Michael Behenna appeal is ‘high-stakes' case for military justice system, expert says

“You don't have a lot of death cases in the military, particularly when you're talking about killing an insurgent or suspected terrorist on the battlefield,” said Michelle Lindo McCluer, who is now director of the National Institute of Military Justice at American University in Washington.

McCluer, a native Oklahoman, attended the oral arguments in Behenna's case before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Arlington, Va., on Thursday.

The three-member appeals court heard arguments from Behenna's civilian attorney that the Edmond soldier didn't receive a fair trial and counterarguments from an Army attorney defending Behenna's conviction for unpremeditated murder for killing an Iraqi man in 2008.

“It's a heart-wrenching case,” said McCluer, who served as an Air Force attorney for 11 years after graduating from the University of Oklahoma law school.

“You certainly feel for the Behennas. But from my perspective as a former military lawyer, you can understand why the military court-martialed him,” McCluer said.

That's not a perspective shared by all of those familiar with the case, including a couple of spectators in the courtroom Thursday who audibly, though quietly, registered their displeasure and many who have posted messages on a website devoted to Behenna's case.