Thursday, November 26, 2009

Nation & World

Lawyers Who Switch Sides

Air Force Major Charles M. Haney

Posted 12/8/02

Charles Haney Jr. tested spy satellites and ground-tracking systems. Possessed of an exemplary military record, the career Air Force major was convicted on drug charges in a case that raises fundamental questions about the fairness of military justice.

In November 1989, Haney underwent a random urinalysis. It was positive for marijuana and cocaine use. Haney had no record of illegal drug use and had passed many other tests. He says he thought the lab had mistakenly mixed his urine sample with another.

Haney's commander thought Haney was innocent, but an Air Force prosecutor, Capt. Robert Watson, persuaded him to file charges. Not long after, Watson became one of Haney's defense lawyers. Military law permits this, as long as the accused waives a provision that bars prosecutors from switching sides. Watson says Haney waived the conflict, though not in writing, and was fully aware of his prosecution role. But Haney says he didn't know Watson had been key to the prosecution when he joined the defense team.

Based solely on the disputed urinalysis, a five-member jury panel convicted Haney and ordered him dismissed from the Air Force. Haney wanted the urine sample tested for his appeal, but the Air Force had destroyed it. He was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Over the next decade, Haney, now 50, ran up $180,000 in legal fees appealing the case. When the charges were first brought, Haney was four months shy of retirement. "When he was dismissed from the Air Force," says Patience Schermer, Haney's lawyer, "he lost everything, including his pension." -Edward T. Pound

This story appears in the December 16, 2002 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.

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