Posted on 07/12/2006 7:18:54 AM PDT by MizSterious
Tue Jul 11, 1:21 PM ET
A lawyer for a former U.S. soldier charged with killing a family of four in Iraq and raping one of them asked a judge on Tuesday for a gag order preventing officials from President George W. Bush on down from commenting on the case.
Without that, a court filing said, 21-year-old Steven Green will not get a fair trial. He pleaded not guilty last week to four counts of murder and one count of rape, and a Kentucky grand jury is currently considering the case against him.
"This case has received prominent and often sensational coverage in virtually all print, electronic, and Internet news media in the world," the filing in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Kentucky, said.
"Strong and inflammatory opinion is rampant, including the President in a nationally televised interview deeming the alleged conduct of the defendant to be a 'despicable crime' and opining that he was 'staining the image, the honorable image of the United States military'," the motion said.
The motion, filed by Scott Wendelsdorf, a public defender assigned to Green, also cited comments on the case from Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Mahmoudiya pinglist--if you want on or off, let me know via freepmail.
Interesting development in Green's case that I haven't seen reported elsewhere.
Wonder how this is going to go- don't the courts normally grant gag orders when requested?
They love this story, just love it, sick bastids.
And when Murtha breaks the gag order?
No judge has the authority to gag the President of the United States or anybody in the executive branch. That includes those who report to the CiC.
Separation of powers.
Sure, but then the next step would be a motion to dismiss based on inability to get a fair trial.
Innocent until proven guilty. Is that what the law states?
You are right. If you listen carefully, you can hear the Democrats dancing in the streets over this one. This is the best thing to happen to the Democrat Party since Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City Federal Building, and whether this incident is bogus matters not, Democrats will do their best to keep this one alive and in the daily news from now through the November midterm elections.
That defense argument didn't work in the McVeigh case after Janet Reno and Clinton made disparaging remarks about McVeigh. It likely wouldn't work here, in a much lower profile case.
Murtha...now there is someone who would look especially good wearing a gag around his big mouth! ;)
That law only applies if you are a NOT a Republican or a member of the United States Military.
If you are a treasonous bastid, a DemonRAT, a Kennedy.....then yes, that law applies.
Welcome to FR! There is much to learn.
6/30/2006, 6:31 p.m. CT By RYAN LENZ The Associated Press
BEIJI, Iraq (AP) — A group of American soldiers in an insurgent-riddled town allegedly noticed a young Iraqi woman when on patrol and later returned to rape her, according to U.S. officials Friday. In an apparent cover-up attempt, she and three members of her family then were killed and her body was set on fire.
Five U.S. troops are being investigated, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press. It was the sixth known inquiry into alleged slayings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.
The suspects in the killing, which took place in March, were from the same platoon as two soldiers kidnapped and killed south of Baghdad this month, said the official, who is close to the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
One soldier was arrested after admitting his role in the alleged attack on the family, the U.S. official said. The official said the rape and killings appear to have been a "crime of opportunity," noting that the soldiers had not been attacked by insurgents but had noticed the woman on previous patrols.
One of the family members they allegedly killed was a child, said a senior Army official who also requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Some of the suspects allegedly burned the woman's body to cover up the attack, the U.S. official said.
In Baghdad, the U.S. military issued a sparse statement, saying only that Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, ordered a criminal investigation into the alleged slaying of a family of four in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.
However, the U.S. official said the soldiers were assigned to the 502nd Infantry Regiment. The official told the AP that the suspects were from the same platoon as two slain soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found June 19, three days after they were abducted by insurgents near Youssifiyah southwest of Baghdad.
The military has said one and possibly both of the slain soldiers were tortured and beheaded. The official said the mutilation of the slain soldiers stirred feelings of guilt and led at least one member of the platoon to reveal the rape-slaying on June 22.
According to the senior Army official, the alleged incident was first revealed by a soldier during a routine counseling-type session. The official said that soldier did not witness the incident but heard about it.
A second soldier, who also was not involved, said he overhead soldiers conspiring to commit the crimes and then later saw bloodstains on their clothes, the official said.
United States of America v Steven D. Green
GIs May Have Planned Iraq Rape, Slayings
Details Emerge in Alleged Army Rape, Killings (Victim was 15)
Soldier charged with murder and rape [Mahmudiyah]
Does the Media Use al-Qaeda & Iraqi Insurgency Organizations for Reports?
Questions about the Affidavit against Pvt. Green (Iraqi Rape/Murder case)
5 U.S. GIs Charged in Iraq Rape-Slay Case
Five Soldiers Charged in Iraqi Rape, Murder Case (The unvarnished truth so, far. No Spin)
Biased Reporting (Thomas Sowell)
U.S. soldiers beheaded in retribution for rape?
Military Searches Triangle of Death for Missing Soldiers
Fox News: Bodies of 2 Missing GIs Found
Group claims 3 GIs killed over rape-murders
Internet video shows mutilated US soldiers [Blood will Boil!]
Memorial held to honor executed soliders
02:50 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Today, a memorial is planned at Fort Campbell to remember two 10tst Airborne soldiers brutally killed in Iraq.
Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were captured and killed by insurgents last month.
Last year Private First Class Nathan Ihrcke went through basic training with Menchaca and says his death has changed his mind about helping some Iraqis.
“One person to be demoralized and beheaded for no reason, he was only doing his job,” said Ihrcke.
Yesterday, an Al Qaeda linked group, claiming responsibility for their deaths released video of the bodies. The group said the soldiers were killed in response to the alleged rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and her family.
The accused in that case were also part of the 101st out of Fort Campbell.
http://www.whas11.com/news/local/stories/WHAS11_local_ftcampbellmemorial.6be7ec0.html
Iraqi PM Wants Review Of Immunity For US Troops
(July 12, 2006)--Iraq's prime minister says it's time to review laws giving foreign troops immunity from domestic prosecution.
The comment Wednesday by Nouri al-Maliki is the latest reacting to the rape and killing of an Iraqi woman south of Baghdad, and the killing of her parents and sister.
Al-Maliki says the laws should be reviewed because US soldiers sometimes act with impunity knowing they're protected from punishment.
Five US soldiers and one former soldier have been charged in the March killings.
Al-Maliki says US troops have misbehaved in other areas, from Sadr City to Abu Ghraib and Haditha.
He says he expects the Iraqi parliament would be the place to review the shield laws.
Officials said Monday that Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard are charged with rape and murder and several other alleged offenses.
If convicted, they could face the death penalty.
A fifth soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.
The five will face an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, to determine if they should stand trial.
They're charged with conspiring with former Pfc. Steven D. Green, who grew up in Midland.
Green was arrested last month in North Carolina.
Green pleaded not guilty in federal court to one count of rape and four counts of murder and is being held without bond.
According to an affidavit filed in Green’s case, the former soldier and at least two others targeted the victim and her family.
The soldiers drank alcohol, the affidavit said, and then changed clothes and abandoned the checkpoint to which they had been assigned to head to the victims’ home.
The rape victim whom Iraqi authorities identified as Abeer Qassim Hamza may be as young as 14.
The Associated Press quoted an official familiar with the investigation as saying her body was set on fire in what evidently was an attempt to cover-up the crime.
Iraqi officials identified the other victims as the girl’s father, Qassim Hamza; her mother, Fikhriya Taha; and her sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza, who was just 5-years-old.
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/3336151.html
Nice list of URL's. The soldiers are innocent until proven guilty with sufficient evidence.
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