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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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September 21st,
2008 - US Soldier Charged with Killing Iraqi Has Hearing |
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US Soldier Charged with Killing
Iraqi Has Hearing By Vanessa Gera Associated Press September 21, 2008 Camp Speicher, Iraq - A
pretrial hearing began Sunday for a U.S. soldier charged with fatally
shooting an Iraqi detainee earlier this year and lying about it. 1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna
appeared in uniform with his attorneys in the wood-paneled courthouse at Camp
Speicher, a large U.S. base near Tikrit, north of Baghdad. The hearing was
meant to determine whether there is enough evidence for a court-martial. Proceedings stopped
temporarily when the defense argued that the investigating officer should be
replaced because he had read unsworn witness testimony that cannot be legally
presented as evidence. A decision on the defense motion was expected Sunday
afternoon. A similar hearing for a
second U.S. soldier charged in the case, Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, took place
Sept. 13-14, but no decision has been made on whether he will face a
court-martial. Behenna and Warner have been
charged with shooting an Iraqi, Ali Mansour Mohammed, at or near their
forward operating base, Summerall, on May 16 near Beiji, 155 miles north of
Baghdad. The men face charges of
premeditated murder, assault, making a false official statement and
obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. military. Warner, of Braggs,
Okla., is also charged with being an accessory after the fact. They could face life in
prison without parole if tried and convicted. Behenna, from Edmond, Okla.,
is the son of Vicki Behenna, a federal prosecutor who helped convict Oklahoma
City bomber Timothy McVeigh for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Both men are assigned to D
Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division from Fort
Campbell, Ky. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNASOeVXYtU2rrHiYLyS5aW-gkmAD93B1FK00 |