Convicted by Stolen Valor

Blue Cyclone sent us a link by way of TSO from the New York Times about Elven J. Swisher, whose testimony against David R. Hinkson, buttressed by the Purple Heart he wore on his lapel, sent the latter to prison for 33 years in a murder-for-hire case. The problem is that the Purple Heart was phony as well as Swisher’s boasts about his murderous experience;

Mr. Swisher had never seen combat, had killed no one and had served without distinction. The document was a forgery. Mr. Swisher has since been convicted of lying to federal officials, wearing fake medals and defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs of benefits for combat injuries.

But the jury knew none of this, and with Mr. Swisher’s testimony it convicted Mr. Hinkson of soliciting three murders. He was sentenced to 33 years for those crimes, along with 10 years for tax evasion, and he is serving his sentence in the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo.

When Mr. Swisher’s lies came to light, Mr. Hinkson challenged his convictions for soliciting the murders. The jury had believed him guilty of more than loose talk, he said, only because Mr. Swisher had falsely presented himself as a battle-hardened killer.

But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled against him last year by a 7-to-4 vote.

Even jurors from the first trial have admitted that they would have voted differently had they known that Swisher was a big, fat phony. Hinkson’s case will go to the Supreme Court, but at least we all know how the Ninth Circuit thinks of veterans since this is the second time they’ve dismissed Stolen Valor this year.

Category: Phony soldiers