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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 23rd,
2007 - Lawyer Says Soldier Did Not Give Order To Kill Prisoners |
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Lawyer Says Soldier Did Not
Give Order To Kill Prisoners By Tommy Millsaps The Monroe County Advocate & Democrat February 23, 2007 With the March 13 court
martial date fast approaching, the counsel for 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Raymond
Girouard is preparing a vigorous defense. The 101st Airborne solder
from Sweetwater stands charged with pre-mediated murder in the connection
with the May 9, 2006, shooting deaths of three Iraqi detainees during operations
at a chemical complex about 65 miles north of Baghdad. Three other soldiers charged
in connection with the shootings have already pleaded guilty to lesser
charges and stand poised to testify against the 2001 Sweetwater High School
graduate. At least one of the other
soldiers will testify Girouard ordered the men to kill the three Iraqi
detainees, according to published reports. But Girouard’s civilian
attorney, hired with funds raised by the Monroe County community, said her
client has no plans to plea and his defense is quite simple. “Sgt. Girouard did not order
anyone to kill those Iraqi detainees,” said attorney Anita Gorecki. “He did
not give an order period.” Gorecki is a former Army JAG
officer from Fayetteville, N.C. She is now a private
attorney who represents military personnel. Gorecki said she has handled
murder cases before and is no stranger to a military courtroom, which is
considerably different from a regular courtroom. According to Gorecki, the
jury is a military panel usually made up of at least five military members. She said the panel generally
consists of five to eight members and only two-thirds of the members have to
agree on the verdict. Two current military
attorneys, Capt. Ted Miller and Capt. John Merriamn, also wil represent
Girouard. Girouard, an Army Ranger who
was serving a second tour of duty in Iraq when he was charged, faces a
sentence of life in prison without parole or could serve life in prison with
a chance for parole if convicted of the most serious charges against him. At this point, Gorecki said
she is not sure if she will argue that Girouard and the other troops had
orders from their superiors to kill all military-age males. The defense attorney also
said she is not sure yet if she will argue that the three Iraqi detainees
were shot while attempting to escape. The judge has cleared his
calendar for up to 14 days for Girouard’s court martial. Gorecki said she expected
the trial to last about 10 days with up to 11-hour days of testimony at Fort
Campbell, Ky. The attorney said she
visited Girouard last week where he is being held at a Naval prison in
Charleston, S.C. “He is extremely postive,” she said. “He’s extremely
appreciative of the community’s efforts to support him.” External link: http://monroe.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=news.view.subscriber&newsid=137898 |