British officer could face court martial for war crimes News
British officer could face court martial for war crimes

[JURIST] British Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the commander in charge of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment [official website] troops in Iraq, faces the possibility of court martial and jail time for his alleged involvement in the death of a detainee by forces under his command in 2003. Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel clerk, was arrested by troops in the regiment and discovered dead two days later with strangulation marks, a broken nose and three broken ribs. The Royal Military Police's Special Investigation Branch [official website] has handed over results of their 10-month investigation into Mousa's death to the Army Prosecuting Authority, which is now considering whether there is enough evidence to bring a court martial against Mendonca. Mendonca, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his service in Iraq, could become the first serving British officer court-martialed over claims of prisoner abuse. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.