|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
|
February 25th,
2010 - Prosecutors: Law Used in Ex-Soldier’s Trial Valid |
|
Prosecutors:
Law Used in Ex-Soldier’s Trial Valid By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press February 25, 2010 Louisville, Ky. - Federal
prosecutors argue a law used to convict a former U.S. Army soldier on
civilian charges of murder and rape in Iraq is constitutional and allows the
government to pursue former soldiers who otherwise would escape prosecution. The Military
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act is being challenged by 24-year-old Steven
Dale Green of Midland, Texas, who was convicted of raping and murdering
14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and killing three of her family members in
March 2006 while deployed to Iraq. The former 101st Airborne
Division soldier was the first soldier charged under the little-used MEJA. He
was convicted by a civilian jury in Kentucky and got five life sentences. Green argues the law
allowing his prosecution is unconstitutional because it gives the executive
branch of government too much leeway over who to prosecute. Federal prosecutors
disagreed in an 86-page brief filed Thursday. "The MEJA does not
empower the government to choose between a military or civilian courtroom; instead,
it simply permits the government to choose a civilian courtroom over no
courtroom at all," U.S. Department of Justice attorney Michael Rotker
wrote. Rotker's brief paints Green
as the instigator of the rape and slayings, differing from the testimony of
his co-conspirators at trial which put another soldier at the center of the
plot. One of Green's attorneys, Darren Wolff of Louisville, said efforts to
put his client at the center of the conspiracy are irrelevant to the appeal. "What we're arguing
about is the constitutionality of the law," Wolff said. "The law
they prosecuted him under is unconstitutional." Green is also contesting
whether the military validly discharged him before he was charged in civilian
court. Rotker wrote that any minor problem with Green's discharge wasn't
enough to invalidate his dismissal from the Army for a personality disorder. Green and four other
soldiers based at Fort Campbell, Ky., were investigated after Abeer was raped
and her body set afire. Green had been honorably
discharged with a personality disorder and returned to the U.S. by the time
the Army charged him in June 2006. The military refused to allow him to
re-enlist, and Green was indicted as a civilian. The four other soldiers
received sentences ranging from five years to 110 years based on their
acknowledged roles in the attack. One soldier has been released from military
prison after serving 27 months. The others are eligible for parole in 2016. Though Green was the first
soldier charged under MEJA, a former Marine who was charged after Green was
acquitted of murder in Iraq. In recent months, former private contractors
have been prosecuted under MEJA, with two having pleaded not guilty on
Wednesday to shooting deaths in Afghanistan. © 2010 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6885667.html |