KevinB,
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Afghan+soldier+revelation+sparked+shooting+probe+court+martial+told/2730745/story.html
"I came to the conclusion that there was a real possibility that a crime had been committed," Nolan testified.
During the Helmand operation, Semrau had radioed Nolan to ask what he should do with a wounded Taliban fighter that he had encountered in a cornfield. Nolan said he told Semrau to offer first aid and evacuate the wounded man.
According to Nolan, Semrau came back on the radio five to seven minutes later to say the insurgent had died of his wounds.
Nolan told the court martial that he took the Afghan soldier's allegations about Semrau seriously because it fit with an oblique comment made earlier by an Afghan colonel. During the Helmand operation, the colonel had congratulated him for the actions of one of his men, who had killed a Taliban. Nolan had dismissed the colonel's comments as "bizarre" since none of his soldiers had reported killing an insurgent.
Nolan conveyed his suspicions about Semrau to his superior, Colonel Joseph Shipley, on Dec. 21, 2008, one day after being approached by the Afghan soldier. Shipley ordered Fisher to interview Private Steven Fournier, who had been with Semrau on the day in question. Based on the results of Fisher's "disturbing" interview with Fournier, Nolan said, a full military investigation was ordered.
Semrau's lawyer, Major Steve Turner, suggested on cross-examination that Nolan was once the subject of a probe by the military's National Investigative Service about a possible coverup in the case. Nolan said he underwent a lie-detector test as part of that investigation earlier this year. He has not been charged with any offence.
Friday's cross-examination also hinted at the defence strategy in Semrau's court martial. Turner asked Nolan to review a written log of radio communications made during the Helmand operation of Oct. 19, 2008. Nowhere in that log, Turner suggested, would Nolan find anything to confirm his radio conversation with Semrau, in which he is alleged to have ordered him to offer first aid to the wounded Taliban soldier and to evacuate him.
"No, it's not recorded in the log," Nolan conceded. Nolan noted, however, that radio communications were poor that day and that the soldier making the logbook may not have heard the transmission.
SevenSixTwo,
This is a very gray argument. There is a fine but important line between legal and criminal offence with exceptions - Example - Netherlands
In 2002, the Netherlands legalized euthanasia. Euthanasia is still a criminal offence but the law codified a twenty-year old convention of not prosecuting doctors who have committed euthanasia in specific circumstances. The Dutch Euthanasia Act states that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are not punishable if the attending physician acts in accordance with criteria of due care.[1] These criteria concern the patient's request, the patient's suffering (unbearable and hopeless), the information provided to the patient, the presence of reasonable alternatives, consultation of another physician and the applied method of ending life.[1] To demonstrate their compliance, the Act requires physicians to report euthanasia to a review committee.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_in_the_Netherlands
