CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Military judge Col. Gregory Gross ruled Thursday that three incidents involving Pvt. Bud L. Dwelly’s command, a criminal investigator and the Camp Humphreys confinement facility were unlawful.
Each action violated Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Gross ruled, and they earned Dwelly 36 extra days’ credit for time served toward the 42-month prison sentence given during his court-martial Thursday.
Those extra 36 days bring Dwelly’s total to 128 days of pre-trial confinement.
Article 13 bars anyone from punishment other than arrest and confinement before a trial; it also prevents punishment any harsher than that required to ensure the person’s presence.
Prior to his transfer to Camp Humphreys facility in March, Dwelly slept on the floor of his Camp Hovey barracks common quarters area without bedding or hygiene products, using pipe insulation as a pillow, according to his testimony.
Capt. Henry Opolot, Dwelly’s commander, testified that he put Dwelly on 24-hour watch in the common area because weapons found in Dwelly’s room “were indicators of future criminal activity.”
Opolot said he also considered the half-Korean soldier a flight risk. He said he did not know that Dwelly hadn’t been sleeping in a cot, had little entertainment and hadn’t been allowed to shower during the first two days of confinement.
“That restriction went beyond just maintaining control of Pvt. Dwelly,” said defense attorney Capt. Patrick Davis.
After six days, including at least one night sleeping in a nearby gym with adequate bedding, Dwelly left Camp Hovey without authorization at 3:40 a.m. and visited his girlfriend in Seoul. He later learned he impregnated her that day, he testified.
About 19 hours later, a Criminal Investigations Command agent caught Dwelly.
During transport to the Camp Humphreys jail, an agent handcuffed Dwelly and caused deep bruising, according to testimony. And at the Camp Humphreys jail, Dwelly’s unit delivered him only one pair of underwear and socks.
Opolot said he talked with a jail official who said the facility would take care of the problem, but it did not, according to testimony.
Gross ruled that after about a month and a meeting with his command and counsel in which the matter could have been discussed but wasn’t, the lack of underwear and socks became Dwelly’s fault. Prior to that, Dwelly was punished unduly, Gross said.
Dwelly also never received medicine for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in jail, despite multiple pleas to a medic and a doctor, he said.
A questionnaire to determine his need was posted on a public bulletin board. Teased by inmates and guards for being small and soft-voiced, he is now ridiculed for his disorder, Dwelly said.
