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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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June 28th, 2006 - Murder Charges Raise
Specter of Rarely Used Military Death Sentence |
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Iraq Murder Charges Raise
Specter of Rarely Used Military Death Sentence By Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press June 28, 2006 Washington - A string of alleged
atrocities by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is testing the military
justice system and raising the possibility that American soldiers may face
the death penalty for acts in countries where every street can be a
battlefield. Not since World War II have
members of the U.S. military faced murder charges for killing prisoners. Not
since the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War have U.S. soldiers formally
been accused of indiscriminately slaughtering innocent civilians. Several new cases have emerged
from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that could bring up a punishment the
military seldom imposes and rarely carries out. The Defense Department's
modern-day criminal justice system has little experience with the death
penalty and allegations such as the war crime charges that have surfaced in
Iraq. There are just six men on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth,
Kan.; no one has been executed since 1961. If a commander recommends
the death sentence in any of the cases, the final decision on its imposition
would require presidential approval. Such a choice could present a political
dilemma for the commander in chief, who might face conflicting pressures to
show support for troops yet not condone atrocities. In recent days, seven
Marines and one sailor have been charged with the April murder of an Iraqi
civilian in Hamdania, while four Army soldiers face premeditated murder
charges for the deaths of three Iraqi detainees at Iraq's Thar Thar canal. The military also is looking
into allegations that several Marines massacred up to two dozen civilians in
Haditha, Iraq, in November. Eleven other soldiers in
Iraq and Afghanistan already have been tried in connection with the death of
someone in their custody, but none received a death sentence. The one
convicted of the most serious charge - premeditated murder - was sentenced to
25 years. Several others were convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, lesser
charges. Eugene Fidell, a lawyer who
specializes in military cases and teaches at American University's Washington
College of Law, said criminal charges should be determined by lawyers, not
the commanders. He said he was concerned that defendants will be treated
differently, particularly in death penalty cases. "The danger there is you
could have tremendously divergent treatment of cases that were essentially
the same," he said. "That is certainly worrisome to a person on
death row." The new cases present a
challenge to the military judicial system because they involve murder charges
"in a place where the whole idea is to kill people. The defense is going
to show that the killing was within the rules of engagement they had been
provided," said Charles Gittins, a military law expert who has defended
service members in a variety of cases. The jury, he said, will
consider the circumstances of combat, the day-in, day-out fear the soldiers
live with, and the fact that the defendants lost friends in the war. Gittins said it is likely
that all of the jurors would have likely served at least one tour in Iraq and
would be sympathetic to the conditions there. The jurors, all members of the
military, are selected by the commander. The trials will come at a
time when the U.S. is struggling to improve relations with the Muslim world
and needs to demonstrate it takes the deaths of the Iraqi civilians and
detainees seriously. At the same time, many nations, particularly those in
Europe, staunchly oppose the death penalty and have condemned America's use
of it. The Uniform Code of Military
Justice lists 15 offenses that carry the death sentence. They include murder
and rape, as well as desertion or assaulting a superior officer during
wartime. The last person executed at
the military's maximum security prison at Fort Leavenworth was Pvt. John A.
Bennett of Virginia. Convicted of rape and attempted murder, he was hanged in
April 1961 after President Kennedy confirmed the sentence. The Armed Forces Court of
Appeals struck down the military's capital sentencing procedures in 1983. A
year later, the death sentence was reinstated after the procedures were
changed. Since then, no president has authorized the death sentence in any
military case. The manner of execution also
has changed. Documents discovered in the
Pentagon in 2003 listed about 200 military executions between 1942 and 1961,
including many who were hanged and several who were shot. Since Bennett's
hanging, the military brought in an electric chair, which it never used, and
more recently built a facility where prisoners can be executed by lethal
injection. The My Lai massacre involved
the deaths of hundreds of unarmed civilians in Vietnam in March 1968 and led
to the conviction of Army Lt. William Calley Jr. Calley was sentenced to life
in prison, and his sentence was reduced by President Nixon. Calley served
three years of house arrest. A look at criminal cases
stemming from the deaths of Iraqis since the war began in 2003: Convictions - Staff Sgt. Cardenas J.
Alban, convicted of killing a severely wounded 16-year-old Iraqi during
fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. He was sentenced to one year's
confinement, demoted to private and given a bad-conduct discharge. - Staff Sgt. Johnny Horne
Jr., pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in the same case as Alban. He was
sentenced to three years in prison, had his rank reduced to private,
forfeited wages and was given a dishonorable discharge. His prison sentence
was later reduced to one year. - Cpl. Dustin Berg of the
Indiana National Guard, convicted and sentenced to serve 18 months in prison
for the shooting death of an Iraqi police officer. - Spc. Rami Dajani,
convicted of making a false statement following the fatal shooting of an
Iraqi translator. He was sentenced to 18 months' confinement and given a
reduction in rank and bad-conduct discharge. - Spc. Charley L. Hooser,
convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the same case involving Dajani.
Hooser was sentenced to three years in prison and given a reduction in rank
and bad-conduct discharge. - Capt. Rogelio "Roger"
Maynulet, convicted of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter
in the shooting death of a wounded Iraqi. He got no prison time but was
dismissed from the armed forces. - Pvt. Federico Daniel
Merida of the North Carolina National Guard, pleaded guilty to killing a
17-year-old Iraqi soldier after the two had consensual sex. He was sentenced
to 25 years in prison, given a reduction in rank and dishonorably discharged. - Marine Maj. Clarke Paulus,
convicted of dereliction of duty and maltreatment in a case stemming from the
death of an Iraqi prisoner who was dragged out of his holding cell by the
neck, stripped naked and left outside for seven hours in 2003. Paulus, who
commanded a Marine detention camp in Iraq, was dismissed from the service but
received no prison time. - Sgt. 1st Class Tracy
Perkins, acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the alleged drowning of an
Iraqi man but convicted of assault for forcing the man and his cousin into
the Tigris River. He was sentenced to six months in prison. - 1st Lt. Jack Saville,
pleaded guilty to assault and other crimes in the same incident as Perkins
and was sentenced to 45 days in prison. - Pfc. Edward Richmond,
convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting an Iraqi in the back of the
head. He received three years in prison. - Sgt. Michael P. Williams,
convicted one premeditated murder and unpremeditated murder in the deaths of
unarmed civilians during operations near Sadr City. He was sentenced to life
in prison and given a reduction in rank. His sentence was later reduced to 25
years. - Spc. Brent May, convicted
of unpremeditated murder in the same incident as Williams. He was sentenced
to five years. - Chief Warrant Officer
Lewis Welshofer of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, found guilty of
negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty in the death of Iraqi
Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush after interrogation at a detention camp. A
military jury ordered a reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 of his salary, and
restricted him to his home, office and church for two months. Cleared/Acquitted - Marine 2nd Lt. Ilario
Pantano, cleared of murder charges in the shooting deaths of two Iraqi
civilians. Pantano had been accused of riddling the two with bullets and hanging
a warning sign on their corpses as a grisly example to insurgents. - Staff Sgt. Shane Werst,
acquitted of premeditated murder in the shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi.
Werst said he fired to save a fellow soldier. Pending Cases - Hospitalman Third Class
Melson J. Bacos, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson,
Pfc. John J. Jodka, Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, Lance Cpl. Robert B.
Pennington, Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate, Jr. and Marine Cpl. Trent D. Thomas
are charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an Iraqi man in
Hamdania. All eight are also charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and other
offenses. - Pfc. Corey R. Clagett,
Spc. Juston R. Graber, Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, and Spc. William B.
Hunsaker are charged with the premeditated murder of three male detainees.
Clagett, Girouard and Hunsaker are also charged with obstructing justice for
allegedly threatening to kill another soldier who was a witness in the case. - National Guard Sgt. Milton
Ortiz, Jr. and Spc. Nathan B. Lynn are charged in the shooting death of an
unarmed Iraqi man near Ramadi. Lynn is charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Both he and Ortiz are also charged with obstructing justice. Ortiz also faces
charges of assault and communicating a threat in a separate incident
involving another Iraqi man. - Chief Warrant Officer
Jefferson L. Williams, Sgt. First Class William Sommer and Spc. Jerry Loper
are charged with murder and dereliction of duty along with Welshofer in the
incident resulting in the death of Maj. Gen. Mowhoush. The Army dropped the
murder charges against Jefferson Williams and Loper in exchange for their
testimony against Welshofer. The murder charge against Sommer was also
dropped. Both Sommer and Williams face possible administrative discipline. - Compiled by Associated
Press news researchers Monika Mather and Judy Ausuebel External link:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/29/military/18_01_456_28_06.txt |