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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 20th,
2009 - Trial Ends with Testimony about Ex-Soldier’s Brain |
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Trial Ends with Testimony
about Ex-Soldier’s Brain By Dave Alsup Cable Network News May 20, 2009 Paducah, Kentucky - A jury
on Tuesday heard the last bits of evidence it will be asked to consider
before deciding whether to sentence a former U.S. soldier to death for war
crimes he committed in Iraq. Steven Green was convicted
earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Kentucky of murder, rape,
conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with a 2006
rape-and-murder rampage south of Baghdad. A jury found him guilty of
raping a 14-year-old girl, then killing her and setting her body on fire to
destroy evidence. Green also was found guilty of killing the girl's parents
and 6-year-old sister. He is facing trial in
civilian court because he had already been discharged from the Army before
his crimes came to light. If the jury chooses death, he would become the
first former U.S. soldier given the death penalty for war crimes by a
civilian court. On Tuesday, testimony
centered around highly technical talk about Green's brain. At issue was an MRI presented
into evidence last week by the defense team and the analysis that followed
suggesting that Green may have damaged part of his brain at some point in his
life. Dr. Helen Mayberry, a
clinical neurologist from Emory University, testified for the prosecution,
questioning at length the scientific methods of a doctor who testified for
the defense - as jurors looked at scans of Green's brain and a bailiff dozed
in the back of the courtroom. A week earlier, Dr. Rubin
Gur of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine compared Green's brain
scan to 41 others, saying his was significantly different than the others and
possibly showed signs of one large or several small head injuries. The prosecution has noted
that Green's verbal scores on standardized tests were above average. The defense has argued that
Green's childhood was troubled and stressful, calling relatives and medical
professionals to paint a picture that included the breakup of his parents
marriage, regular beatings by an older brother and being moved around Texas
by his mother. An aunt testified that she
wasn't sure the Army would accept Green after he got his high school degree
through a correspondence course and that she never thought he would make it
through basic training. Green's father, John Green,
and uncle, David Green, were in court Tuesday and met privately with him
after court adjourned for about two hours. Green is the last of four
soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division convicted of rape, murder and a
failed cover-up in the deaths of members of the Al-Janabi family in March
2006. The others were convicted in military court and imprisoned. Closing arguments are
scheduled to start Wednesday morning in the U.S. District Court of Western
Kentucky. External link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/19/kentucky.soldier.iraq.murder/ |