March 19, 2004

All Charges Dropped Against Yee

Captain James Yee (AP)

The Army has dropped all charges against Muslim chaplain James Yee, who had been accused of mishandling classified documents at the terrorist detention camp at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Those classified documents weren't the only thing that was mishandled. The government has been fumbling the case from the start.

The CNN story's final line suggests a plea deal of some kind, but the government is being decidedly unhelpful.

Was James Yee carrying classified information when he was searched? It seems impossible to think otherwise. If so, why? If not, why was he charged?

All charges against Army Muslim chaplain James Yee have been dropped, the U.S. Army said Friday.

Yee faced charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information at the terrorist detention camp at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Yee, a West Point graduate and Army captain, had been serving as a chaplain for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay when he was arrested in September and originally accused of espionage. He was jailed for 76 days.

The formal charges were reduced to mishandling classified information, and Army prosecutors never introduced any evidence on what that was. They delayed Yee's preliminary hearing five times.

The only testimony about what Yee may have done wrong came from a U.S. Customs agent, who said Yee was carrying lists with names of detainees and interrogators when he arrived in Florida on leave in September. The agent searched Yee's belongings on a tip from military investigators.

The Army had added four minor charges, mainly involving adultery and pornography, at the time it filed the reduced accusations of mishandling classified information.

Earlier this month, Yee signed a proposed agreement to resign from the Army if the military would end its effort to prosecute him, according to a document his defense team said it mistakenly sent to news organizations.