High Profile Court-Martial Begins at Fort Bragg NC

The trial of United States v. SGT Jeffery Hurst commenced on November 5, 2012, after nearly a year of aggressive pretrial motions and litigation in which Haytham Faraj successfully challenged a number of charges that forced the government to dismiss allegations of negligent homicide. The trial is taking place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.The charges allege that SGT Hurst was derelict in his duty to protect a subordinate and that he hazed that same subordinate. But witnness after witness have admitted on cross examination that Hurst was either not present or did not know about the hazing. The allegations of hazing themselves have also been aggresively challenged by Faraj who has challenged the truthfullness of govenment witnesses with their own contradictory statements or by getting them to concede that Hurst was present when the alleged hazing took place.The case has gained national and international media attention due to vigorous politicization and widespread misinformation published by Chinese-American activists misinformed of the facts and by Army Public Affairs officers who made frequent public releases that made the case the focus of wide spread media attention.The Fayetteville Observer is covering the trial on a daily basis.