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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 17th,
2009 - Ky. Jury Set for Ex-Soldier’s Iraq Slayings Trial |
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Ky. Jury Set
for Ex-Soldier’s Iraq Slayings Trial By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press April 17, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - The case of a
former Army soldier charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing
her and her family was ready to go to trial after a jury of 15 women and
three men was seated Friday to decide the case. Attorneys selected the group
from a pool of 80 prospective jurors to hear 17 counts including murder and
rape against former Pfc. Steven Dale Green, 23, of Midland, Texas. He is
being tried in Paducah because he was last stationed at Fort Campbell on the
Kentucky-Tennessee border. Green is the first
ex-soldier to be charged as a civilian under a 2000 law that allows U.S.
authorities to prosecute former military members for crimes overseas. He had
been discharged from the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division two
months after the alleged attack in March 2006 after being diagnosed with a
personality disorder. Prosecutors say he took part
in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the shooting
deaths of her family in Mahmoudiya, Iraq. Green has pleaded not
guilty. Prosecutors say they'll ask
for a death sentence if Green is convicted. Opening statements were
scheduled to begin April 27 in federal court in Paducah after a break. U.S.
District Judge Thomas B. Russell had to arrange the trial schedule around the
25th annual American Quilter's Society show in Paducah, an event that draws
thousands and fills hotel rooms in the area that were needed for lawyers and
witnesses in the Green case. Testimony is expected to
include four soldiers who were with Green's unit in the 1st Battalion, 502nd
Infantry Regiment. Three of those soldiers have pleaded guilty at
courts-martial to having roles in the attack and a fourth was convicted. Those soldiers received
sentences ranging from five years to 110 years, based on their involvement. Prosecutors also listed
nearly a half-dozen al-Janabi family members as potential witnesses. Those
witnesses will have a court-certified interpreter, Assistant U.S. Attorney
Marisa Ford said. Ford said the interpreter is
also available to the defense team if they wish to interview the Iraqi
witnesses. Defense attorney Scott
Wendelsdorf said plans to have the court's interpreter for the Iraqi
witnesses also work for prosecutors could pose a problem. "It runs the risk of
the interpreter developing inappropriate ties with the witnesses and the
prosecution," Wendelsdorf said. "I don't think it's insurmountable,
though." Russell said the interpreter
is certified by the federal court system and will take an oath before
translating any testimony, so there shouldn't be any issues. External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6378718.html |