|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
April 26th,
2008 - Jury Acquits Soldier Charged with Iraqi Murder News article by the
Associated Press News article by the Honolulu Star
Bulletin |
|
Jury Acquits
Soldier Charged with Iraqi Murder By Audrey McAvoy Associated Press April 26, 2008 Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii
- A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in
the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent
hideout last year. Sgt. 1st Class Trey
Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the military
panel, or jury, read the verdict. The jury of nine soldiers
acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after
more than seven hours of deliberation. Corrales would have faced a
minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted. Corrales said it feels like
a 200-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I felt confident. I
know this is going to sound weird but I wasn't surprised," Corrales
said. "But it was just a long time coming." Corrales' wife, Lily, told
their daughter Victoria, 7, "Your daddy's free! He's OK" moments
after the verdict was read. The sergeant held his
10-year-old son, Trey II, in a long embrace. Corrales, 35, admitted to shooting
the man after his platoon burst into a house in the village of Al Saheed near
Kirkuk last June. The platoon was looking for insurgents they suspected of
firing at U.S. helicopters and planting roadside bombs. But Corrales argued the
killing fell within the rules of engagement governing the use of deadly
force. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges. The prosecution argued the
Army platoon sergeant deliberately shot and killed the man after he was
subdued and securely in the custody of U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors said
Corrales told the man to run and then shot him. But Frank Spinner, Corrales'
defense lawyer, cast doubt on the credibility of the prosecution witnesses
and said the government failed to prove the bullets from Corrales' M4 killed
the man. "There are pieces of
the puzzle that are missing," Spinner said during his closing argument.
He said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Spinner said Corrales fired
his weapon because he reasonably believed the man posed a threat to the
platoon. "This was a dynamic
environment, an intense mission and he believed he was acting to protect his
men," Spinner said. The incident came about 11
months into a 15 month deployment for Corrales' 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th
Infantry Division based at Hawaii's Schofield Barracks. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzuwkhrcOZ-H5K2HgCBMz-ICJ0nwD909CEO80 Soldier acquitted in killing
of Iraqi A jury rejects charges by the prosecution that the soldier’s story had
several holes in it By Gene Park Honolulu Star Bulletin April 26, 2008 Decorated Schofield Barracks
soldier Trey Corrales was acquitted yesterday of charges that he killed an
unarmed, suspected Iraqi insurgent in June. Sgt. 1st Class Corrales
faced life in prison without parole after being charged with premeditated
murder, obstruction of justice and allegedly soliciting the murder by
instructing a subordinate to fire at the Iraqi, tentatively identified by the
Army as Salih Khatab Aswad. After more than seven hours
of deliberation, the nine-member jury panel returned with the not-guilty
verdict on all charges. Corrales appeared calm, and his family and fellow
soldiers immediately hugged each other tight. "I haven't been nervous
this whole time," Corrales said after the verdict. "I still have so
much faith and confidence in this Army." The three-day trial ends
what Corrales described as a harrowing period for him and his wife and three
children. He said it felt like he had left one battlefield and entered
another. He said his immediate
thoughts after the verdict was read went to the 10 soldiers from his platoon
who died in a helicopter crash last August. The soldiers were intended to be
witnesses in Corrales' trial. "When this happened, I
felt robbed," Corrales said through tears. "I wanted to be with
them. But I wanted to be with (my daughter) and my son and my wife. Being a
soldier, you're split between two worlds and two loves." Earlier in the day, Army
prosecutor Capt. Laura O'Donnell told the jury not to believe Corrales'
account of the shooting, where he denied premeditation, the alleged planting of
an AK-47 rifle onto the unarmed man and ordering Pvt. Christopher Shore to
shoot the wounded Iraqi. There were holes in
Corrales' account of the June 23 incident, she said, including how the
detainee was able to make it to the back yard after the raided home near
Kirkuk was declared secure by Corrales' 25th Infantry
Division elite scout platoon. "That detainee somehow
made it past 16 soldiers," she said. "That detainee magically made it
to the back yard. That doesn't make sense. What makes sense is the accused
pushed him to the back yard." But defense attorney Frank
Spinner called into question the testimony of several witnesses, including
Shore's. Shore, convicted of aggravated assault in relation to the shooting,
is serving time in the Ford Island brig. Spinner said Shore's initial
statement about the incident was that he was unsure whether he shot the
wounded man. He later testified that he had shot to the right of the man,
missing him. "This whole theory ...
is threadbare," Spinner said. "The centerpiece of their case wasn't
even addressed." Spinner attributed the
shooting to the "fog of war," where the rules of engagement becomes
ambiguous according to different situations. "This was a dynamic
environment, an intense mission," Spinner said. Corrales credited testimony
from his battalion commander at the time, Lt. Col. Michael Browder, in
selling the case that it was a coordinated effort to root out insurgent
movement in the area. Corrales said he expects
criticism from people who are surprised with the verdict, particularly those
"who sympathize with the insurgents." He said Iraqi insurgents
have a different value of human life than ordinary citizens do, including
those in Iraq. "The rules here in
America, we can't take them to Iraq and apply those same rules to the
insurgents on the ground," he said. "If we did, there wouldn't be
just 4,000 American soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen dead right
now." Corrales said he was grateful
to get another chance to spend more time with his family, especially since he
is expected to deploy back to Iraq this October. He returned to Schofield
Barracks last October from Iraq. External link: http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/26/news/story01.html Military jury acquits
soldier in killing of Iraqi By William Cole The Honolulu Advertiser April 26, 2008 Army Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales,
a Schofield Barracks soldier charged with premeditated murder in the shooting
death of an unarmed Iraqi last June, was acquitted today of all charges,
officials said. "They (the jury) did
not find guilty on anything," said Maj. Gary Johnson, the judge advocate
for the 3rd Brigade at Schofield Barracks. The military panel of five
enlisted soldiers and four officers deliberated for just under seven hours at
Wheeler Army Airfield. The prosecution, which made
its closing arguments this morning, said Corrales planned the shooting,
carried it out and then tried to cover it up. Prosecutor Capt. Laura
O'Donnell said Corrales, 35, took an Iraqi detainee into the backyard of a
house near Kirkuk and shot him. She said it was premeditated murder. Corrales' defense attorney,
Frank Spinner, challenged the credibility of the government's witnesses. If convicted of premeditated
murder, Corrales would have faced a maximum penalty of life in prison without
parole. Although Corrales was
charged with premeditated murder, military Judge Col. Donna Wright instructed
the jury that the range of offenses Corrales could be judged on were
premeditated murder, unpremeditated murder, or aggravated assault, an
official said. Additionally, Corrales was
judged on charges of wrongfully soliciting another soldier to murder an
unarmed wounded Iraqi who previously had been shot by Corrales; and
wrongfully impeding an investigation by causing an AK-47 rifle to be placed
near the victim after he had been shot. A second defendant in the
shooting, Pvt. Christopher Shore, 26, was tried on a charge of third-degree
murder — equivalent to a civilian manslaughter charge - but was found guilty
in February of aggravated assault and sentenced to 120 days confinement. Shore, of Winder, Ga., also
was given a reprimand and reduction in rank. Schofield soldiers had
raided a house in the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk on June 23 after
U.S. forces saw insurgents planting a roadside bomb and then enter the house. The house was secured and no
weapons were found. Fellow soldiers in Corrales' platoon testified that
Corrales said he was going to kill the next detainee who turned up positive
on an explosives residue test, and he marched an unarmed Iraqi outside and shot
him. Corrales said on the witness
stand yesterday that he made the statement that he was going to kill a
detainee only as a scare tactic to get information. The San Antonio man said he
subsequently shot an Iraqi in the backyard after suddenly coming upon the
man. Corrales denied escorting the man outside. Corrales said he
subsequently realized the man he shot had been in the house earlier. He could
not explain how the man got past the 16 to 18 Schofield soldiers who had
secured the interior of the house. Shore had said Corrales
ordered him to "finish" the Iraqi after Corrales shot the man.
Corrales denied giving Shore the order, and said Shore fired two shots of his
own volition. Corrales also said he was
not sure how an AK-47 rifle ended up near the Iraqi, who received five
gunshots and died about two days later. External link: http://tinyurl.com/5duy7o |