See previous: The Watada Doctrine

The Left's definition of a "hero:" Breaking - Mistrial in Watada case
Michelle Malkin

Just in tonight from Ft. Lewis via the Seattle P-I:

The court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada ended in a mistrial Wednesday.

The case's judge, Lt. Col. John Head, declared the trial over after a day of wrangling over a stipulation of facts that Watada had signed before the trial and that would have been part of the instructions to the jury. The judge decided that Watada never intended when he signed the stipulation to mean that he had a duty to go to Iraq with his unit.

Again the issue was Watada's views on the Iraq war -- opinions that kept him from going with his unit to the conflict and that the judge didn't want brought up at the court-martial.

Watada, a Stryker Brigade soldier, is the first commissioned officer to refuse to be deployed to Iraq. Watada's unit left this sprawling base for Iraq in June, but Watada remained behind. He said he believes the war is illegal and that his duty is to not abide by illegal orders.

But Head tried to keep the court-martial from becoming a tribunal on the war and its legality and has ruled that Watada's attorney cannot present witnesses to question the war's legality. Outside the base, that has been the issue as peace activists from across the country have rallied to Watada's side. ...

How damned obvious do the facts have to be to convict the son of a bitch and put him away?

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Army Lawyer writes:

Don't worry, under Rules for Courts Martial 915, the declaration of a mistrial has the effect of withdrawing the charges and returning them to the convening authority, who may refer them to a brand spanking new court martial.

So we ain't done yet.

UPDATE: Nope, not done yet:

Military judge Lt. Col. John Head granted prosecutors' request for a mistrial, which Watada's lawyer opposed. He set a March 12 date for a new trial and dismissed the jurors.