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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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October 27th, 2006 - Army Arraigns
Soldier Charged with Rape |
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Army Arraigns Soldier Charged
with Rape By Ryan Lenz Associated Press October 27, 2006 Fort Campbell, Ky. - The
Army arraigned a 101st Airborne Division soldier Friday who was charged with
raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing three others in her
family. Pfc. Bryan L. Howard is
accused of plotting in March to rape and kill the teenager in Mahmoudiya, a
village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Three other soldiers and a former
Army private from the division's 502nd Infantry Regiment also face charges
related to the attack. Howard deferred entering a
plea or scheduling a court-martial during the proceedings at Fort Campbell.
Both his attorney, Cpt. Ryan Rosauer, and his father Lynn Howard in the audience,
declined to speak to reporters. Two other soldiers accused
of rape and murder with him in the attack - Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc.
Jesse V. Spielman - could be given the death sentence if they are convicted,
a military judge ruled earlier this month. Both will be arraigned soon, the
military said. Former Army private Steve
Green also faces rape and murder charges but is being tried in federal court. In a separate hearing
Friday, Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard was arraigned on charges he and three
others in the division's 187th Infantry Regiment killed three Iraqi detainees
during a raid of a suspected al-Qaida stronghold near Samarra, about 60 miles
north of Baghdad. He deferred entering a plea. Defense attorneys also filed
a motion Friday to release Girouard from pretrial confinement, where he has
been since his unit came home in September. Lt. Col. Richard Anderson, the
military judge, did not rule on the motion. Four of nine soldiers from
the division accused of wartime atrocities have been arraigned and await
courts-martial. © 2006 AP Wire and wire
service sources. All Rights Reserved. External link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15868073.htm |