Posted on 04/28/2008 6:07:30 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
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.
The US Drive By Media has done it best to find these people guilty by accusation. They now have an intellectual, and moral, obligation to broadcast their innocence as loudly, and as longly, as they accused them
All the Democrats in the House and Senate are deeply saddened.
Lemmie guess - the witness was a suspected terrorist...
Don't hold your breathe.
My son is currently stationed at Schofield Barracks.
This is great news.
Yes, their allegations of a whitewash are soon to follow, of course with moreon.org and MSM support.
Every good leftist knows that our soldiers are no better than the Roman soldiers who crucified Christ.
Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales.... I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the democrats who knocked you and your brothers down will hear all of us soon.
Well, that’s my dream.
“Prosecutors said Corrales told the man to run and then shot him.”....
He gave him a head start!...what the hell do they want? It’s a lot more than the hide and seak rat bastards who set road side bombs give our guys!
Cool, and when you do, be sure to ping me.
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