Georgia executes USN sailor

[MillCreek]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-executes-former-navy-crewman-travis-hittson-n520436

So as far as I can tell, one active-duty sailor killed another active-duty sailor.  Why was the murderer not convicted under the UCMJ and received punishment from the DOD?  I am curious as to why a state had jurisdiction.  I wonder if Georgia had a higher claim since the actual crime occurred on civilian property.

[Perd Hapley]

Why was the murderer not convicted under the UCMJ and received punishment from the DOD?

Because real Americans don't kowtow to admiralty courts. 

[Regolith]

For some reason I thought you meant Georgia, not Georgia....

[Firethorn]

So as far as I can tell, one active-duty sailor killed another active-duty sailor.  Why was the murderer not convicted under the UCMJ and received punishment from the DOD?  I am curious as to why a state had jurisdiction.  I wonder if Georgia had a higher claim since the actual crime occurred on civilian property.

Disclaimer:  I am not a lawyer, nor have I played one on TV.

Looking at the writeup, wow, this was a mess.  Body parts found in two states? 

Okay, I'm going to go with that the state wanted the prosecution more than the military, and it was decided that having the trial take place where the murder occurred was the best option.  Though they could have held the trial at Robins AFB in that case.

If it had happened on a military base they would have indeed most likely have been prosecuted under the UCMJ and Travis Hittson would most likely have only received a life sentence, given that it's been a long, long time since the DoD handed down the death penalty.

That might actually be the reason - they wanted the dude to fry, and knew they couldn't get it under the UCMJ and politics of the time.

[Fitz]

It's actually fairly common for servicemembers who commit crimes off base to be prosecuted by the local authorities. Eliminates accusations of "protecting" badly behaving soldiers, and it has the side bonus of eliminating a ton of work/paperwork for the military.

[Perd Hapley]

For some reason I thought you meant Georgia, not Georgia....

Same here.

[MillCreek]

It's actually fairly common for servicemembers who commit crimes off base to be prosecuted by the local authorities. Eliminates accusations of "protecting" badly behaving soldiers, and it has the side bonus of eliminating a ton of work/paperwork for the military.

Now that I think about it, we had a similar case last year.  One active-duty Ft. Lewis soldier killed another active-duty Ft. Lewis soldier in her off-base apartment.  He was convicted of state murder charges by a Pierce County jury.