Actor Sean Penn today speaks to supporters of 1st. Lt. Ehren Watada during a rally near the gates of Fort Lewis Army Base, DuPont, Wash. Associated Press/John Froschauer   Jeff Brigham, right, who disagrees with Watada's stance on the war in Iraq, waves a sign near a group of Watada's supporters. Associated Press/John Froschauer   Capt. Mark Kim, left, and Eric Seitz, Watada's attorneys, return to the courthouse after a break in today's hearing. Associated Press/Ted S. Warren   1st Lt. Ehren Watada last year refused to deploy to Iraq with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Associated Press/John Froschauer

Proceedings this morning for 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, at this Army base south of Tacoma were taken up by attorney's motions, with the military judge, Lt. Col. John Head, refusing to allow almost all defense witnesses to take the stand. Head had previously ruled that Watada's Honolulu attorney, Eric Seitz, would not have the chance to debate the legality of the Iraq war in court.

Seitz had wished to call on several international and constitutional law experts, but Head agreed with the military that they would be irrelevant in the case.

Watada is charged with one count of missing movement and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer for statements he made during news conferences and at a veterans' convention last year.

Under a pretrial agreement reached last month, the Army dropped two of the four counts of misconduct in exchange for Watada admitting to making statements to freelance journalist Sarah Olson and Greg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, as well as speeches given last June and August.

If convicted on the remaining charges, Watada could receive four years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He has requested that his case be heard by a military panel of officers, the equivalent of a jury. It had not yet been selected Monday.

At one point, Seitz suggested Head could be committing judicial misconduct if he denied Seitz an opportunity to ask panel members biographical questions to determine any bias.

"If you are going to tie my hands and you are gong to script these proceedings then in my view we're all wasting our time," Seitz said.

Head said Seitz would be allowed time to question panel members individually.

Last June, Watada refused to go to Iraq with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis. He then publicly discussed his reasons for not deploying, including his belief that the war was both illegal and immoral.

Outside the base, a small group that included actor Sean Penn demonstrated peacefully in support of Watada. A few others demonstrated against him, including one man who carried a sign calling Watada a "weasel" for disobeying an order.

Watada, who joined the Army in March 2003, has called the U.S. occupation of Iraq "not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law."

"As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order," Watada said in a video statement released at a June 7 news conference.

Charges later filed against the soldier did little to quell his actions. In August, he spoke at a Veterans for Peace rally in Seattle, in which he again criticized the war.

"Though the American soldier wants to do right, the illegitimacy of the occupation itself, the policies of this administration, and the rules of engagement of desperate field commanders will ultimately force them to be party to war crime," Watada said.