European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 5, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              S travelling judges la. Col. Donahue v corps Deputy staff judge advocate counsels two soldiers. The go s Legal pal an unpretentious sign Over theoffice door reads soldiers  inside a Small Crew of trained leg Almen pursue their duties As a relatively new Semi Independent Arm of the Jud advocate division a modern weight in the balancing Scales of military  is the soldiers advocate pro Gram born officially on nov. 7, 1960, at  Wood mo., the program in Lails assigning a segment of the judge advocate s personnel to concentrate exclusively on handling the Legal problems of servicemen. The underlying philosophy As expressed by it. Col. Madison c. Wright 11 one of the founders of the soldiers advocate Branch is the belief that it is in the ultimate Best interest of the government that All soldiers feel they re getting a fair  another main philosophic and real function of . Was and is to still the popular suspicion that lawyers with in the judge advocate s office work both sides of the  soldiers advocate programs exist and there is Strong resistance income quarters Legal personnel Arci relieved of any responsibilities to represent the government in litigation with . Lawyers having the absolute right of privileged communication with their clients. 1 racing . S history Wright re called that the first chief of an .division was col. James w. Booth. Then a Captain Wright said we had enough lawyers there to maintain the pro  of personnel has been one of the arguments against initiating a soldiers advocate program in some commands. However it has been pointed out that an estimated 40 per cent of the total volume of work descending on the judge advocate s office involves direct serv ice to the individual meaning that Ank a. Wing is largely a management de vice to Aid in the efficient handling of individual Legal needs. The is id of the program was primarily tin result of proselytizing by Hose it. Leonard Wood innovators us key went on to other posts including Frueh varied spots us Wuerzburg Ger no a Kort a 7th inf div Vietnam and the la Oatsville Alu  went from Leonard Wood to Fri Liay april 5, 1968 Vietnam to it. Benning ga., to Kaiserslautern helping Institute . Offices in route. When he arrived at Vii corps head quarters at Kelley Barracks near Stutt Gart last july to serve As 13th circuit Law officer. Wright was just in time to see the Shingle Hung up on the .office. � utting soldiers advocacy into its structural setting the judge advocate division oversees a wide variety of Legal duties roughly three fifths of which entail representing the govern ment prosecuting cases advising com Manders on Legal problems administer ing military Justice settling claims Forand against the government acting in Liaison capacities with local attorney Sand serving As advisers to military contracting offices. On the individual Side of the Ledger, provides direct Legal service by handling defense in courts martial sup plying Legal assistance for a go s per Sonal affairs wills debts Etc rep resenting personnel in administrative Board actions and giving Legal Aid to anyone involved in rep Ortive surveys. A prominent advantage to the sol Diers advocate program is this a i charged with a crime May see his appointed defense counsel who then May help handle All the Serviceman s prob lems Safe from any possible conflict of interests safeguarded by the Guaran teed Sanctity of the lawyer client re  any discussion of Law. There has been an irresistible temptation to com pare military Justice with . Civilian  states Are now getting around to passing Laws to reimburse lawyers for defending indigents. Wright observed that criminal Law in the .has been in a Low  traditionally the bar association shave had to Bear the economic Burden of handling cases lawyers taking a occasional Case with Little Promise of nay merely to fulfil an obligation to society it meant that with exceptions the indigent s cause was t Likely to receive an attorney s most thorough  contrast the Serviceman who ranks Low on the pay scale May fee nonetheless assured he will receive trained local Aid if needed and where there s an . Office undivided Legal attention. . By George Bettl staff writer have Gavel. Will  cards bearing this Mes Sage might Well belong to any of the four circuit Riding Law officers who pre Side Over general courts martial for the army in Europe. It in their duty to take Over the Benchin trials involving major crimes whether it is an alleged murder in Berlin armed robbery in London or assault in Augsburg. The travelling judges of the four army judicial circuits in Europe Are col. John f. Taylor 12th circuit it.  c. Wright a 13th circuit it. Col Kenneth m. Abagis. 14th circuit and col. Harold v. Martin 15th Cir Cuit. Taylor is senior officer of the group and from his base of operations in Heidelberg has the final say in the scheduling of assignments for his three fellow Law officers. Additionally he irresponsible for handling general courts martial in bad Kreuz Nach. Mannheim Kaiserslautern plus England the Middle East and North Africa. Abagis handles cases in territory extending northward from Frankfurt to Bremerhaven while Martin operating out of Munich has the bavarian sector and Italy. It. Col. Madison Cornelius Wright a a genial Gray haired georgian who makes his Home base at vhf corps is photos by Victor Damon Kelley Barracks outside Stuttgart has responsibility for Baden Wuerttemberg and Berlin a Domain that placed him squarely in the Middle of a highly publicized trial As his first contested Case. The trial was that of army s.  r. Wox i who was charged with the Gasthaus murder of a German Beer truck Driver Friedrich Karl Koch dec. 23, 1966. At the court martial s outset much of the publicity entered on the identity of Wood s defense lawyer Melvin Belli the Golden throated san Francisco at Torney who had built a reputation for flamboyance in his career As King of torts and defender of Jack Ruby Slayer of Lee Harvey Oswald. B it Wood s trial gradually found Belli being upstaged by the complexity of the issues involved. Was the cause of Koch s death the Bullet from Wood s gun or was the alleged Lack of proper medical treatment for Koch at the German Hospital a new and efficient intervening cause of death As the de sense claimed deciding on the admissibility of Evi Dence and argument that in effect shifted blame for Koch s death from the defendant to a different agent was Only one of the knotty problems that faced right during the spell binding two weeks in court. At trial s end More than one observe to the proceedings including Belli was moved to comment on the remark Able skill of the Law officer in not Only preventing the court martial from turn ing into a forensic circus but also lend ing impressive Legal knowledge and Adry wit to the drama whose stakes were the life and free div of the defendant. Looking Back on those warm septem Ber Days in the packed court Wright admitted that the Wood trial had  Complex issues than any other trial he s handled. And it underscored the multiplicity of duties to which Wright and his fellow Law officers fall heir. Central functions of Law officers Areto Rule on questions of Law raised Dur ing trial and to instruct uie court martial panel. Neither of these respond of Piryt 1� the stars and stripes army judge Wright walked into a Tricky Case on his first ride round the circuit. Page 11