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May 20th,
2009 - Ky. Jury Deciding Sentence of Convicted Ex-Soldier 1st news article
from the Associated Press 2nd news article from
the Associated Press |
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Ky. Jury Deciding
Sentence of Convicted Ex-Soldier From the Associated Press May 20, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - A jury has
begun deciding whether a former soldier convicted of raping and murdering an
Iraqi teen and killing her family should be sentenced to die or imprisoned
for life. Jurors started deliberations
in the case of former Pfc. Steven Dale Green at 1:20 p.m. CDT on Wednesday. The jury convicted the
24-year-old ex-soldier from Midland, Texas, on May 7 of raping and killing
14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and shooting her family to death in March
2006, near Mahmoudiya, Iraq, south of Baghdad. During closing arguments
Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Green should be sentenced to death
because of the brutality of the crime. Green's attorneys told
jurors he should be spared a death sentence. © 2009 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6433408.html Iraq rape-slaying
prosecutors want death sentence By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press May 20, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - A former
soldier convicted of raping an Iraqi teenager and murdering the girl and her
family "signed his own name" to a death sentence because of the
brutality of the killing spree, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. Federal prosecutor Brian
Skaret told jurors during closing arguments that former Pfc. Steven Dale
Green intentionally raped and killed 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi after
shooting her father, mother and sister. "He crushed that
family," Skaret said of the March 2006 attack in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about
20 miles south of Baghdad. "And, in doing so, he signed his own name to
this death sentence." In his closing, defense
attorney Scott Wendelsdorf said Green's family and the military failed him,
leading him down the path to the killings. Green's tough childhood included
being kicked out of his mother's house at age 14, and years later the Army
didn't offer enough leadership or counseling, the defense said. "America does not kill
its broken warriors. It does not," Wendelsdorf said. "Spare this
boy. For God's sake, spare him." Green, 24, of Midland,
Texas, was convicted May 7 of rape and multiple counts of murder for the
fatal attack on the al-Janabi family. Green and three other soldiers went to
the home where Green shot the other family members before he was the third
soldier to rape the girl before killing her. Jury deliberations began
Wednesday afternoon. The other soldiers are
serving long sentences in military prison but did not face the death penalty.
They testified against Green, who was tried in federal court as a civilian
because he had been discharged from the Army before his arrest. In his closing argument,
Skaret walked jurors through a series of photos from the shooting scene,
including an image of 6-year-old Hadeel al-Janabi, which showed her hair band
had been blown off. "Today is the day you
can say no," Skaret said. "No, no, no, our soldiers do not do this.
We are a good and decent people." During the sentencing phase
of the trial, jurors heard from multiple witnesses that Green had little
structure in his home life and little guidance from his parents. Skaret said everyone has
family issues, but those issues do not lead the majority of people to attack
and kill an innocent family. Despite having a rough home life, Green chose to
take part in the attack on the al-Janabi family, and his upbringing shouldn't
be a factor in the jury decision, Skaret said. "We live in a country
that is governed by the rule of law, not by the rule of emotion," Skaret
said. Green's attorneys never
denied Green's involvement in the attack. Wendelsdorf, though, said the
stress of combat, combined with Green's pre-existing emotional and mental
problems stemming from his childhood pushed him over the edge. Compounding that,
Wendelsdorf said, is the Army saw all the signs of a soldier in trouble, who
would likely act on talk of wanting to kill Iraqi civilians, but did little
to help Green. "They knew it. They
ignored it," Wendelsdorf said. "It came to pass." During the trial, defense
attorneys presented former Marines and other soldiers Green served with who
testified that Green faced an unusually stressful combat tour in Iraq in a
unit that suffered heavy casualties and didn't get sufficient Army leadership
while serving in the "Triangle of Death." Enemy attacks killed two
command sergeants, a lieutenant and a specialist in Green's unit during 12
days in December 2005. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYeOUInDxFuT4T8CsYG9-_KfQ9pgD98A7I680 US jury mulls fate of
ex-soldier convicted of Iraq rape, murder From Agence France Presse May 20, 2009 Paducah, Kentucky - A
Kentucky jury began deliberating Wednesday whether a former US soldier should
be executed for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the slaughter
of her family. Steven Dale Green was
described alternately as "criminal and perverse" and deserving of
the death penalty, and as a "broken warrior" whose life should be
spared during closing arguments of his sentencing hearing. Death and life without
parole are the only options available to the jury which convicted Green on
May 7 of raping and killing 14-year old Abeer al-Janabi and murdering her
mother, father and six-year old sister. Three other soldiers were
given life sentences in the March 2006 atrocity devised over whiskey and a
game of cards at a traffic check point in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. Green, who was named as the
ringleader, was tried in civilian court after being discharged from the army
due to a "personality disorder" before his role in the crime came
to light. "The victims in this
case cry out for justice from their graves," assistant US attorney Brian
Skared told jurors in his closing argument Wednesday morning. Skared maintained the
defense had been playing a "blame game," filling the sentencing
phase with potential scapegoats who testified about Green's chaotic and
neglectful childhood and shoddy leadership of his unit in Iraq in an attempt
to deflect responsibility away from Green. "They've tried to make
Mr Green a victim in this case," he said. Instead, he said Green was
not acting on instinct or impulse when he killed the Janabi family but had
planned the rape and murders with a "criminal and perverse mind" and
then celebrated when it was over. Skared rejected the notion
that the stresses of war and losses of others in Green's unit somehow led him
to commit the acts. "If they knew their
deaths were somehow being provided as mitigation for this, they would roll
over in their graves," he said. "None of that explains what he did
to this family." But defense attorney Scott
Wendelsdorf reminded jurors that Green had sought help for combat stress
three months before killing the Janabi family, repeatedly telling a
lieutenant that he wanted to kill Iraqi civilians. Wendelsdorf said Green would
not have been there to commit the crimes had he been removed from duty when
he sought help. "Steven Green was
responsible (for the rape and murders) but the United States of America
failed Steven Green," Wendelsdorf said. "And it failed a lot of
soldiers in Iraq. And that wouldn't amount to a hill of beans if it were not
the United States of America now seeking to put Steven Green to death." Noting that Green had never
been in any serious trouble prior to this incident, Wendelsdorf urged jurors
to ask themselves why Green and the other soldiers convicted of the attack on
the Janabi family suddenly became criminals. "Something happened to
these men that changed them, that broke them, that crushed them and led to
this '15 minutes of madness.' Whether it just broke them or whether it kills
him is up to you." In closing, Wendelsdorf
pleaded with the jury to spare Green's life. "America does not kill
its broken warriors," he told them. "It does not. Spare this broken
boy. For God's sake, spare him." Copyright © 2009 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0vTY2q4VS_QLnALcIyMM8tcVwfQ |