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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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February 24th,
2007 - Spielman Won’t Face Death News article by the Chambersburg Public Opinion |
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By Vicky Taylor Chambersburg Public Opinion February 24, 2007 U.S. Army prosecutors have
dropped their demand for the death penalty in their case against a
Chambersburg soldier accused of taking part in the rape of an Iraqi teenager
and murder of her and her family. That word on the possible
fate of Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman came from a 101st Airborne Division public
affairs officer at Fort Campbell after another soldier in the case was
sentenced this week to 100 years in prison with the possibility of parole in
10 years. During a motions hearing for
Spielman Friday at Fort Campbell, a military judge ordered the government to
provide mental health records for all of the soldiers accused in the case, as
well as more than a dozen witnesses, most of whom were members of Spielman's
unit while he was stationed in Iraq. Spielman's defense team made
several motions Friday centered around requests for various documentary
evidence and the government's responsibility to produce witnesses, according
to Master Sgt. Terry Webster, public affairs officer at Fort Campbell. Spielman's legal team is
headed by Texas attorney Craig Carlson, who said this week that he planned to
take the case to trial in a military courts-martial. Defense attorneys have
insisted since taking the case last fall that Spielman did not participate in
the rape and murders and did not know they were planned by others in his
patrol when they left their remote outpost that day. "Jesse has always said
he didn't rape or murder anyone, and didn't know anyone else was going to
rape or murder that day," Carlson said in a telephone interview
Wednesday. "He didn't help anyone else do that, either." The Army charged Spielman,
Sgt. Paul Cortez, Spc. James Barker and Pfc. Bryan Howard with rape, murder,
housebreaking, arson and obstruction of justice. A fifth soldier, Steven
Green, was discharged for a personality disorder before the crime came to
light and is facing premeditated murder and rape charges in federal court. Cortez was sentenced
Thursday to 100 years with the possibility of parole. According to an
Associated Press story, he could be out of prison in 10 years. Barker was
sentenced to 90 years with the possibility of parole. Both will get
dishonorable discharges. Both men admitted raping the
girl, according to their plea agreements and implicated Green in rape of the
girl and the murders of the girl, her parents and younger sister. Green has
pleaded not guilty in federal court. A military judge has
rejected the findings in Howard's Article 32 hearing and ordered another
hearing. Spielman's trial is set for
April 2, according to Webster. External link: http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_5295253 Lawyers: Pfc. didn’t plan
killing Soldier offers murder defense By Rose French Associated Press February 24, 2007 Fort Campell - Lawyers for
an Army soldier charged with the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl
and the killings of her family told a judge on Friday that he was not
involved in planning the attack with other soldiers. Pfc. Jesse Spielman, 22,
faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted on
rape and murder charges in the attack last year. Spielman is one of five
soldiers with the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division charged in
March 12 attack near Baghdad. The rape and murder of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi
and the deaths of her parents and younger sister were considered among the
worst in a series of atrocities alleged against U.S. military personnel in
Iraq. Two of the soldiers have
already pleaded guilty in the case, including a sergeant who was sentenced
Thursday to 100 years in prison. Spielman's attorney, Capt.
Stephen McGaha, told military judge Col. Stephen R. Henley in a hearing
Friday that witnesses would testify Spielman did not conspire with the other
soldiers to attack the family. McGaha also said defense
witnesses would testify that Spielman and other soldiers allegedly involved
in the assault suffered from combat stress brought on from being overworked,
and were traumatized by the deaths of comrades before the attack. Spielman, who sat stoically
next to his lawyer in the military courtroom, has deferred entering a plea to
the allegations. His court-martial is scheduled to begin April 2. Friday's hearing came a day
after Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, was sentenced to 100 years in prison for his
involvement in the attack. Cortez was also given a dishonorable discharge and
will be eligible for parole in 10 years under his plea agreement. During testimony this week,
Cortez described raping the girl in her family's home with Spc. James Barker,
24, who pleaded guilty in November to rape and murder and was sentenced to 90
years in prison. Barker testified at a
November hearing that Spielman and Pfc. Brian Howard, 19, were not
participants in the rape and murder, but said Spielman was present when the
assault took place and had come knowing what the others intended to do. Howard faces a maximum
sentence of life in prison if convicted in a court-martial trial set for
March 23. An ex-soldier, Steven D.
Green, is accused of being the ringleader in the attack, but was discharged
from the military before being charged. He is being prosecuted in a federal
court in Kentucky. External link: http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070224/NEWS02/702240384/1014 |