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September 5th, 2006 - U.S. Troops Face
Court-Martial in Rape Case |
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U.S. Troops Face Court-Martial
in Rape Case Reuters Tue Sep 5, 2006 3:32 AM ET Washington (Reuters) - A
U.S. Army investigator has recommended that four soldiers be court martialled
over the killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and other family members, which
could lead to the death penalty, a lawyer for one of the soldiers confirmed
on Tuesday. Lawyer David Sheldon said
the investigator agreed with military prosecutors that his client, Specialist
James Barker, and three other soldiers charged with raping the girl and
killing her, her 6-year-old sister and their parents at their home in
Mahmudiya, be court martialled. "The investigating
officer recommended that my client and the other three soldiers face a general
court martial," Sheldon said, adding the soldiers could face the death
penalty. At a military hearing in
Baghdad a month ago, a prosecutor demanded a court martial for Barker,
Sergeant Paul Cortez, and Privates First Class Jesse Spielman and Bryan Howard. The prosecutor said that
Abeer al-Janabi, 14, was found shot dead at home along with the other family
members. He said some of the accused testified they and other members of
their checkpoint unit killed the four and raped the teenager. The case shocked Iraqis
otherwise accustomed to violence and angered the U.S.-backed Iraqi
government. The prosecutor dismissed a
defense case that they were "driven nuts" by the strain of combat
in an area where insurgents are active. Mahmudiya is said by U.S.
infantrymen to be the "triangle of death" because of the constant
deadly attacks by Iraqi insurgents. Sheldon said he will file
objections to the recommendation concerning his client by the close of
business on Friday. Counsel for the other soldiers also are preparing
challenges to the investigator's report, the New York Times reported. "The investigating
officer denied critical witnesses to Barker and the others accused. He also
denied their right to a public hearing," Sheldon said. A fifth soldier is charged
with dereliction of duty. Former private Steven Green,
since discharged from the unit, faces trial for rape and murder in a U.S.
civilian court. © Reuters 2006. All rights
reserved. External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/05/AR2006090500098.html Spielman Family ‘Disheartened’ By Vicky Taylor Chambersburg Public Opinion September 5, 2006 At 3 a.m. Labor Day, Pfc.
Jesse Spielman's mother learned an Army investigator was recommending a full
court martial for her son on charges of premeditated murder, rape,
obstruction of justice, housebreaking and arson. By the time Nancy Hess was
ready to leave for her job as a nursing assistant at Menno Haven Monday
afternoon, she was tired, disheartened and disappointed at the prospect of
the charges still hanging over the head of her soldier-son. Chambersburg native Spielman
is one of four soldiers facing court martial on the charges tied to the rape
of an Iraqi teenager and the murder of her and three family members. A fifth
man, former Army Pfc. Steven D. Green, has been charged in federal court in
Kentucky on similar charges in the same case. Another soldier has been
charged with failure to report the attack. Spielman's lawyers,
including Chambersburg attorney Tom Trgovac, said their client was not a
participant in the rape and murders and was put into a situation where he
became an unwilling witness who could not stop the crime. During his Article 32
hearing last month, one investigator testified that Spielman steadfastly
maintained he was not part of the rape or murders and passed a lie detector
test. Trogvac has vowed to set the
record straight, and maintains Spielman is being used as a political football
by the U.S. military to appease irate Iraqis. He said he has reviewed the
investigation documents and talked to Spielman and is convinced of his
innocence. He said Spielman has said from the beginning that he was not part
of the planning of the rape and did not know about it when he left with
others in his patrol that day. "I believe Jesse to be
innocent, not just because Jesse steadfastly denies being involved in the
rape and murders but also because nobody involved in the events of that
fateful day claims that Jesse participated in the alleged crimes," he
said after the hearing in Iraq last month. Hess said she thinks the
charges against her son stem from political motives, not evidence against
him. "I'm afraid Jesse
doesn't stand a chance of getting a fair trial," she said. Trgovac said attorneys will
file objections to Warren's findings, but he does not anticipate any of them
being recognized by the military court as valid. "We will focus on the
Army's failure to grant a delay of the Article 32 hearing, and its failure to
grant us adequate opportunity to cross examine witnesses that might not
otherwise be available at a general court martial," he said. Now that Warren has issued
his recommendation, the case goes to a convening authority which will have to
decide whether Spielman's team of civilian attorneys agreed to take the case
and assist his military-appointed JAG attorney, Stephen McGaha, the week
before the Article 32 hearing was convened. Both McGaha and the civilian team
requested a delay in the hearing to give them time to review evidence in the
case and get a member of the team to Iraq to participate in the hearing and
cross examine witnesses. That request was turned down
and attorney Dan Christensen missed the first two days of the hearing,
arriving in time for the final day and cross-examining the lead investigator
after he gave the last of his testimony. "I was able to extract
from this unwilling investigator that our client raped no one, killed no one,
and that Jesse was not privy to the specific intentions of his squad members
when they left TCP2, other than that Green and Barker supposedly wanted to
stop at a nearby house because there was a female there that they claimed to
know," he said on his return to the United States. He said he thought he could
have elicited much more from the investigator and other witnesses if he would
have been present for the entire hearing. Trgovac said although
objections will be filed on behalf of Spielman, he does not think it will
change the direction the Army is taking in his client's case. He said he also does not
expect the convening authority to change any of the charges against Spielman,
calling the case against his client politically motivated. "It would fly in the
face of a political hailstorm and I just don't think it is something that is
going to happen," he said. If the convening authority
does send the charges to a general court martial, that trial will take place
at Fort Campbell, Ky., where Spielman's unit, the 101st Airborne, is
stationed. The unit is expected to return from Iraq this month. As they stand, the charges
could carry the death penalty. Trgovac said that the ruling
by Warren highlights the need to raise funds for Spielman's defense. A legal
defense fund has been set up for that purpose. External link:
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_4287309 |