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Watada proceedings delayed for review

A U.S. District Court ruling late Friday has temporarily halted proceedings in the general court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy to Iraq and spoke out against the Bush administration because he believes the war is illegal.

The proceedings are delayed until Oct. 26 to allow the judge to review a claim by Watada that double jeopardy protects him from being tried twice on the same charges.

Watada was scheduled to go to trial Oct. 9 on one charge of missing movement and four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. His first court-martial ended in February in a mistrial when the judge ruled that Watada did not understand the pretrial agreement he had signed.

If tried and convicted, Watada faces dismissal and up to six years of confinement.

Watada was assigned to 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division of Fort Lewis, Wash. The brigade deployed to Iraq in June 2006, and returned in September 2007 after a 15-month deployment. The soldiers served under Multi-National Division-North. Forty-eight soldiers from the brigade were killed during the deployment.