u>anything</u></i> but judicial. Nevertheless, soldiers holding these
views were nominated by the convening authority to sit in judgment of Staff
Sergeant Martinez. Of the individuals depicted here, all but one came to serve
on the panel that voted to acquit Martinez. Only the member who indicated his inelastic
desire to put convicted murderers to death, regardless of the law, was excluded
by the military judge from serving on the panel. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And let me be absolutely clear: even a person accused of
a cruel and heinous crime, even Staff Sergeant Martinez, a man for whom I feel
nothing but contempt, deserves a fair and impartial trial. That was Phillip's
moral code, and it is my moral code as well. Accordingly, I agree that the exclusion
of the one juror was just and appropriate, but I hold that the military judge’s
failure to exclude the others was <i><u>egregiously
unjust</u></i> and <i><u>highly
inappropriate</u></i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You may be asking yourself why then did the military
judge exclude the one, but not the others. The straightforward answer is that
the law allows it. Because the convening authority is given the power to
personally select panel members, military judges are required to liberally
grant <i>defense</i> challenges to strike a
juror for cause, but military judges are <i>not</i>
required to liberally grant similar <i>prosecution</i>
challenges. In fact, in the 2005 case <i>United
States v. James</i>, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces explicitly
held that "[g]iven the convening authority's broad power to appoint [panel
members], there is no basis for application of the "liberal grant"
policy when a military judge is ruling on the government's challenges for
cause." <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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And thus for the last four years since Staff Sergeant
Martinez was acquitted by court-martial, I have lived with the knowledge that the
number of soldiers required to acquit Martinez were not objective—that these panel
members were not animated by a soldier's true faith and allegiance to our
constitution and our laws, but instead were animated by their own private whims
and caprice. I have lived with the added knowledge that military law permitted
it. <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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And this knowledge is vicious and cruel enough. But I have
recently learned of allegations that I consider even more sinister and damning,
and which, if true, impugns the integrity of the entire military criminal justice
system.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have recently been informed that a juror who sat in
judgment of Staff Sergeant Martinez has privately alleged that a senior member
of the panel used her rank to prematurely squelch deliberations before their
proper conclusion, and that two jurors have privately alleged that as an
ostensive time-saving measure, the panel did not vote on the specifications of
the charge concerning the murder of 1<sup>st</sup> Lieutenant Allen.
Specifically, I have been informed that the acquittal of Staff Sergeant
Martinez is the product of the unlawful command influence of this senior panel
member, and that the panel did not scrupulously follow the instructions of the military
judge as it tallied the votes for its verdict.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The case of <i>United
States v. Accordino</i>, decided in 1985 by the U.S. Court of Military Appeals,
closely parallels the allegations made by the panel member in the Martinez court-martial.
In the <i>Accordino </i>case, a sergeant in
the Air Force was convicted by court-martial of the wrongful use of cocaine and
marijuana and she appealed. The Court of Military Appeals held that the affidavits
of two court members alleging that the board president had cut short the
discussion on the findings could be considered to impeach the sergeant's conviction
on the basis of unlawful command influence. In the face of this allegation, the
court set aside the sergeant's conviction and returned the case for a new trial.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is no opportunity for any new hearing in the case
of my murdered husband; there will be no new trial as the Fifth Amendment's protection
against double jeopardy does not permit retrials even in the face of this kind
of misconduct. But here, I think that the legal test for unlawful command
influence is instructive. Unlawful command influence exists when "a
reasonable member of the public, if aware of all of the facts, would have a
loss of confidence in the military justice system and believe it to be unfair."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>I have lost all confidence in the military justice
system.</u> <u>I believe it to be unfair.</u> You will have to make up your own
mind as to whether I am reasonable or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Under the principle of full disclosure, I must inform you
that the military justice establishment largely disagrees with me. For example,
in 1999, the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice examined how the Armed
Forces convene their courts-martial. The Committee concluded in its report to
Congress that current practice "ensures fair panels of court-martial
members who are best qualified" and that there is "no evidence of
systemic unfairness or unlawful command influence." Yet in a 2011
editorial on the application of the military death penalty, the <i>New York Times</i> observed that "eight
out of 10 [military] death sentences have been overturned, compared with a
reversal rate of 3 to 8 percent in military non-capital cases." <o:p></o:p></div>
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So on one hand, we have a claim of no evidence of
systemic unfairness in the military, and yet on the other hand, we have a claim
that says 80% of the death sentences handed out by courts-martial are subsequently
overturned upon appeal. I respectfully submit to you that when prosecuting
capital murder, the military justice system is <i>systemically broken</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The question for you is how many failures you need to see
before you believe it— and how many failures you need to see before you demand
action. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And in a larger sense, you cannot tell me that the
victims of the Ft. Hood massacre in 2009 would have been murdered all the same
if the Army had learned the needed lessons from Phillip's death. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At Ft. Hood, the stage for murder was set by a
mind-numbing political correctness that failed to hold a killer to account for
his avowed sympathy for the enemy's cause. In the case of Phillip's death, the
stage for murder was set by a mind-numbing clique of poor performers who
favored coddling an inept supply sergeant who nevertheless was their
"buddy" over upholding the Army's own principles and defending the
life of their commander.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The great American statesman Daniel Webster once observed
that “every unpunished murder takes away something from the security of every
man's life.” The English poet W. H. Auden found that "murder is unique in
that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place
of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is
the one crime in which society has a direct interest." And rejecting the
moral status quo that dominates our age, the philosopher Ayn Rand observed that
"today's mawkish concern with and compassion for the feeble, the flawed,
the suffering, the guilty, is a cover for the profound [h]atred of the
innocent, the strong, the able, the successful, the virtuous, the confident,
the happy."<o:p></o:p></div>
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My husband Phillip—your classmate—was innocent, strong,
able, successful, virtuous, confident, and happy. I loved Phillip for it, yet Phillip's
killer murdered Phillip for these virtues because they embodied everything that
the killer was not. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The wrongful acquittal of this murderer recoils upon the
Army, and the Army's failure to learn the larger cultural lessons of this
tragedy continues to put soldiers' lives at risk. Yet I am here to tell you
that the Army has not learned the necessary lessons from the tragedy of
Phillip's death. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For example, in 2009, Phillip's division commander, Major
General Joseph Taluto, was nominated to receive his third star and serve as
director of the National Guard. I publicly opposed General Taluto’s nomination
on the grounds that I believe that General Taluto failed to enforce
well-established and broad-based principles of military discipline and ensure
that these principles were enforced throughout his division. I believe that
General Taluto's failure here set the stage for Phillip's murder—even if Taluto
was never personally aware of the problems in Phillip's company. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was met with a rather despicable answer from the
general in reply to my argument. In a news interview, General Taluto's PR
spokesman tried to downplay the gravity of Staff Sergeant Martinez's threats
against Phillip's life, claiming that quote "[he] would just submit that
if you took the instance where everybody said "I hate that S.O.B." or
"I'm going to take care of him" in a moment of anger in any organization,
in hindsight it all seems wonderfully clear, but as we go through our
day-to-day life it is never that crystal clear." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Perhaps it's just me. But I think that when an enlisted
soldier speaks of his commander by saying that he "hate[s] that motherfucker"
and that he's "going to frag that motherfucker," and he greets other
soldiers with the daily greeting of "fucking frag him" as Staff
Sergeant Martinez did according to the eyewitness testimony of over twenty
witnesses, the soldier has made his contempt plain. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Yet in any case, Article 89 of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice does not have a "wonderfully clear" clause that
absolves soldiers of their duty to enforce the law in moments of alleged
ambiguity. That the soldiers and officers of Phillip's division felt
differently to the point that Phillip could receive <i>hundreds</i> of threats against his life and yet <i>no one</i> would act to uphold the law reveals a systemic lack of
discipline that indicts the entire chain of command.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I am glad to report to you that General Taluto did not
receive his promotion. General Taluto decided to withdraw his nomination two
weeks after the Army's preliminary report on the Ft. Hood massacre, and lest my
concerns about him become a "distraction" for the Army. But in falling
on his sword for the alleged sake of the Army, General Taluto managed to moot
the larger investigation that my opposition into his nomination engendered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We must not let this be the end of Phillip's story. Phillip's
murder demands <i>atonement</i>—for his
sake, for the sake of our daughter Madeline, who was never afforded the
opportunity to know her father, for the sake of Phillip's parents, who lovingly
raised a son only to see him struck down with unpunished cruelty, and for the
sake of the Army that Phillip loved and served with all his devotion. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf-GpxLFB4kdg5aODTc87o4EizAakMJ2HKnlxZHaLiyP5zlrmBNO68azjb4D7LlZ42MYiWXv7w4c1McWWusdFMH-CVW387uRvxdWKKONW8XQ0acxLe9jEMdpgcvIDLmuMhdtlv_Gibm4/s1600/WPS-3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf-GpxLFB4kdg5aODTc87o4EizAakMJ2HKnlxZHaLiyP5zlrmBNO68azjb4D7LlZ42MYiWXv7w4c1McWWusdFMH-CVW387uRvxdWKKONW8XQ0acxLe9jEMdpgcvIDLmuMhdtlv_Gibm4/s1600/WPS-3.gif" /></a></div>
Lou Allen's death <i>also</i>
deserves atonement. Here was a man who <i>also</i>
loved the Army and who <i>also</i> served it
with all his devotion. My husband brought Lou over to Iraq because Lou was a
man with integrity who knew how to lead soldiers and fix problems. Lou answered
Phillip's call to help him rebuild a broken unit to insure that it was ready
for the rigors of combat, and Lou was also murdered for his virtues. It sickens
me that the jurors tasked with determining Staff Sergeant Martinez's guilt or
innocence were so indifferent to the value of Lou's life that they did not have
the common decency to properly vote on the charges that related to Lou. What a
slap in the face to Lou's wife and their four sons that for the members of this
jury, the dignity of Lou's life wasn't even worth the few short hours it would
have taken them to conduct a proper vote in accordance with the military
judge's instructions. What a disgrace to the uniform that Phillip and Lou now
wear forever in their graves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I am here before you today to issue a call to action. There
must be a proper accounting, or even more lives will be destroyed, and our
system of justice will come into even more disrepute. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I call upon the Army to fully investigate the allegation
of unlawful command influence in the jury-room of the Martinez court-martial
that I allege here today. The jurors who made these allegations need to come
forward and swear to all that they have alleged—there is no room for any more
cowardice. I call upon the Army to finally acknowledge that Phillip's and
Lieutenant Allen's murder was, in part, the product of a faulty culture of
defective leadership and broken accountability, and thus recommit itself to its
own standards of military discipline. And I call upon the Army to address the
defects in its justice system that allowed a killer to go free, and that
delivers far less than the full degree of justice that lies within human grasp.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And I call upon you, Phillip's classmates, to stand with
me in this fight. I have created a foundation in Phillip's memory that seeks to
advance the cause of criminal justice. You can pledge your support and offer
your leadership to this foundation today. I also seek to build a fitting and
poetic artistic monument to Phillip's life here at the campus of West Point, so
that future Army officers can find inspiration in the man Phillip was, and
resolve never to surrender the cause of justice as it was surrendered with Phillip's
death. You can pledge your support to this effort as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But most importantly, you, as individuals, and as a class
of Phillip's brothers and sisters in arms, can join me in my call for full and
complete accountability. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Please know this: <i>I
will take no backward steps</i>. I will fight upon these lines for as long as
it takes. I know that many of you have endured great trials in your service to
our nation, and as I noted in the beginning of my address, I know that some of
your classmates have given the last, full measure of their devotion in faithful
service to America and the principles for which America stands. I say to you
that my struggle in the face of Phillip's needless and preventable murder and
the incomprehensible acquittal of Phillip's murderer is part and parcel of the
same struggle. But I need your help.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I thank the Class of 1997 for providing me this
opportunity to speak. It needed to be said, and I am grateful to have the
opportunity to finally say it.</div>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-6080959466818014282012-09-17T11:00:00.000-04:002012-09-17T12:37:32.550-04:00A note to my friends and supporters on the recent actions of Ray Ortega<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It has come to my understanding that a Mr. Ray Ortega, a
former defense investigator for the government’s suspect in the murder of my
late husband, Captain Phillip Esposito, has created a website to solicit funds
for his private investigation of my husband’s murder and the murder of 1st<sup></sup>
Lieutenant Louis Allen. I do not condone
this website and I encourage you not to visit or support it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In this website, styled "http://justiceforcaptainphillipesposito.com," Ortega claims that he has developed his own theory on who murdered my late
husband and 1st Lieutenant Allen and that he seeks monetary support
to continue his private investigation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the past, Ortega has contacted me privately to secure
my financial assistance for his endeavors. He presented me with no evidence
beyond his mere assertions, yet he sought for me to underwrite his investigation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It goes without saying that I flatly rejected Ortega’s request.
I told Ortega that if he possesses
evidence that implicates another suspect in the murder of my husband and 1st
Lieutenant Allen, he should turn it over to government prosecutors immediately and
worry about his reward later. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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To my knowledge, Ortega did not act on my advice. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But by using my late husband’s name, my name, and by quoting
me on his website, I am concerned that Ortega creates an impression that I
somehow sanction his use of my husband’s name, my name, and his investigation of my
husband’s death. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Unequivocally, I do not. In my opinion, neither should
you.<o:p></o:p></div>
Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-54341045144625971222012-06-13T12:09:00.002-04:002012-06-18T21:07:13.793-04:00'Insuring' the Status Quo at Gold Star WivesAs a candidate for the Board of Directors of Gold Star Wives of America, I expected at least some resistance to the <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/siobhan-esposito-for-board-of-directors.html">ideas</a> that I propose, if only because I see such a pressing need for the organization to step up its advocacy on behalf of surviving spouses. That said, I didn't expect this kind of opposition. On the Gold Star Wives <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/GoldStarWives/">Facebook page</a>, Gold Star Wives national outreach chair Rachel Clinkscale publicly scolded me for my <a href="http://siobhanesposito.blogspot.com/2012/06/siobhan-esposito-for-board-of-directors.html">platform</a>, writing:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You should not be posting GSW information on this
Facebook (sic), Social Networking sites is (sic) not covered under the organizations
insurance, only the monitored internet site are (sic) covered."</blockquote>
The claim that a candidate for the board of directors of an organization should
not speak openly about what they would do if elected because of so-called "insurance"
reasons is such ridiculous folly, I won't bother to examine it; I'll only ask
what it seeks to achieve. Clearly Ms. Clinkscale is threatened by new ideas to
improve Gold Star Wives. Clearly Ms. Clinkscale seeks to squelch discussion of
new ideas. <br />
<br />
Yet new ideas and thoughtful discussion is <i><u><b>exactly</b></u></i> what Gold Star Wives needs if
it is to achieve its mission of advancing the cause of surviving spouses. <br />
<br />
Ms. Clinkscale continues:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Y]ou have some very ambitious plans like taking over the
Chairman of the Board and National President's positions.</blockquote>
The claim that a member of the board of directors of an organization usurps the
positions of the Chairman and National President by declaring an agenda that
they seek the organization to adopt is equally ridiculous folly. As a board
member, I would have only one vote with which to advance any proposal. Thus any
proposal, be it mine, or anyone else's, will require the support of board
members. Thus any proposal, be it mine, or anyone else's, will require the
support of the majority of the members of Gold Star Wives. <br />
<br />
Lastly, as national outreach chair of Gold Star Wives, Ms. Clinkscale wrote in
the Gold Star Wives' March newsletter that "sometimes we don't agree with the life styles
of the younger widow but it's not our place to judge them – just love them."<br />
<br />
Perhaps I should add a final point to my platform. I seek a more effective organization
that welcomes new members. As such, I will not sit silently when people in
charge of outreach patronize younger widows with such condescending statements
as Ms. Clinkscale's.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">So yes, I will work to change attitudes for the better. Our needs
as surviving military spouses deserves no less.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>UPDATE</b>: My platform has been removed from GSW's Facebook page. Corinna Gibson-Ashmead deleted my post claiming in a message to me that "a good point was made that not everyone is on FB and therefore it is not an equal/fair platform presentation for all candidates." Ms. Gibson-Ashmead refused to indicate who made this "good point" and stated that she was acting out of her own independent judgement as Facebook administrator.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, I disagree with this action. Rather than squelch discussion and debate, I think that GSW should be encouraging potential leaders to share their ideas for the future of the organization. Furthermore, there's nothing to say that members could not assist the less technically savvy in getting the word out. I, for one, would be happy to host <i>any </i>candidate's ideas on my website if it was thought that doing so would help serve the larger interest of the organization. <br /><br /> At root, we should be working to raise the bar, not lower it.</div>Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-13778882540031609492012-06-11T23:34:00.002-04:002012-06-12T00:03:04.835-04:00Siobhan Esposito For Board of Directors of Gold Star Wives of America<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDjfQEa9H1-t8ydUEINFY6yFO54VSsBrhyCkFIB6HQDPrQKwzWlQAU0ng9M46jAuVbpSNIdGGYpdgWII3wv7mL14Ilj0-dU8s_aI3ah3al4R991iFhS0Gox3Qlhy9-v2btU6QAk8d1pE/s1600/SME.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDjfQEa9H1-t8ydUEINFY6yFO54VSsBrhyCkFIB6HQDPrQKwzWlQAU0ng9M46jAuVbpSNIdGGYpdgWII3wv7mL14Ilj0-dU8s_aI3ah3al4R991iFhS0Gox3Qlhy9-v2btU6QAk8d1pE/s200/SME.jpg" width="200" /></a>Gold Star Wives should be the nation’s preeminent organization when it comes to promoting the interests of surviving spouses and families. In that light, it is important that candidates for the board of directors indicate what they wish to achieve should they be elected to serve on the board.<br />
<br />
My background is in public administration with a focus in nonprofit management; specifically, I am a handful of credits shy of having my Masters degree in this field from American University.<br />
<br />
In the course of my studies, I have learned much about the hallmarks of effective nonprofit organizations. I have had the opportunity to study several nonprofits in depth, and learn from both their successes and mistakes. I hope to apply these lessons to making Gold Star Wives a more effective voice for surviving spouses.<br />
<br />
As a member of the board of directors, I will propose the following nine points:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I will work to help the board of directors improve the quality of its leadership of Gold Star Wives. I will work to insure financial and program accountability, promote peer review among the members of the board, and impose term limits.</li>
<li>I will call for monthly board of directors meetings. I believe that an organization with thousands of members brought together because of a life-altering event as dramatic as losing a spouse requires active and ongoing board leadership.</li>
<li>I will call for the hiring of a professional executive director to manage the day-to-day affairs of Gold Star Wives, to include legislative advocacy, coalition-building, fundraising, and member services.</li>
<li>I will work to see that a parallel 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization be created in addition to GSW's current organization. Gold Star Wives is currently incorporated as a 501(c)(4) organization under the Internal Revenue Code, which means that Gold Star Wives may lobby Congress to pass legislation, but private donations to the organization are not deductible on one's taxes. By creating a new 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to work alongside the existing organization, Gold Star Wives will dramatically increase its ability to raise revenue for its members’ benefit.</li>
<li>As Gold Star Wives must increase its outreach and actively recruit younger widows and widowers from America’s more recent wars, I will work toward this recruitment by ensuring that GSW offer services that younger surviving spouses need in the face of their loss, and work to expand knowledge of our organization in the military community.</li>
<li>As Gold Star Wives must be an easily accessible clearinghouse on information about government survivor benefits, I will work to have the national organization make experts available to members in areas such as grief counseling, financial planning, and child-rearing in the face of loss, just to name a few. Local chapters could then host these experts as guest speakers—adding value to the local chapters' meetings. At root, Gold Star Wives needs to dramatically increase the services that it provides to its members—and not leave it to other service organizations to fill in the gaps.</li>
<li>As one of Gold Star Wives' primary purposes is effective government advocacy, I will work to ensure that the interests and needs of surviving spouses are respected by our nation's political leaders in Washington, and I will work diligently to expand GSW's grassroots voice.</li>
<li>I will propose that our organization change its name to "Gold Star Spouses of America" to reflect the changing face of America, and the changing nature of military service.</li>
<li>I will propose that membership in our organization be open to all surviving spouses of eligible military service members, regardless of the current citizenship of the surviving spouse. It would be horrifying to turn our backs on the surviving spouse of a fallen American hero merely because that surviving spouse was not American themselves—a needless slap in the face to someone who has already suffered enough. </li>
</ol>
Ultimately, I will work to ensure that Gold Star Wives of America exists as an effective advocate for surviving spouses, and I ask for your help and support in this effort. Surviving spouses have given their husbands and wives in the service of our nation. In return, these survivors need and deserve a well-managed organization that is equal to the many challenges that they face in their lives. Through the death of my late husband, Army Captain Phillip Esposito, in Iraq in 2005, I have come to know many of these challenges personally, and I seek to stand with my fellow surviving spouses as we face them together.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-51425065740065436822012-06-07T00:01:00.000-04:002012-06-07T12:47:16.877-04:00Seven years ago today, US Army Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez murdered my husband<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Bonis nocet qui malis
parcit</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"He who spares the wicked injures the good." ~ Seneca</div>
<br />
Seven years ago today, US Army Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez murdered my
husband, Captain Phillip Esposito.<br />
<br />
Evidence presented at Martinez's court-martial in 2008 revealed that Staff
Sergeant Martinez placed a claymore anti-personal mine in the window of my
husband's office and detonated it, killing my husband and another officer. Further
evidence revealed Staff Sergeant Martinez's motive; either to avoid his being
removed from his position for cause, or to punish my husband for removing him, Staff
Sergeant Martinez premeditatedly murdered my husband and the officer set to
replace Martinez at his job.<br />
<br />
Testimony at court-martial revealed that Staff Sergeant Martinez issued hundreds
of death threats against my husband's life; nevertheless, none of these threats
were acted upon by anyone in the 42<sup>nd</sup> Infantry Division of the
National Guard and United States Army in which Martinez served, nor was my
husband ever informed of these threats. If Staff Sergeant Martinez set and fired the
mine that slaughtered my husband, Martinez's unindicted co-conspirators were
the men and women of the 42<sup>nd</sup> Infantry Division who recklessly sat
on their hands while Martinez spewed his venom.<br />
<br />
At his court-martial, Staff Sergeant Martinez put forth no
reasonable hypothesis of innocence; at least none that would convince me of his innocence in the face of the evidence presented against him, or compel me to
demand further investigation and criminal charges levied against others. Thus it goes without saying
that in my view, Staff Sergeant Martinez's freedom to commit murder and his subsequent
acquittal by a military court-martial is an egregious error of justice.<br />
<br />
But further, I have stood <i>singularly </i>alone in my public appraisal of the undisciplined
military culture within the 42<sup>nd</sup> Infantry Division that set the stage
for my husband's murder and of the defects in the military justice that set my
husband's killer free.<br />
<br />
That is not to say that private comments have not been made
to me. For example, I received the message below just last week, ostensibly in honor
of Memorial Day:<br />
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mrs. Esposito, Please do not post my comments to your blog. I was a fellow
Captain that worked with your husband at FOB Danger--he was a good officer and
a good person. His professionalism was above that of other officers in his
unit. I was in the next building over when your husband was killed. Although, it
has taken me years to write to you, please know that few days pass that I don't
think about how awful and unprofessional the culture was at FOB Danger during
that time. Your husband paid the ultimate price for the failure of Army
leadership. Please know that this Memorial Day, like every Memorial Day, I
remember my fellow innocent officers that were murdered by their own. My
thoughts will be with you over this weekend. With great respect and peace--A
former officer and current Army wife living in Europe.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
The author above freely admits that "[my] husband paid the ultimate price
for the failure of Army leadership," but doesn't want her even <i>anonymous
</i>comment published, lest apparently the word get out. Such was the caliber of
the men and women my slaughtered husband had the misfortune of serving alongside
in the 42<sup>nd</sup> Infantry Division of the National Guard.<br />
<br />
Seven years after Phillip's murder, I still seek justice—I still seek my
vindication. I still seek to show the cause of Phillip's death, and show how this cause
was both needless and preventable. I still seek to prevent future slaughter, if
only to serve as a living memorial to Phillip's memory. I still seek to raise
our daughter with proof that her father and his family received the justice
that they deserved. And I still seek to rebuild my life, and live free in a
world no longer dominated by the taint of Staff Sergeant Alberto B. Martinez
and his sundry apologists and defenders.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-10044708658781602252012-01-01T10:36:00.005-05:002012-01-01T12:45:22.224-05:00New Year's Tribute<a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120101/NEWS/111239974"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 474px; height: 370px;" src="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TH&Date=20120101&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=111239974&Ref=AR&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&title=1&border=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In today's Times Herald-Record, reporter Adam Bosch has assembled <a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120101/NEWS/111239974">a tribute</a> to the seventeen Hudson Valley and Catskills area servicemen and women who died in the war in Iraq.<br /><br />My late husband, Captain Phillip Esposito, is profiled <a href="http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120101/NEWS/111239964">here</a>.Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695741160363491977.post-920732085763773742011-12-17T00:08:00.002-05:002011-12-17T10:29:42.313-05:00Politico covers my FOIA suit against the ArmyIn his <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2011/12/transparency-lags-in-bradley-manning-case-107740.html">coverage today</a> of the court-martial of Army PFC Bradley Manning, Politico reporter and Freedom of Information Act expert <a href="http://www.politico.com/reporters/JoshGerstein.html">Josh Gerstein</a> reports on my FOIA lawsuit this spring against the Army. Here my story fit into the larger context of the Army's continued refusal to release documents related to its administration of justice—documents that would otherwise be available for public inspection were the accused before a civilian court.<br /><br />The text pertinent to my lawsuit appears below:<br /><br /><blockquote>When Siobhan Esposito, the wife of an Army Captain who was apparently murdered in his office in Iraq in 2005 asked for the official record of the public court martial where her husband's alleged killer was acquitted, the Army eventually released a partial transcript of the proceedings, but deleted the names, grades, duty positions and other identifying information of Army personnel "below the office director level" including the name of the military judge, the attorneys in the case and witnesses. The deletions were made even though the court martial, held at Fort Bragg, N.C., was open to the public and anyone in the room could have heard and written down the allegedly private details.<br /><br />“It was crazy…..It was like something right out of the Marx Brothers," Fidell recalled.<br /><br />Fidell filed suit in January of this year on Esposito's behalf. A couple of months later, the Army agreed to provide the widow with a full transcript of the open sessions of the court martial, with only the street address of one witness deleted. The Army also agreed to pay $2500 for the legal fees incurred in filing the case.</blockquote>Siobhan Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800200656095184963noreply@blogger.com0