Posted on 05/26/2005 8:33:07 PM PDT by SmithL
FORT HOOD -- An Army staff sergeant was acquitted of murder Thursday in the death of an unarmed Iraqi he said he shot to save a fellow soldier.
A jury of four soldiers and two officers deliberated for less than three hours before finding Staff Sgt. Shane Werst not guilty of premeditated murder. He had faced a maximum of life in prison without parole.
Before the jury announced the verdict, the judge found Werst innocent of obstruction of justice, so the jury's verdict on that charge was not revealed. Col. Theodore Dixon said he decided to rule on that charge.
Werst's family shrieked, cried and hugged after the verdict was read.
"Soldiers have to be able to know that they're not being second-guessed in the battlefield and in close-quarters combat,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
There never was any question in my mind.
Actually he was never charged or tried. Does the military call this acquital?
Werst was his own "werst" enemy in this thing. He would have never faced charges if he had simply shot the Iraqi. Planting a gun on the body and telling the other GI to say "the Iraqi fired first" if anyone asked, was an unwise move, an act that could be and was construed as consciousness of guilt. I'm happy he was acquitted, but I hope all soldiers take a lesson from this.
That's the 3rd military guy today that has been found innocent!!!!!
Thanks as soon as I posted, I realized my error. I reported myself and tried to have it deleted.
I will say no charges is much better than this result. I am glad the guy was not found guilty. But we don't need guys worrying about being tried except in clear cut cases of very bad behavior. War is afterall a dirty business.
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H . RES . 167
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United States Marine Corps.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2005
Mr. JONES of North Carolina submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United States Marine Corps.
Whereas Ilario Pantano enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 23, 1989, through an early entry program at the age of 17;
Whereas Ilario Pantano fought honorably in Operation Desert Storm in 1991;
Whereas Ilario Pantano returned to the United States in 1991 as a corporal and again served his country honorably in Yugoslavia, Morocco, and the Mediterranean;
Whereas Sergeant Pantano separated from the Marine Corps under with an honorable discharge, earned a bachelors degree in economics in three years, and spent eight years in the private sector as an energy trader and an entrepreneur in media and film;
Whereas, following the attack on the Nation of September 11, 2001, Ilario Pantano displayed courage, dedication to the Nation, and self-sacrifice by rejoining the Marine Corps and, after attending Officer Candidate School, was commissioned as a second lieutenant;
Whereas in March 2004, Second Lieutenant Pantano was sent to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom;
Whereas, on April 15th, 2004, Second Lieutenant Pantano led a platoon in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, that apprehended two Iraqis who were suspected insurgents;
Whereas Second Lieutenant Pantano ordered the suspected insurgents to be detained, then ordered them to search their own vehicle in the event that it contained explosives;
Whereas the vehicle's seats were not bolted down, a tactic commonly used by insurgents to retrieve weapons, and nails and bolts were found in the trunk of the vehicle, items commonly found in improvised explosive devices;
Whereas, in response to threatening movements by the suspected insurgents, Second Lieutenant Pantano took action in self defense that resulted in their deaths;
Whereas accusations that Second Lieutenant Pantano's actions were something other than self-defense did not surface until almost two months after the incident in Mahmudiyah;
Whereas, in his Combat Fitness Report dated August 5, 2004--nearly four months after the incident--Second Lieutenant Pantano's superior officers gave the following evaluation of his performance from March through July, 2004:
Ì (1) His `progression as a young platoon commander and leader has been impressive'.
Ì (2) `With a calm demeanor that spoke of confidence, Lieutenant Pantano has led his platoon into urban combat in Latafiyah and he also conducted conventional operations in Fallujah and Zaidon Province, Iraq'.
Ì (3) He is a Marine who `leads from the front always and balances his aggressive style with true concern for the welfare of his Marines'.
Ì (4) He was `ready for increased responsibility,' and was a soldier who the Marine Corps should `retain, promote and assign to challenging assignments': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
(1) Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United States Marine Corps, was defending the cause of freedom, democracy, and liberty in his actions of April 15, 2004, that resulted in the deaths of two suspected Iraqi insurgents and that subsequently have given rise to certain charges against him; and
(2) the United States Government should dismiss all charges against Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano arising from the actions referred to in paragraph (1).
Yes!....That's 1 for the GOOD GUYS!
Give him a medal!
(How can you put someone on trial for exterminating vermin?)
Resolution 167 is old, it was submitted on March 17.
Just wanted that to be clear.
Don't you know Jabba Kennedy and Unfancy Pelozi are crying out in anquish/beating their breast. Looks like our our soldier came out on top for saving another brother soldier's life. NSNR
Indeed it is, and it never would've happened before our entire culture became infected with political correctness.
True. But the soldier was probably thinking he would be sent to leavenworth because of the other cases like Patano(sp?) and the Marine who shot the scumbag in the mosque.
Amen!
More good news.
Navy SEAL acquitted of abusing Iraqi prisoner
Friday, May 27, 2005 Posted: 9:00 PM EDT (0100 GMT)
SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A military jury acquitted a Navy SEAL lieutenant Friday of beating an Iraqi prisoner who later died.
Jurors deliberated about three hours before finding Lt. Andrew K. Ledford not guilty of all charges.
The 32-year-old SEAL had faced up to 11 years in military prison if he had been convicted of assault, dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer and making false statements.
Ledford, who had stood at attention for the verdict's reading, burst into a huge smile and embraced his attorney upon hearing he was acquitted.
"I think that's what makes this country great is that there is a system in place and it works," he said outside court.
Ledford's family, including his pregnant wife, wiped away tears as several SEALs who had served with him in Iraq applauded.
Navy prosecutors left the courtroom without commenting.
"I hope that someone receives a message from this outcome," Ledford's civilian attorney, Frank Spinner, told reporters. "That we have valiant warriors, brave SEALs, who put their lives on the line and they're human."
Prosecutors said that Ledford, 32, failed as a leader on a November 2003 mission after he and his men captured Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspect in the bombing of Red Cross offices in Baghdad that killed 12.
During a brief stop at an Army base, members of Ledford's SEAL platoon testified that they punched, kicked and struck al-Jamadi with muzzles of their rifles. Instead of ordering his men to halt the beating, Ledford accepted a subordinate's offer to "give this turd a knock" and punched the bound prisoner in the arm, Navy prosecutor Lt. Chad Olcott said.
No witness who appeared during the four-day court martial testified that they saw Ledford strike al-Jamadi. The only evidence of the punch came in Ledford's own sworn statement last year to Navy criminal investigators. On the witness stand Thursday, Ledford denied punching the detainee.
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