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| |  | | Ernest Medina | | | context : | Vietnam  | | judgement place : | United States | | status : | Acquitted | | particulars : | Acquitted on charges of premeditated murder, murder and assault | | position : | Army Captain |
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| | | | At the beginning of the trial, Ernest Medina was charged with the “premeditated murder” of at least 100 civilians. He was also accused of the murder of a woman and a child, and the assault of a prisoner. The military judge handling the affair, Colonel Kenneth A: Howard, later reduced the charge of “premeditated murder” to one of “involuntary manslaughter”. The charge relating to the murder of a child was dropped.
Then trial of Captain Medina raised the overall question of the responsibility of those in positions of leadership. The prosecutor laid out what such responsibility entails by reminding the court of the following points:
1. It is a well established rule in the military that a commander is responsible for the actions of his subordinates. This presupposes that he must give clear and concise orders and that he must adapt his orders in line with the situation as it evolves.
2. If war crimes have been committed by his soldiers, the commander himself also bears responsibility:
a) In the case where he himself gave the order to commit these crimes (direct responsibility); or
b) When he knew, or should have known, that the crimes had been committed or were about to be committed and he did not take all necessary and reasonable measures to safeguard the respect of International Humanitarian Law or to sanction those at fault.
3. Finally, every member of the armed forces, independent of his position, has the
obligation to report to his hierarchical superior as well as to the military legal authorities any act which could potentially be considered as a war crime.
In the question at issue the Jury considered that the evidence admitted during the trial was insufficient to establish guilt on the part of the Accused..
Captain Medina was acquitted on 22 September 1971. | |    | |  |  | | nationality : | | | United states | | | date of birth : | | | 27.08.1936 | | | period of charges : | | | 16.03.1968 - 16.03.1968 | | | judgement period : | | | 22.09.1971 - 22.09.1971 | | | charges : | | | War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 03.03.2005 |
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