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LTC Lakin pled guilty to all four of the Article 92 specifications alleged in Charge II (media reports had suggested mixed pleas to these offenses). The accused pled not guilty to Charge I and its Specification, which allege the offense of missing movement.
During the hour-and-a-half long Care inquiry, LTC Lakin acknowledged no less than half a dozen times that the orders he received were lawful, and that he in fact had a duty to obey them. Judge Lind found his guilty pleas to be provident and accepted them.
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The state of play now is as follows: trial will begin at 1500 hours with opening statements on the missing movement offense. Regardless of how the members find on that offense, LTC Lakin will proceed to sentencing. He is, on the evidence and by his own admission under oath, a criminal to be sentenced in accordance with the UCMJ.
Up to 18 months in jail awaits LTC Lakin now that he has copped to disobeying orders, though it's been said he may simply have his rank stripped from him and be discharged, which would mean missing out on a very lucrative pension.
I have no doubt that, should that happen, he may have any number of people willing to hand over money for him to speak at their Birther hee-haws. Whether he's so unprincipled as to take the money and talk remains to be seen.
The proceedings thankfully did not turn into a circus, though several Birther clowns were in attendance, most notably Orly Taitz, herself.
During a break in the proceedings this morning, Taitz told reporters that trials in the old Soviet Union were more just than what was happening in Lakin's case. She accused the judge of trying to "put words in [Lakin's] mouth" and get him to acknowledge that his deployment orders were lawful. She also claimed (Judge) Lind's previous rulings in the case excluded witnesses Lakin wanted to call and discovery of documents related to Obama's birth.
We are told that Lakin is "looking forward" to making a statement at the end of the Court Martial, which may turn out to be a defense of his Birtherism. But I guess we'll see.
Stay tuned to CAAFlog for tomorrow's updates, which should include the final verdict.
