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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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December 19th,
2007 - Trial Ordered for Hawaii-Based Soldier in Iraq Killing |
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Trial Ordered for Hawaii-Based
Soldier in Iraq Killing By William Cole The Honolulu Advertiser December 19, 2007 A Schofield Barracks soldier
accused of shooting an unarmed Iraqi man will be tried at court-martial on a
lesser charge than the premeditated murder charge he originally faced, the
Army said today. Spc. Christopher Shore, 25,
of Winder, Ga., will face the lesser offense of murder as defined as an
"act inherently dangerous to another," according to the Army. Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon,
commander of the 25th Infantry Division, made the decision "based on all
the evidence from the investigation" and a preliminary hearing in
October, according to a release. The decision goes against
the recommendation of Lt. Col. Raul Gonzalez, the officer who presided over
the Article 32 hearing, which determined whether Shore should be tried. Gonzalez had said that Shore
should not be tried for murder, but that he should be court-martialed for
aggravated assault. Shore and Sgt. 1st Class
Trey Corrales, 34, of San Antonio, were accused of shooting an unarmed Iraqi
man on June 23 after a raid in the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk
looking for insurgents planting roadside bombs. The Army accused Shore of
shooting the Iraqi after being ordered to do so by Corrales. Both faced
premeditated murder charges. Gonzalez said there was
"overwhelming evidence" showing Corrales shot at the man multiple
times with the intention of killing him. Corrales waived his right to a
hearing prior to a decision on whether he should be court-martialed for the
Iraqi's killing. "Reasonable grounds do
not exist to believe that the accused committed premeditated murder,"
Gonzalez wrote of Shore. Shore's arraignment and
trial are expected to take place at Wheeler Army Airfield in January or
February. The Army also said that an
additional charge with two specifications was preferred against Corrales. Corrales now also is accused
of "wrongfully soliciting another soldier to shoot an unarmed, wounded
Iraqi who had previously been shot" by Corrales, the Army said. Additionally, Corrales is
charged with "wrongfully impeding an investigation into the incident by
causing an AK-47 rifle to be placed near the victim after he had been
shot," according to an Army release. The Army said the additional
specifications will be forwarded to Corrales' brigade commander who will make
a recommendation to Mixon. Mixon will make the final decision. A fellow soldier testified
at the Article 32 hearing for Shore that Corrales pulled the Iraqi man out of
a house that had been secured and told him to run. As the confused Iraqi
started backing up, the soldier said, he saw Corrales start to raise his
weapon. The soldier said he turned, not wanting to see what came next, and
heard up to five shots. After being ordered to
"finish" the wounded Iraqi by Corrales, Shore said, "I had to
act. I had to do something." He said he fired two shots
off to the side of the Iraqi's head in the dirt without Corrales seeing that
he did not shoot the man. But he also acknowledged that he previously had
said he had shot at the Iraqi. Several soldiers testified
that Corrales was a mercurial and tyrannical platoon sergeant who told them
to "kill all military-age males" encountered in the village and in
the target house. The soldiers said they did
not want to get on Corrales' bad side because he wielded the power to kick
them off the tight-knit and prestigious scouts platoon, but a handful of
soldiers decided shortly after to report to higher ups what had happened. There also was testimony
that Corrales tried to get the Iraqi man to hold an AK-47 rifle, and that it
was planted near him after he had been shot. Both Corrales and Shore
appeared in uniform at a recent remembrance ceremony at Schofield for 41
soldiers who were killed on the 15-month deployment that ended in October.
Ten of those soldiers were killed in an Aug. 22 helicopter crash, and some
were expected to be witnesses in the cases against Shore and Corrales. The Associated Press
contributed to this report. External link: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Dec/19/br/br7182905463.html |