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February 20th,
2008 - Military Jury Convicts Soldier of Aggravated Assault News article by the Associated
Press News article by the Honolulu
Advertiser |
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Military Jury Convicts
Soldier of Aggravated Assault By Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press Writer February 20, 2008 Wheeler Army Airfield,
Hawaii - A military jury convicted Army Spc. Christopher Shore of aggravated
assault Wednesday in the killing of an Iraqi man last year. A nine-member jury found
Shore of Winder, Ga., not guilty of third-degree murder in the June 23
killing but guilty of the lesser offense. Aggravated assault carries a
maximum eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge but lawyers said
Shore could receive a lighter sentence. Col. Donna Wright, who
presided over the court-martial at Wheeler Army Airfield where Shore is
based, set sentencing for later Wednesday. Another witness was being flown in
from Iraq to testify at the sentencing. The soldier had blamed the
killing on his platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales of San Antonio,
who is to go on trial on a premeditated murder charge on April 22. Shore says he shot at but
intentionally missed the victim when ordered by Corrales to finish him off
outside a house near Kirkuk. Shore, who declined comment
when asked by reporters after verdict, hugged friends and family outside the
hearing room but had no visible reaction inside. Shore, 26, is the youngest
of five children and is married and has two children. At the sentencing hearing,
he said his wife would be unable to support their family without him. Shore wiped tears from his
eyes as he spoke about losing members of his platoon, which returned from
Iraq with only about half of the more that 20 it deployed with. "I know it's real easy
if you've never been in this situation to Monday quarterback and say what the
law says," he told the court. "You don't know until you're
there." The jury of officers and
enlisted personnel deliberated for nearly four hours before delivering the
verdict. Jurors concluded that Shore did not shoot the man, his attorney
said. "The first feeling that
came over me was that our prayers were answered," said Derrick Sparks,
29, Shore's half brother. "I knew my brother was innocent. I'm glad
everyone's finally going to see the answer is not guilty." A prosecutor in the case
told the jury in his closing remarks that Shore could have avoided firing his
gun by walking away from the scene, as other members of his platoon did. Capt. James Leary said
duress is not a defense for murder, pointing to witness testimony that the
victim was talking and moving before Shore fired his weapon. "Everyone else wants to
be back inside. They didn't want to be part of it," Leary said in
closing arguments. Although Shore may not have
wanted to hurt the victim, Leary said, the decision to fire two shots at him
was itself illegal. Shore's lawyer, Mike
Waddington, did not call the defendant to the stand. He argued that the
prosecutor had provided no physical or forensic evidence linking Shore to the
killing. No guns, bullets or other items were entered into evidence, and the
Iraqi has not been identified by U.S. authorities. Waddington called the
investigation "sloppy," saying investigators initially went to the
wrong house and excavated the wrong yard. "Why would a young
soldier stand there?" he asked jurors. "Perhaps terror. He wouldn't
have shot but for fear." Shore said he fired after
Corrales ordered him to kill the man whose hands had tested positive for
touching explosives. Shore's third-degree murder
case on Wednesday was heard by a jury of nine officers and enlisted
personnel. Before his closing
arguments, Waddington read testimony submitted by Essa Ahmed, a translator
with Shore's unit during the raid. He used Ahmed's testimony to argue that
Shore acted under pressure and had reason to fear Corrales would attack him
if he did not follow orders. Ahmed said the victim was
alive and talking after Shore fired two rounds. Ahmed also said he was afraid
Corrales would shoot him. "Help me, by Christ's
sake," Ahmed quoted the victim as saying. He said the man also declared
before dying, "I am a Christian, too." After the verdict,
Waddington said Ahmed's testimony was vital to the case. His statement "showed
the guy was alive after Shore discharged his weapon twice," the attorney
said. The hearing officer set the
sentencing late to allow Ahmed to arrive from Iraq. © 2008 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5557955.html Defense says wrong soldier
on trial By The Honolulu Advertiser February 20, 2008 Wheeler Army Airfield - The
murder case against a Schofield Barracks soldier in the death of an unarmed
Iraqi detainee may come down to conflicting testimony over whether he
actually shot at the man, or intentionally missed him. Spc. Christopher Shore, 26,
of Winder, Ga., is charged with third-degree murder - roughly equivalent to a
civilian manslaughter charge - in the death of the unidentified man last June
while on a deployment to northern Iraq. At Shore's court-martial
yesterday, defense attorney Michael Waddington said his client is not guilty
of murder, and is not guilty of assault. The case also involves a
platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, who was described as mercurial
and out of control by fellow soldiers. Corrales is accused separately of
shooting the unarmed Iraqi multiple times, and then ordering Shore to
"finish" him. Waddington said there's no
dispute the Iraqi was shot. "But the man that shot and
killed this individual is named Sgt. 1st Class Corrales," Waddington
said. Corrales, 35, of San
Antonio, is charged with premeditated murder, wrongfully soliciting another
soldier to shoot the Iraqi, and wrongfully impeding the investigation by
having an AK-47 rifle planted near the victim. Corrales' trial is set for
April 22. At an Article 32 hearing in
October similar to a civilian preliminary hearing, Shore said he was afraid
of what Corrales might do to him as Shore was ordered to shoot the wounded
Iraqi on the ground. Instead of carrying out the
order, he fired two shots next to the detainee's head, Shore said. Prosecutor Capt. Laura
O'Donnell, however, yesterday asked the nine-member military jury to focus on
the time after the first volley of shots, when she said Shore made the
decision to raise his M-4 rifle and fire two shots, leading to the death of
the detainee. The scout platoon of the 2nd
Battalion, 35th Infantry, was looking for insurgents planting roadside bombs
on the June 23 raid to the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk. Earlier, U.S. Kiowa
helicopters had taken and returned fire. On the raid, Corrales wanted
revenge because a buddy had burned to death in an attack shortly before the
mission, Waddington said. Corrales told his soldiers
to shoot anyone in the village, the defense attorney said. "(But) these guys knew
right from wrong," Waddington said, adding that some men took
"clearly missed" warning shots. With nearly 20 scout platoon
soldiers in place for the nighttime mission, a rocket was used to try to blow
a hole in the wall of the "target" house. Schofield soldiers said the
house was quickly secured, there were no gunshots, and no weapons were found.
Tests were administered to check for explosives residue. Corrales ran into the house
and "he wants to know why nobody was killed," Waddington said. He
told the soldiers he would kill the next Iraqi who turned up positive for
explosives residue, the attorney said. Corrales tried to get one
Iraqi to take an AK-47 rife, and marched him outside, Waddington said. Shore had previously said
the Iraqi, wearing a white tunic, had said, "No mister, no mister, not
me." Spc. Franklin Hambrick
yesterday testified that the Iraqi man had his hands up and that Corrales
ordered him to run. Hambrick thought it was a
scare tactic, but as Corrales raised his rifle, he thought "this is
really going to happen," and as he turned away he heard shots fired. Spc. Jeffrey Seliga said
later he went to see a mental health officer. "I went to him because I
thought that Sgt. Corrales was going to hurt somebody," Seliga said. A military deputy medical
examiner said the Iraqi man had five gunshot wounds: one in each arm, one in
the back and two in the face. One soldier said Corrales
punched a woman in the house during the raid, and another said Corrales
shoved a gun barrel down the throat of an Iraqi goat herder on another
occasion. There was contradictory
testimony as to whether Shore said he had shot at the Iraqi. Staff Sgt. Robert Radle said
Shore told him he didn't know whether he had hit the Iraqi with the shots he
fired. David McMullen, a special
agent with the military's criminal investigation command, also said Shore
said he fired two shots, but was not able to say whether he hit the man. But Sgt. 1st Class Dennis
Bulham said Shore said he shot at the detainee. Shore's father, Ray
"Brian" Shore, sat behind his son in the Wheeler courtroom
spectator area, as did Shore's wife, Katherin. Shore previously said
because Corrales had a close relationship with the battalion commander, Lt.
Col. Michael Browder, Shore thought the shooting would be swept under the
rug. Browder was relieved of
command in Iraq. He returned to Hawai'i from a new job at Fort Benning, Ga.,
to testify yesterday under a grant of immunity. The night of the incident
Corrales had told him he had shot an Iraqi, Browder said. A two-thirds majority of the
military panel is needed for a conviction, but Shore also could be convicted
of a lesser offense than third-degree murder, officials said. External link: http://tinyurl.com/2oscn2 Jury takes over in soldier’s
court-martial By Gregg K. Kakesako Honolulu Star Bulletin February 20, 2008 A military jury of four
officers and five enlisted soldiers is expected to spend most of today
deliberating about the case of a 26-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier
accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi civilian last June near Kirkuk. During a daylong
court-martial at Wheeler Army Air Field yesterday, defense attorney Michael
Waddington argued that his client, Spc. Christopher Shore, 26, was ordered by
his platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, to shoot an Iraqi insurgent
suspected of making bombs used to attack soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat
Team. Waddington acknowledged that Shore, of Winder, Ga., did fire two shots
but said he deliberately missed. The suspected Iraqi
insurgent was shot five times in the head, left and right arms, and back. Lt.
Cmdr. Mark Shelly, the medical examiner who did the autopsy on July 1,
testified that the wound on the victim's left cheek was probably fatal. The
victim was never identified since his body was never claimed, Army officials
said yesterday. Corrales is charged with
premeditated murder, telling Shore to shoot an unarmed detainee and then
impeding an investigation by planting an AK-47 rifle near the victim. He will
be tried on April 22. Shore is charged with manslaughter, although an investigating
officer recommended the lesser charge of aggravated assault. Yesterday at Shore's
court-martial, Spc. Franklin Hambrick testified that Corrales, before the
soldiers attacked a house where insurgents were believed to have taken
refuge, ordered his platoon "to shoot all fighting-age males." Hambrick said Corrales
ordered his platoon to test the hands of everyone in the house for explosives
and if the results were positive, they should be killed. Hambrick said Corrales took
a detainee, who had tested positive, outside the house and told him to run.
"The guy didn't realize what was going on and raised his hands,"
Hambrick said. The order was repeated
several times, Hambrick added . Each time Corrales raised his M-4 carbine
until it was eye level, and at that point, Hambrick said, he turned to leave
because he knew what was going to happen. "As soon as I turned
around, I heard shots," he testified. Sitting in the Wheeler Army
Air Field courtroom behind Shore was his wife, Katherin , and his father, Ray
Shore, and a few members of his patrol. Army criminal investigator
David McMullen, who interviewed Shore a couple of hours after the shooting,
said Shore acknowledged firing two shots, but didn't know if he hit the
Iraqi. However, Sgt. 1st Class
Dennis Bulham testified that Shore, at a later meeting with Lt. Col. Michael
Browder, their battalion commander, said he fired at the unarmed civilian. Both Corrales and Shore are
assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th
Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and were in Iraq for 15 months. External link: http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/20/news/story10.html |