Aubrey Daniel was the government's lead prosecutor in the court martial of William Calley. By all accounts, the handsome young son of a Virginia strip miner did well, securing the only conviction in the several proceedings brought against participants in the My Lai massacre.
Daniel was highly critical of the decision of President Nixon to intervene after sentencing in the Calley case. His angry letter, stressing the danger of compromising the important moral issue at issue in the Calley case, was a major embarrassment to army brass.
Soon after finishing his work on the Calley case, Daniel left the army to take a position in a prestigious Washington, D. C. law firm.