The trial for the third Navy SEAL begins today. Matthew McCabe is the SEAL who is accused of punching the terrorist allegedly responsible for the brutal Blackwater murders.

Matthew McCabe’s trial date is currently set to begin Monday, May 3, 2010 at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, VA. Just this past week in separate trials at Camp Victory in Iraq, SO1 Julio Huertas and SO2 Jonathan Keefe were both found not guilty of the military charges that were brought against them which included dereliction of duty and falsifying statements / impending an investigation.

Aside from the idiocy of bringing charges against these three men to begin with, I’m curious what the point of trying McCabe is now anyways. McCabe’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, filed for a dismissal of all charges; hopefully the judge, Maj. Gen. John Cleveland, will do so. Puckett is arguing that it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars to continue the trial against McCabe when the prosecution’s case has completely unraveled. With the previous two trials concluded, we now get to see the evidence the prosecution had against the three SEALs: the word of a terrorist and seven — yes, seven — conflicting statements from one sailor. The star witness is Abed himself, and what does that say to people? That the prosecution is willing to trust the word of a murderer who is likely using a tactic straight out of the Al Qaeda playbook over the words of three honorable Navy SEALs? Al Qaeda’s training manual instructs terrorists to do exactly what Abed is doing, claim torture and abuse. The Department of Defense is caving to the manipulation of our justice system, and the SEALs refused to let their good names be tarnished (thus the court martials). It was a risky move, but it paid off for the other two SEALs; hopefully, it will pay off for McCabe as well.

As for the other star witness, Petty Officer Kevin DeMartino, well… his testimony is questionable at best as well.

The other star witness was Petty Officer Kevin DeMartino, the master-at-arms at the base whose job it was to guard Abed. DeMartino testified he saw McCabe punch Abed in the gut — testimony McCabe denies.

But DeMartino gave differing statements to investigators. At least four other trial witnesses rebutted his versions. For example, DeMartino said a SEAL saw blood on Abed’s white dishdasha and helped him take it off. But the SEAL in question denied the incident ever happened.

“The combination of Abed the terrorist and Petty Officer DeMartino was not believed by the jury,” Puckett said.

Of DeMartino, he said, “I have eight witnesses who will completely rebut what DeMartino said. DeMartino says people did this and that. We have the people denying this …. He is also the individual solely responsible for Abed at all times, for safety of detainee, and we can prove he left his post.”

DeMartino acknowledged at Huertas trial that he at first lied to investigators, according to press reports of the trial.

“He’s what we call a completely impeached witness,” Puckett said.

So, we have a witness who is a terrorist and a witness who admitted he lied and left his post.

Seriously, someone remind me again why these three men were ever prosecuted to begin with. Unfortunately, Cleveland himself is the one who brought these charges against them. I wonder if he’ll be willing to back down.

As more details come out, I’ll keep you updated. Hopefully, McCabe will get justice as well.

Cross-posted at The Green Room and Stop the ACLU.