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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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July 27th,
2007 - Army Papers Claim S.A. Sergeant Shot Detainee |
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Army Papers Claim S.A.
Sergeant Shot Detainee By Sig Christenson San Antonio Express-News July 27, 2007 The Army said Friday that a one-time
San Antonio schoolboy football star accused of premeditated murder in the
killing of an Iraqi man shot the prisoner "multiple" times with his
rifle. After firing off those
rounds, the Army said that Sgt. 1st Class Trey A. Corrales ordered a lower-ranking
soldier to shoot the man as well. Corrales' wife, Lily, and a
sister, Tracey Terry, were speechless when told by a reporter of the
military's allegations. Lily Corrales declined to
comment. Terry, 39, of Havelock, N.C., and the wife of a Marine gunnery
sergeant, said the charges left many questions. "I think that I'd
rather not comment because you've taken me by sheer surprise," she said.
"You hear what the words are, but what do they mean?" It isn't clear how many
times Corrales, a 13-year Army veteran and former Burbank High "Athlete
of the Year," and the other soldier allegedly shot the man. A spokesman
with their command in northern Iraq, Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, would not
give details of the incident. But an Army document obtained by the San
Antonio Express-News through the federal Freedom of Information Act this week
offers a one-paragraph description. It leaves many questions unanswered but
provides the most detailed account yet of the June 23 killing. Until now the Army had said
that both men were accused in the premeditated murder of a middle-age Iraqi
during an operation near Kirkuk - an offense that carries the possibility of
death by lethal injection. Donnelly, spokesman for Multi-National Division -
North, would not say if prosecutors have decided if they'll seek the death
penalty. The "charge
sheet," as it is called in the military, stated that Corrales committed
premeditated murder "by means of shooting (the victim) with a rifle
multiple times and by directing his subordinate," Spc. Christopher P.
Shore, "to then shoot the detainee." Shore of Winder, Ga., followed
the order, shooting the man "multiple times" according to the
charge sheet. The Army has said Corrales'
fellow troops reported the incident. Donnelly said their commander, Lt. Col.
Michael Browder, was relieved of duty "based on a loss of
confidence." He wouldn't elaborate, but Browder has not been charged. Donnelly would not say how
many times Corrales and Shore shot the Iraqi, and did not know if an autopsy
had been performed. Corrales and Shore, he said, are the only soldiers in the
Honolulu-based 25th Infantry Division to have been charged with killing
Iraqis since it went to war one year ago. Corrales, 34, is on a base in
Kirkuk but has not been jailed. His is one of at least seven cases in which
soldiers have been charged with killing Iraqis, but he is thought to be the
first San Antonio native charged with murder in Iraq. He and Shore remain on
restricted duty. "The actual details of
what he is doing on a day-to-day basis, I'm not at liberty to discuss,"
Donnelly said of Corrales. Corrales' attorney, Frank
Spinner, said he wasn't fazed by the charge sheet's brief description of the
incident. He said the military over the years has "overcharged"
defendants - accusing them of crimes the evidence doesn't support. Spinner said one of his
clients, a Marine flier charged with involuntary manslaughter in 1998 after
clipping the lift cable of an Italian gondola and killing 20 people, ought to
have faced the lesser offense of negligent homicide. Capt. Richard Ashby was
acquitted in 1999. "Sometimes they
overcharge them because they're trying to pressure them into a plea
bargain," Spinner said. "It's a scare tactic; now sometimes it's
legitimate. But I don't become fearful by just reading a charge sheet. I want
to see the facts and the evidence." He said Corrales will not
talk with the media before an evidentiary hearing is held in late summer or
early fall in Iraq. But a family member said Corrales has loved the Army and
is dismayed over the turn of events. "I haven't talked to
him in about four days, five days, and now he's real discouraged," said
another sister, Triva Corrales, a 32-year-old basketball and track coach at
Wagner High School. "He's real disappointed because he doesn't feel that
he has the support from the military that he has given throughout the
years." External link: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/stories/MYSA072807.01A.Corrales_FOIA.34a63ea.html |