|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
July 3rd,
2007 - US Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Iraq Murders |
|
US Prosecutors Seek Death
Penalty in Iraq Murders Reuters July 3, 2007 4:17 PM ET Chicago - A former U.S. Army
private charged with taking part in the gang rape of an Iraqi girl and
murdering her and her family should be sentenced to die if he is found guilty,
U.S. government prosecutors said on Tuesday. The U.S. attorney for the
Western District of Kentucky filed the notice in federal court at Paducah,
Kentucky, where Steven Green faces trial. He has been described in earlier
military court proceedings as the ringleader of the March, 2006, incident. Three other soldiers also
involved in the rape-murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the deaths of her
father, mother and six-year-old sister have been court-martialed and a fourth
faces military trial later this summer. Green was arrested and
charged as a civilian after his military discharge in 2006 for a
"personality disorder." The incident unfolded after
the soldiers drank whiskey, played cards and plotted to attack the family at
Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. Some of those involved poured kerosene on the
girl's body and lit her on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime. In Tuesday's notice
prosecutors told the court they intend to seek the death penalty against
Green because several of the 16 charges against him - including premeditated
murder - warrant execution under federal law. No trial date has been set. Earlier this year Pvt. Bryan
Howard was sentenced to 27 months in prison in the case under a plea agreement
at his court-martial, as well as a dishonorable discharge. Before that Sgt. Paul
Cortez, 24, was sentenced to 100 years in prison under a plea agreement in
military court, although he will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Specialist James Barker
pleaded guilty at his court-marital and was sentenced to 90 years in a
military prison, also with the possibility of an earlier parole. Pvt. Jesse
Spielman still faces court-martial. © Reuters 2007. All rights
reserved External link: http://tinyurl.com/28s9yq Prosecutors to seek death
penalty for former soldier By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press July 3, 2007, 6:20PM Louisville, Ky. - Federal
prosecutors filed notice Tuesday that they will seek the death penalty if
former soldier Steven D. Green is convicted of killing an Iraqi family and
raping a 14-year-old girl. The notice, filed in U.S.
District Court, cites 12 alleged offenses related to the slayings, including
that the deaths were premeditated, involved sexual abuse and were committed
with a firearm. Green, a former 101st
Airborne Division soldier, was indicted Nov. 1 in the rape and murder of the
girl and the slayings of three others in her family in March 2006. "The defense is
obviously disappointed that Attorney General (Alberto) Gonzales is seeking to
execute a former soldier," Green's public defender, Patrick Bouldin,
said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The attorney general has to
approve all federal death penalty cases. Bouldin declined to provide
further comment. Green was charged in a
federal indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit
aggravated sexual abuse, murder, aggravated sexual abuse, aggravated child
sexual abuse, obstruction of justice and four counts of use of a firearm in a
crime of violence. Green, a 22-year-old former
private first class from Midland, Texas, served 11 months with the 101st
Airborne Division, which is based at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee state
line. He received an honorable discharge and left the Army in May 2006. He
was discharged because of an "anti-social personality disorder,"
according to military officials and court documents. He is being tried in
civilian court in Paducah, Ky., because he was discharged before he was
charged. No trial date has been set. Green's father, John Green,
declined to comment Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Marisa Ford also declined to comment on the filing. Justice Department spokesman
Bryan Sierra said he could not confirm whether any other soldier has been
tried as a civilian for crimes committed while serving in Iraq. Green was arrested in June
2006 in North Carolina as he traveled after attending the funeral of a
soldier who was kidnapped and killed in Iraq, investigators said. Since then,
he has been held in Kentucky without bond. Three soldiers already have
been convicted in military court for their roles in the attack in Mahmoudiya,
a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. A court-martial for a fourth
soldier is scheduled July 30. But Tuesday's notice means
Green could face the harshest punishment among the five men charged. Two soldiers avoided the
death penalty by making plea agreements with military prosecutors for lesser
sentences ranging from 90 to 100 years. A third soldier was sentenced to five
years in prison but will not serve more than 27 months. Each of the soldiers
agreed to help prosecutors prepare a case against Green. The rape of the Iraqi girl
and the slayings of her and three family members were among the worst in a
series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel
in Iraq. Investigators said the
soldiers set fire to the girl's body to destroy evidence. Soldiers have testified in military
courts-martial and investigation hearings that the 13-month tour for Green's
unit, the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, was bloody and grueling. Dozens were killed in the
unit's yearlong deployment and half of the battalion, including Green, sought
help for combat stress. An Associated Press
investigation in January found that an Army psychiatry team diagnosed Green
as a threat to Iraqi civilians four months before the rape and murders. According to military
documents, Green was treated with drugs to regulate his mood before returning
to duty in a violent stretch of desert in the southern Baghdad suburbs known
as the "Triangle of Death." Associated Press writer Ryan
Lenz in Evansville, Ind., contributed to this report. External link:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4942203.html |