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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 21st,
2009 - Ex-Soldier Spared Death Penalty for Iraq Murders 1st news article
from the Associated Press 2nd news article
from the Associated Press |
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Ex-Soldier
Spared Death Penalty for Iraq Murders From the Associated Press May 21, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - An ex-soldier
convicted of rape and murder in Iraq has been spared the death penalty and will
get a life sentence after jurors couldn't agree unanimously on a punishment. Former Pfc. Steven Dale
Green raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in March 2006 and murdered her and her
family in their home south of Baghdad. Jurors had deliberated the
penalty for the former 101st Airborne Division member since Wednesday
afternoon and decided Thursday on a life sentence. A judge will formally
sentence him Sept. 4. The 24-year-old from
Midland, Texas, was convicted May 7. He and three other soldiers went to the
family's home, where Green and two others raped the teen. Green killed her
parents and sister, then her. © 2009 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/national/6435868.html Ex-soldier
spared death sentence for Iraq murders By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press May 21, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - An ex-soldier
convicted of raping and killing an Iraqi teen and murdering her family was
spared the death penalty Thursday and will serve a life sentence after jurors
couldn't agree unanimously on a punishment. Former Pfc. Steven Dale
Green of Midland, Texas, will be formally sentenced Sept. 4 by U.S. District
Judge Thomas B. Russell. Jurors who convicted Green on May 7 told Russell
they couldn't agree on the appropriate sentence after deliberating more than
10 hours over two days. In a March 2006 attack in
Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Green and three other soldiers
went to the home of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. Green shot and killed
the teen's mother, father and sister, then became the third soldier to rape
the girl before killing her. Green's attorneys never
denied Green's involvement in the attack. Instead, they focused on trying to
build a case that Green didn't deserve the death penalty. 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 receive sufficient Army leadership while serving
in Iraq's "Triangle of Death." Enemy attacks killed two
command sergeants, a lieutenant and a specialist in Green's unit during 12
days in December 2005. Jurors also were told that Green's unit was left alone
to run a traffic checkpoint for several weeks without a break. Green's father, John, and
brother, Doug, sighed as the verdict was read. "It's the better of two
bad choices," said John Green, also of Midland, Texas. Doug Green, 28, said the
jury reached the appropriate decision. "I do think it gives
him a chance to have some semblance of a life," Doug Green said.
"We're grateful for that." The other soldiers directly
involved in the attack are serving long sentences in military prison and
testified against Green, who was tried in federal court as a civilian because
he had been discharged from the Army before his arrest. Associated Press Writer
Kristin M. Hall contributed to this report. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYeOUInDxFuT4T8CsYG9-_KfQ9pgD98AT5CO0 Ex-soldier spared death
penalty over Iraq rape, murders From Reuters May 21, 2009 A jury has sentenced a
former US soldier to life in prison without parole for raping a 14-year-old
Iraqi girl and killing her and her family near Baghdad in 2006. Prosecutors had sought the
death penalty for Steven Green, 24, found guilty of the crimes by the same
jury on May 7. Judge Thomas Russell of the
US District Court in Paducah, Kentucky, who presided over the trial, is
required by law to impose the jury's sentence. After two days of
deliberations, the jury could not agree on whether he should be executed, so
the alternative punishment - life without possibility of parole - prevailed. Green's lawyers depicted him
as a victim of combat stress and a neglected childhood trapped in a combat
zone where he saw comrades die and could no longer tell friend from foe. Prosecutors said he was the
ringleader of a gang of five soldiers who plotted to invade the home of the
family of four to rape the girl, and who later bragged about the crime. Three of the four other
soldiers pleaded guilty in the attack and the fourth was convicted, all in
military courts-martial. They received sentences
ranging from five to 100 years, although they could be paroled much sooner. External link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/22/2577799.htm Jury spares
ex-soldier’s life in Iraqi murders Paducah jury's decision means he will face life in prison By Andrew Wolfson Louisville Courier-Journal May 21, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - Former Army
Pvt. Steven Dale Green was spared the death penalty today but will spend the
rest of his life in prison for the March 2006 murder of an Iraqi family. After nearly 11 hours of
deliberations over two days, a jury of nine women and three men was unable to
reach a unanimous verdict on whether Green, 24, should be sentenced to death
- meaning that, by law, he will receive the lesser sentence of life in prison
without the possibility of parole when sentenced Sept. 4. The jury's vote was not
announced, and jurors left the courtroom under police escort without talking
to reporters. Green broke into a slight
smile when the verdict was announced. His father, John Green, who was in the
courtroom, said the verdict was "the best of two bad choices, but the
better one by far." Green's brother, Greg, 26,
said he had mixed emotions about the result, given that his brother will
spend the rest of his life behind bars. But he added, "This gives him a
chance to have some semblance of a life, and we are very grateful for
that." Green's lawyers said in a
statement that they were pleased with the verdict but wouldn't be
celebrating. "Mr. Green will spend
the rest of his life in jail, and the events of March 12, 2006, have forever
changed the lives of many," said federal public defenders Scott
Wendelsdorf and Patrick Bouldin and private attorney Darren Wolff. "It is a tragic case on
so many levels," the statement continued. "At the end of the day,
we truly hope the U.S. military will take a hard look at the resources they
provide our service members dealing with combat stress issues. If they do not,
we are certain a tragedy like this will occur again in the future." The trial was the first in
which civilian jurors were asked whether to execute a former soldier for a
wartime crime. In a separate statement,
Wolff blasted the Justice Department for insisting on trying the case after
Green had twice offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. "That is when it became
obvious that this case was not about fairness or equity, it was about
appeasing the overseas communities who have been calling for Mr. Green's
execution," Wolff said. "We are pleased the jury did not bow to
those politically motivated pressures." In response, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Marisa Ford said that "some crimes are so horrific the
punishment should not be decided by prosecutors through plea agreements. The
interests of justice were best served in this case by letting the people
decide what the punishment should be for these crimes." In an interview, Ford said
the trial represented "the most important principles of our Constitution
and our democracy in action." Green, originally from
Midland, Texas, was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Abeer
Al-Janabi, 14, her 6-year-old sister, Hadeel, and their parents, Kassem and
Fakhriya. His lawyers had argued that
it was unjust for a former soldier to be judged by civilian jurors who had
never experienced the horrors of war. He was tried in federal court because
he was discharged from the Army, for a personality disorder, before his role
in the crimes was discovered. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates rejected a defense request to allow Green to re-enlist solely to permit
him to be court-martialed. In emotional closing
arguments Wednesday, Justice Department attorney Brian Skaret asked the jury
to take Green's life for the murders, which occurred in the family's home 20
miles south of Baghdad. The prosecution claimed that
Green committed a heinous, cold-blooded, premeditated crime and that the
stresses of war - including the deaths of many of his fellow soldiers - were
irrelevant. But the defense contended
that the Army made the crimes more likely to happen by failing to evacuate
Green after he was diagnosed with homicidal thoughts toward all Iraqis - and
by failing to provide adequate leadership for his platoon, which suffered the
most casualties in the war. Wendelsdorf pleaded with the
jury to spare Green's life and said America does not kill "its broken
soldiers." In an unusual rebuttal
argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lesousky seemed to back away from
Skaret's demand for the death penalty, saying that either verdict would
provide justice in the case and that the jury should do what it thought was
right. The jury had to wade through
250 pages of instructions that included 10 aggravating factors supporting the
death penalty and 39 mitigating factors. It took Chief U.S. District
Judge Thomas Russell 90 minutes to read the instructions to jurors. The aggravating factors
included the prosecution's claims that the crimes were premeditated; that
they were committed in an especially cruel and depraved manner; that two of
the victims were youths; and that several people were killed at once. The mitigating factors
included Green's age and lack of significant criminal history, as well the
defense's assertion that he quickly confessed and faces a harsher punishment
than his Army co-conspirators, who were equally culpable. Three of his co-conspirators
- Specs. Paul Cortez and James Parker and Pvt. Jesse Spielman - already had
been court-martialed and sentenced to long prison terms, although they are
eligible for parole in 10 years after starting their sentences. They testified against Green
in exchange for letters from the government that will be sent to the parole
board noting their cooperation. In the penalty phase of the
trial, Green's lawyers presented a series of friends, family members and
experts who testified that he grew up in an abusive, chaotic family and was
practically homeless after his mother kicked him out when he was 14. Green did not testify. But
according to his co-defendants, the crimes were hatched as the soldiers drank
contraband Iraqi whiskey and played cards at their traffic checkpoint. Green suggested killing some
Iraqis, and Barker proposed raping an Iraqi girl whom he had seen on a patrol
when he inspected the family's home. Cortez, the highest-ranking soldier at
the post, agreed to go along if he could rape the girl first. The soldiers disguised their
appearance, walked about 300 yards to the Al-Janabis' house, where Green and
Spielman herded Hadeel, Kassem and Fakhriya into a bedroom. Green shot them
one by one as Barker and Cortez took turns raping the girl. Then Green had
his turn before he shot her three times in the head. The soldiers burned her
body, threw one of the murder weapons into a canal and burned their clothes,
all to hide evidence. The other soldiers were
arrested and charged while they were still in Iraq; Green was arrested in
North Carolina and later indicted in Kentucky. The trial took place in
Paducah because Green was deployed from Fort Campbell, in Western Kentucky
and Tennessee, with the 101st Airborne Division. External link: http://tinyurl.com/oumnz3 |