Posted on 01/19/2008 7:42:09 AM PST by RedRover
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - An Army sergeant kicked and shot an Iraqi insurgent who lay bleeding from nearly two dozen gunshot wounds, then after he was dead told fellow soldiers to say the man had been armed, a private at the scene testified Tuesday.
Sgt. Leonardo Trevino, 30, is charged with premeditated murder, attempted murder, assault and obstruction of justice in the suspected June incidents in Muqdadiyah, Iraq.
After the Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury, the investigating officer will decide whether there is enough evidence to support the charges and then recommend whether to refer Trevino to a court-martial, a military trial. [NOTE: The IO recommended that the case proceed to courts martial and the Convening Authority concurred.]
Trevino's attorney Richard Stevens has said his client is wrongly accused.
That night in June, squad leader Trevino had led a "small kill team" to an area where insurgents were reportedly making improvised explosive devices, Pvt. Tristan Miller testified.
The soldiers got into a gun battle with three insurgents, killing one who had an AK-47, then went after the other two, Miller said. One got away, but they followed a trail of blood into a house where an insurgent lay crying and bleeding, Miller said.
Trevino kicked the man in the head and later shot him in the abdomen, even after Miller found no weapons under a pillow covering the man's bleeding arm, Miller said. Miller, who acknowledged that he earlier kicked the man's hand as he grabbed at him, said the insurgent was not a threat because he was "shot to hell" from the earlier gun battle.
"Trevino looks at us, and he said, 'I don't want this coming back on you guys,'" Miller said. "... Trevino goes, 'The story is, the guy had a pistol. That's that.'"
Cpl. Justin Whiteman then placed a pistol by the Iraqi's body, Miller said. Whiteman, who invoked his right not to testify when he was called as a witness Tuesday, has been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to provide aid and with accessory to attempted premeditated murder.
Whiteman also is accused of shooting the body of the first Iraqi insurgent killed, who was already dead in the street, and is charged with dereliction of duty for violating a law of war.
"Everybody was pretty excited, taking pictures," Miller said, referring to soldiers surrounding the body of the first insurgent killed.
But Sgt. Reginald Graham, the platoon sergeant, said Miller and three other soldiers didn't report the incident until much later. Graham said he didn't believe their explanation that they were scared of retaliation but believes they came forward because they disliked Trevino.
"He's outstanding," Graham said, adding that he had no concerns over Trevino's leadership style.
During questioning by Trevino's attorney, Miller said that he liked the squad leader "for the most part" but that "I think some of the stuff he did was stupid." When asked whether he had been paying full attention to the events that night, Miller acknowledged that he felt sick after seeing the badly wounded insurgent.
Spc. John Torres has been charged with attempted premeditated murder and with dereliction of duty for failing to provide aid. Torres also invoked his right not to testify on Tuesday.
Stevens said Trevino and other soldiers were upset over losing several friends killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash about a month earlier, Stevens said. When the hearing continues Wednesday, he said, he plans to present into evidence a videotape of Trevino speaking at the memorial service of one of those soldiers.
The case is very representative of the push to prosecute alleged war crimes, and to second-guess decisions by squad leaders in the heat of combat.
The prosecution does not dispute that there was a gunbattle between these soldiers and insurgents. As detailed above, among the charges that Cpl. Justin Whiteman is facing is shooting an insurgent who was already dead. Both Cpl. Whiteman and Spc. John Torres are charged with attempted premeditated murder and with dereliction of duty for failing to administer aid (with the limited supplies they had) to an insurgent who had been shot some two dozen times. Sgt Trevino, fundamentally, is charged with murder for finishing off an enemy combatant.
The only evidence of a cover-up is from the prosecution's star witness. As with many other cases (including the Lt Pantano case), the prosecution depends on the testimony of a soldier who may be settling a grudge.
If you're interesting in helping the defense in this case, Sgt Trevino's wife has set up a website: SUPPORT OUR TEXAS SOLDIER
bump
Good thing we have the stalwart President Bush who loves the troops and will make sure our soldiers who are on a “kill team” won’t go to prison for, you know, killing.
*cough*
OK, I’ admit it - Bush is a deeply disappointing dope who commuted Scooter Libby’s sentence, (Marc Rich’s lawyer - that tidbit always seems to go down the memory hole on the Scooter worship Bushbot threads), but leaves Compean and Ramos, this guy, and other troops in jail for doing the job he sent them to do.
Gosh...you mean we have soliders who killed wounded enemy combatants. This never would have happened in WW2< Sarc>
Insurgants are NOT covered by the Geneva conventions. Once we get over that fact, then the war would be over a lot quicker.
Could someone one tell me why in the hell the military lets this continue. If I was the commander of a military patrol and caught one of my men with a camera he would be trying to get it out of his rear for a week.
Why has the army brass not leaned anything about this picture taking BS.
Another blatant cases of using the UCMJ to enforce unattainable standards of behavior by men facing an enemy.
Still, I suppose it’d be far worse to second-guess yourself for the death of a squad member. There’s no court of appeal for that.
If the last one killed was "all shot to hell" or not, I believe as soon as our boys walked into that room and saw the guy who they had just had a firefight with and who was making bombs, that killing him on the spot was the right thing to do.
It's war...and war against an enemy that is known (just like the Japnese were in World War II) for booby trapping themselves, for playing possum and then trying to kill our boys, etc. Under these foolish restrictions and circumstances, thousands fo marines would have been prosecurted in World War II, and thousands and thousands more of our boys would have died.
These soldiers are there to win and kill the enemy and destroy their ability, and their WILL to wage war against us. While we cannot tolerate predmitated murder of innocents in the least...IMHO, this circumstance is nothing like or close to that and we have to quit hamstringing our soldiers.
This is terrible. The ugliness of war just gets uglier. When you have a command structure that is more interested in CYA and promotions than actually leading and standing by their troops things begin to unravel. Add to that extended tours and burned out soldiers, or Marines.
What happens outside the wire stays outside whether you “like” your commanding officer. The solidarity of these “bands of brothers” seems to be disintegrating.
What is going to happen the next time they have a war? IMO, it is only going to get worse. If they can find enough people even willing to go, that is.
Assuming the testimony can be trusted, this is against regulations unless the photos were for intelligence purposes.
On the other hand, one of the Haditha Marines is charged with ordering a staff sergeant to delete photos from his computer. Whatever you do can be used against you.
A "law" that pertains ONLY to the US military. THANK YOU, Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush. Nice job. Now let's see how many of our own brave soldiers and Marines we can throw in the brig.
By the way, I always have to wonder how much of the testimony for the prosecution is fabricated and compelled by the NCIS, which is known to be thoroughly dishonest and corrupt to the core?
As is the case with Sgt. Evan Vela, who was going to put two soldiers on report (Petta and Flores) but they went running with lies to superiors instead. But they (Petta and Flores) have been exposed with the truth. Not that it got Sgt. Vela out the the mess he is currently in.
I would think that these days, soldiers and Marines could take pictures with their cell phones and email them to themselves or others at home. They can then delete them immediately.
I think it depends on the filming schedule, and the budget.
I’d rather have 1000 Sgt. Leonardo Trevinos fighting for me than 1 million of those that turned him in for this BS......
An excellent point, though, in this case, it’s the CID. The issues with the investigative services are identical.
Amen. In my army, I’d investigate the rats.
True, but for some reason the officers are to dam dumb to enforce it. Look at the pictures taken in the prison. If I was the company command they would understand quickly how it felt to hide something that was not part of your uniform and equipment. Setting on a camera all day would do wonders.
The problem with the computer picture was that it was already taken, thus he was ordering evidence destroyed. Stopping the picture taking on duty is not destroying evidence.
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