Dr. Savage,

        Since you first began discussing Michael’s case we have received approximately $40,000 in donations to his legal defense fund, that does not include the $10,000 you sent from your legal defense fund.  For that we are truly grateful. 

        As you know Michael’s case is in the Army Court of Appeals.  Mr. Zimmermann, Michael’s lead defense counsel, filed Michael’s appellate brief on December 22, 2009.  The government’s response brief was due January 22, 2010, but they requested an extension so their brief is now due on April 21, 2010.  (The second year anniversary of  the IED attack on Michael’s platoon.)  We are praying that the government will not request another extension.

        While the appeal is pending, we had the opportunity to present a request to the Army Clemency and Parole Board, wherein we requested clemency for Michael.  I spoke to the board and asked them to suspend Michael’s sentence while his appeal was pending, due to the fact that his appeal raises serious issues regarding the withholding of evidence, i.e. Dr. MacDonell’s opinion, that would have exonerated him.  I told the board that Mansur was a member of Al Qaeda who tried to attack Michael and that his response in shooting Mansur, was a combat specific incident that would not be repeated in a civilian situation.  I also told the board that the Army never believed Michael was a danger to society.  Specifically, while Michael was pending charges on premeditated murder, the Army assigned Michael to work on President Bush’s security detail.  President Bush visited Ft. Campbell the home of the 101st Airborne Division, in November 2008.  Michael was assigned to that security detail and was responsible for clearing the public through the hanger where President Bush was to speak.  Clearly, the Army did not consider Michael to be a threat otherwise they would never have allowed him to work that closely with the Secret Service.  In addition, after Michael was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison, we had post-trial motions pending on the failure of the government prosecutors to turn over the exculpatory evidence.  The judge did not place Michael in confinement during those three weeks he was considering the defense motions for a new trial.  Instead, the Judge allowed Michael to continue to go to work, and live off base.

My reason for raising these issues was to convince the board to let Michael go.

        The board as you know did not suspend the rest of Michael’s sentence but they did reduce his sentence to 15 years.  I was told prior to the hearing that the board would not grant Michael any clemency while his appeal was pending.  I believe that the board granted clemency to Michael because your listeners were writing letters to their representatives, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of the Army.

        Since the board’s decision I have been contemplating what my next step should be.  I can’t just sit here and wait for the appellate court to reverse Michael’s conviction that could take another year.  So I am committed to requesting a personal meeting with the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh and ask him to release Michael. In that regard, I would appreciate it if your listeners could continue to write letters to their representatives and the Secretary of the Army.  I believe that if the Army knows that the American public is outraged at what has happened to Michael, that they will be more inclined to release him. 

        Finally, Michael has received over a thousand letters from your listeners.  He had a rather rough weekend last week and the letters of support he has received from your listeners reminds him that he is a hero, who acted to protect his men from harm, and that he should never give up hope.  Most importantly he knows that there are people other than his Mom and Dad who are fighting for his release.

        I think that’s all I have to report right now.  Thank you for helping me get my son home.  Thank you for helping us retire some rather large debt we have incurred to defend our son. And most importantly thank you so much for caring about a mere 1LT in the US Army who would have laid down his life to defend the country he loved.      God Bless, Vicki Behenna

        It is a sad day in our nation’s history, when we label a member of Al Qaeda “victim” and a United States soldier who defended himself against the terrorist “Murder.”