Posted on 08/10/2006 5:43:29 AM PDT by MizSterious
Attorney representing soldier in Iraq returns
By Debbie Stevenson
Killeen Daily Herald
A Killeen attorney sent into the war zone to represent a soldier accused of having a role in the rape and slaying of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl was on his way back to Central Texas on Wednesday.
Dan Christensen with the Carlson Law Firm was sent Friday to Baghdad to represent Spc. Jesse V. Spielman of Chambersburg, Pa., one of five 101st Airborne Division soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, accused in the girl's slaying and the killing of her family on March 12.
Christensen was dispatched to Baghdad on Friday after the Army pressed forward with an Article 32 hearing, the military's equivalent of a grand jury. The three-day hearing wrapped up Tuesday, Carlson said.
Spielman, Spc. James P. Barker, Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard are accused of raping and murdering Abeer Qassim al-Janabi after killing her parents and 5-year-old sister. Her body then was burned. Another soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is accused of failing to report the attack near Mahmoudiya but is not alleged to have participated.
A sixth soldier, former Pvt. Steven D. Green, who was discharged in May after a psychiatric evaluation, has pleaded not guilty to rape and murder charges in a federal court in Kentucky.
Carlson said while no testimony has put his client at the scene, he was not optimistic that Spielman will escape being charged.
"By the tone of the government's position in this case, I believe it's most likely that they are going to have a court- martial for all of these individuals and they will push forward with the charges," Carlson said.
"I anticipate that they will press forward with charges quickly," Carlson said. "They've done everything in this case quickly."
Testimony during the hearing painted a picture of a demoralized unit, drained emotionally after the deaths of comrades and exhausted after the frequent attacks in the mostly Sunni Arab area, a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq and other religious extremists, The Associated Press reported from Baghdad.
Three soldiers from the same unit, which is assigned to Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division while it is in Iraq, were ambushed earlier this year at a checkpoint. One was killed at the scene. The other two were kidnapped and later beheaded. Their mutilated bodies were recovered.
"You're just walking a death walk," Pfc. Justin Cross said at the hearing Tuesday.
Prosecutors countered that the threats of war, arduous missions and frequent loss of life were no excuse for rape and murder.
"Murder not war. Rape not war. That's what were here talking about today," the AP reported prosecutor Capt. Alex Pickands saying in his closing argument Tuesday. "Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."
The Army pushed forward with the investigation and hearing in Baghdad despite inadequate or the absence of counsel and the unit's scheduled return to Fort Campbell, Ky., in about six weeks, Carlson said in an earlier interview.
Investigators charged that the soldiers planned the attack over whiskey and a card game.
Carlson said his client was not a part of the plan.
"No witness testified that he murdered or raped anyone," Carlson said. "And then this idea that there was a conspiracy to do this ... where that originated was apparently a golf game between Green and Sergeant Cortez (before the attack) and when specifically asked if Jesse Spielman was there, they said no."
The rape and murders have bolstered allegations of misconduct by soldiers, including illegal killings, beatings and inhuman treatment and increased calls for their withdrawal. It also has prompted demands for changes in an agreement that exempts U.S. soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also has demanded an independent investigation into the case.
In other developments, Carlson and attorneys for three of the soldiers on Tuesday submitted a written request for a new hearing, accusing Yribe's counsel of deliberately asking incriminating questions, the AP reported. The decision on the motion rests with the soldiers' brigade commander, who is expected to rule within a week.
Premeditated murder carries the death penalty under U.S. military law, and the testimony could be an attempt to persuade the command to seek a lesser penalty during a court-martial, the AP reported.
In the meantime, Carlson said Spielman will remain in Baghdad until his unit returns to Fort Campbell in mid-September. He said his client is performing "detail work as opposed to normal soldier duties" and has been told he will be jailed after the unit returns to Kentucky.
"I would describe him as a frightened young man and it's just because he has no idea what's going to happen to him," said Carlson, who insists his client is innocent.
"My client had no idea they going to do what they did," Carlson said. "Again, my client didn't choose his friends. He was just assigned to be with these people."
NOTE: I know that TexKat has begun a pinglist on this topic recently as well. I was going to drop this one, but some have asked me to keep it going, so here's what I'm going to do--I'll keep pinging until someone asks to be taken off the list. If you're getting double-pinged, you can asked to be removed from one or the other of the lists--or not, if you don't mind double pings.
Interesting details on this case, FYI.
Thanks for the PING. It appears that Spielman's lawyer is saying he had nothing to do with it. And Yribe's lawyer is apparently taking the same tack, as is the lawyer for the other guys. It will be interesting to see if ANYONE pleads guilty.
The published affy might be a hoax, as some have said, and it's just possible that anything Green said could also be the rantings of someone who's been out of touch with reality, as has been claimed before. Although some of the *alleged* evidence is damning, I also have to consider the fact that what happened to this family is far more common among terrorists than in the US military. (Doesn't mean it's impossible that they did it, just giving some benefit of the doubt.)
Well, regardless, I want the exact truth to be revealed, and those who killed the family hanged. But I don't want any of these guys railroaded for expediency. There are tons of questions I would love to ask the prosecuters.
"I anticipate that they will press forward with charges quickly," Carlson said. "They've done everything in this case quickly."
This ain't a civilian court! No messing around.
"By the tone of the government's position in this case, I believe it's most likely that they are going to have a court- martial for all of these individuals and they will push forward with the charges," Carlson said.
This indicates, TO ME, that they don't give a damn about facts, just prosecuting and persecuting our troops.
I find the entire affidavit questionable, and that is the only basis of the so-called "case" as no physical evidence was obtained at the scene of the crime nor did any investigation at the time lead to our troops.
What we have are after-the-fact "stories," and a very strong whiff of political expediency.
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