Washington -- A senior U.S. military law expert spoke with Romanian media February 16 to help explain details of a court-martial verdict that cleared a Marine embassy guard of charges of negligent homicide in the traffic death of a well-known musician in Bucharest, Romania.

The accident was “a horrible, tragic event,” but an impartial jury, reviewing the facts, was not convinced that the musician’s death was due to negligent homicide, said Colonel Jim Mallon, the second-highest-ranking legal adviser to the commandant of the Marine Corps. Mallon spoke to reporters in Bucharest via a two-way video teleconference coordinated by the State Department.

A military jury on January 31 found Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Christopher VanGoethem not guilty of negligent homicide and adultery in connection with the fatal traffic accident in central Bucharest at 4:30 a.m., December 4, 2004.  A sport-utility vehicle driven by VanGoethem collided with a taxi carrying Romanian singer Teofil Peter, former leader of the band Compact. Peter was killed.

The jury of seven U.S. military members found VanGoethem guilty of making false statements and obstructing justice, and he received a formal letter of reprimand that will make it difficult, if not impossible, for him to continue his military career.

The trial took place in the United States at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia. At the time of the accident, VanGoethem was the commander of the security detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.

The case has received wide attention in Romania, where the government recently signed a shared-basing agreement allowing for regular rotations of several hundred to several thousand U.S. troops to Romanian installations near the Black Sea. A similar agreement also is being negotiated with neighboring Bulgaria. (See related article.)

Romanian media reports have questioned the fairness of the U.S. trial.

Marine Corps prosecutors in the case were “extremely capable and competent,” said Mallon, who is deputy staff judge advocate for the Marine Corps headquarters in Washington. However, he said, in the U.S. legal system, trial verdicts ultimately are decided by a panel of jurors who swear under oath to base their decision only on the facts of the case, not on outside influences.

After reviewing the court documents, Mallon said both the prosecutors and the defense lawyers appear to have performed their jobs well. “I don’t know that I would have done anything differently,” he said, answering questions from Romanian reporters for nearly an hour.

Mallon said he could not render a personal opinion on VanGoethem’s involvement in the accident. But he did discuss and clarify many of the details of the trial.

Romanian journalists have reported that, during the trial, VanGoethem’s defense lawyers tried to convince the judge that prosecutors had not proved that the victim – Peter -- was even inside the taxicab. But Mallon said this claim was part of a long list of points made by defense lawyers as part of the regular trial process, when they sought to find flaws in the prosecutor’s case. The claim was made before the judge, without the jury present, and did not influence the jurors, Mallon said.

“I can tell you frankly, and with 100 percent certainty, that the identity of the victim, Teo Peter, as being in that cab at 4:30 [a.m.] on the 4th of December and having died as a result of the crash, was not an issue,” Mallon said.

After the trial was completed, the prosecutors discussed the verdict with the jurors. “The issue for [the jurors] was whether due care was exhibited by Staff Sergeant Van Gotham,” Mallon said. “That was the crux of it for the negligent homicide charge.”

Prosecutors sought to prove that VanGoethem behaved negligently by not giving the taxicab the right of way. The defense lawyers sought to show that the intersection was confusing and that VanGoethem was not negligent. Police reports and trial evidence showed that VanGoethem was driving below the speed limit, about 40 kilometers per hour in a 50 kph zone, while the taxicab was traveling above the speed limit, about 43 kph in a 30 kph zone. Defense lawyers also argued that foliage obscured a stop sign on VanGoethem’s side of the intersection.

Mallon said prosecutors tried to convince the taxi driver to testify in the court-martial, explaining that the U.S. government would pay for his trip to the United States. However, the taxi driver asked not to testify, saying the trip out of the country would cause financial hardship, and U.S. prosecutors did not press for his appearance.

The jurors examined the evidence and arguments, then determined that “this was a tragic accident, but there was not a lack of due care exhibit by Staff Sergeant Van Gotham,” Mallon said.

However, “just because a jury in the United States comes back and finds someone not guilty, it doesn’t mean they’re innocent,” Mallon said. “It just means that the government has not proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.”

VanGoethem was found guilty of making false statements and obstructing justice. That verdict resulted in a felony conviction that will remain on VanGoethem’s record for the rest of his life, Mallon said. The conviction, plus VanGoethem’s formal letter of reprimand, will play a significant role in whether he will be allowed to remain in the Marine Corps when his current enlistment contract expires in the next year.

Sentences in military courts are based on a majority of votes by jurors, and the voting does not have to unanimous, Mallon said.  Thus it is possible that some jurors preferred a harsher sentence in the case.

Career Marines are expected to be role models, Mallon said. “I will tell you, his ability to finish his Marine Corps career is seriously at risk.”

If VanGoethem’s service contract is not renewed, he would not qualify for any military pension benefits.