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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 25th,
2009 - Feds Seek to Force Testimony in Ex-Soldier’s Case |
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Feds Seek to Force
Testimony in Ex-Soldier’s Case By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press April 25, 2009 Louisville, Ky. - Three
soldiers who were expected to testify in the civilian trial of a former
soldier accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in Iraq are likely
to refuse, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors asked a federal
judge to force the testimony of the soldiers at the trial of former 101st
Airborne Pfc. Steven Dale Green. Acting U.S. Attorney Candace Hill said the
soldiers - James Barker, Paul Cortez and Anthony Yribe - may invoke their
right against self-incrimination if called to testify at Green's trial, which
is scheduled to start Monday in Paducah. The three previously
testified about the killing in military court. The 23-year-old Green, of
Midland, Texas, has pleaded not guilty. He faces a possible death sentence on
charges that he raped and shot Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, then shot and killed
her family in 2006 in Mahmoudiya, Iraq. Green is being prosecuted in
federal court because he was discharged from the military before being
charged. Barker and Cortez, who were
assigned with Green to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment of the Fort
Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division, each pleaded guilty in military
court to their roles in attack in Iraq. Barker was sentenced to 90
years in prison, and Cortez, 100 years. Hill said in the motions
that the testimony of each soldier "may be necessary to the public
interest." Barker told a military court
that Green approached him with a plan to attack the family as the soldiers
drank whiskey bought from Iraqi soldiers. Barker described changing
clothes, then climbing through backyards as the five soldiers left the
checkpoint they had been staffing to carry out the attack. Barker and Cortez also
described how they raped the teenager with Green before Green killed the
girl, her younger sister and parents. Later, Barker testified that
he had allowed investigators to draft sworn statements for him that
implicated another soldier and that several portions of the document were
untrue. Cortez, of Barstow, Calif.,
pleaded guilty to four murders, rape and conspiracy to rape. Cortez, in his
plea agreement, said while raped the girl, Green shot and killed the girl's
parents and younger sister. Cortez testified that he
then acted as a lookout while Green raped the girl, and Green shot her.
Cortez testified that he helped burn the girl's body and the home, then
burned his clothes. Yribe was accused of failing
to report the crime, but charges against him were not referred to
court-martial. He admitted during a July 2007 court-martial of another
soldier to making false statements to military investigators and battalion
commanders following the assault, and failing to report what Green had told
him. Capt. Howard Clayton, an
attorney for Cortez, could not immediately be reached for comment. Attorneys
for Barker and Yribe could not immediately be located Friday. A message left
for Darren Wolff, one of Green's attorneys, was not immediately returned
Friday. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYeOUInDxFuT4T8CsYG9-_KfQ9pgD97P931G0 |