Posted on 04/26/2008 4:38:16 AM PDT by RedRover
WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (AP) — A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year.
Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the military panel, or jury, read the verdict.
The jury of nine soldiers acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after more than seven hours of deliberation.
Corrales would have faced a minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted.
Corrales said it feels like a 200-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"I felt confident. I know this is going to sound weird but I wasn't surprised," Corrales said. "But it was just a long time coming."
Corrales' wife, Lily, told their daughter Victoria, 7, "Your daddy's free! He's OK" moments after the verdict was read.
The sergeant held his 10-year-old son, Trey II, in a long embrace.
Corrales, 35, admitted to shooting the man after his platoon burst into a house in the village of Al Saheed near Kirkuk last June. The platoon was looking for insurgents they suspected of firing at U.S. helicopters and planting roadside bombs.
But Corrales argued the killing fell within the rules of engagement governing the use of deadly force. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
The prosecution argued the Army platoon sergeant deliberately shot and killed the man after he was subdued and securely in the custody of U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors said Corrales told the man to run and then shot him.
But Frank Spinner, Corrales' defense lawyer, cast doubt on the credibility of the prosecution witnesses and said the government failed to prove the bullets from Corrales' M4 killed the man.
"There are pieces of the puzzle that are missing," Spinner said during his closing argument. He said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Spinner said Corrales fired his weapon because he reasonably believed the man posed a threat to the platoon.
"This was a dynamic environment, an intense mission and he believed he was acting to protect his men," Spinner said.
The incident came about 11 months into a 15 month deployment for Corrales' 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based at Hawaii's Schofield Barracks.
I am offended BG is offended.
I guess someone didn’t care for that post.
It contained a SSN.
Oooooooooo good catch!
BIGHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!You are going to get us all fired.
HEY...the Mod stepping felt like having a bodyguard.
MAGIC!
Clemency frees Shore, Honolulu Bulletin, May 21, 2008
The 26-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who was convicted in February of felony assault in the death of an unarmed Iraqi man was set free yesterday after being granted clemency by Army officials.
In one of his last acts as acting commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division, Brig. Gen. J. Michael Bednarek reduced the conviction of Christopher Shore, of Winder Ga., from aggravated assault to assault, a misdemeanor, and allowed him to retain his old rank as specialist. Shore had been reduced by two ranks to private.
Bednarek's actions also erases Shore's felony record. Shore's prison sentence was reduced by Bednarek from 120 days to 72 days, or the equivalent of the time he has already served.
"We're just relieved," said Shore's lawyer, Michael Waddington. "I called his dad and told him. He was relieved this is finally done with. I think we're all pretty excited about it."
He said Shore plans to stay in the Army.
Shore has been imprisoned in the Ford Island brig since Feb. 20 after being convicted by a court-martial of aggravated assault in the killing of an Iraqi detainee last June in Kirkuk.
He testified that his platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, ordered him to shoot the wounded man to "finish him," but Shore said he intentionally missed.
Corrales, of San Antonio, was acquitted of all charges, including murder, in a separate court-martial last month.
Corrales, 35, admitted shooting the man after his platoon burst into the house. But he argued the killing fell within the rules of engagement governing the use of deadly force. The 14-year Army veteran has said he was going to be promoted to master sergeant and planned to deploy with his 3rd Brigade Combat Team to Iraq in October.
Shore was released from the Ford Island brig on May 1 while Bednarek reviewed the request for clemency from Waddington.
Bednarek turns over command of the 6,000-member 25th Infantry Division today to Maj. Gen. Robert Caslen. He will become the commanding general for 1st Army Division East in Fort Mead, Md.
The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has said 16 soldiers have been charged with murder in the killings of Iraqi citizens. Three of them have received life sentences, while eight of the 16 were convicted of a lesser charge.
Both Corrales and Shore were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company's elite scout platoon, 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and were in Iraq for 15 months before returning in October.
This is great news. However, [hi Girlene ;-)] I feel it should have been a complete dismissal. Still saves me a bundle on airfare though.
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