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The nation’s highest military court has affirmed the conviction and death sentence for a University of California, Davis, graduate who admitted killing two fellow U.S. soldiers at the start of the Iraq War. In a closely split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces rejected claims by Los Angeles native Hasan K. Akbar that his original defense team was ineffective. Akbar argued at trial that he was mentally ill when he killed two and wounded 14 in the March 2003 attack in Kuwait.

A senior military official in Washington says the lead prosecutor in the Fort Hood shooting case will be a man who secured the death penalty in a similar case four years ago. The official told The Associated Press on Friday that Col. Michael Mulligan will head the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 Texas Army post shooting. Mulligan prosecuted a 2005 case in which Sgt....

A GENERAL has affirmed the death sentence for a US Army sergeant convicted of murdering two fellow soldiers in a grenade attack in Kuwait at the outset of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the army said today. Sergeant Hasan Akbar, 35, is the first US soldier to face the death penalty for killing another soldier since the end of the Vietnam War.

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, Muslim American soldier, killed two colleagues and wounded 14 other troops after tossing grenades into tents while soldiers slept at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait on March 23, 2003. He wrote in his diary: "I am going to try and kill as many of them as possible." Remember him? The case is still dragging on, though - via Army Times (hat tip: Mike at Kokonut Pundits, whose cousin Maj. Gregory Stone was one of Akbar's victims): The death sentence for convicted murderer Sgt. Hasan Akbar was approved late last week at Fort Bragg, N.C., by Lt. Gen. John...

I HAD JUST SETTLED DOWN to go to sleep when two thunderous explosions shattered the desert stillness. The blasts were still echoing when a young soldier at the back of my tent started shouting in pain. While other soldiers began tending their wounded comrade, I made my way outside. SCUD alert warnings were already going off--this was March 23, 2003, just days before the start of the Iraq war.For a long moment I assumed that our camp in Kuwait had been hit by one or more missiles. But as I took in the chaos, the reality of the situation slowly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a little-noticed move, the U.S. Army has issued new regulations governing the death penalty, raising speculation that the military might be preparing for its first execution since 1961. "This publication is a major revision," said the document issued January 17 and signed by Sandra Riley, administrative assistant to the secretary of the Army. "This regulation establishes responsibilities and updates policy and procedures for carrying out a sentence of death as imposed by general courts-martial or military tribunals," the document said. There are currently six men on military death row in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. One, Dwight Loving,...

Facts and Figures Total Death Row Inmates: 8 (as of 4/29/05) RACE Black - 6 White - 1 Asian - 1 GENDER Male - 8 United States Military Death Row Roster 1. Kenneth Parker (B) 2. Wade L. Walker (B) 3. Jessie Quintanilla (A) 4. James T. Murphy (B)* 5. Ronald Gray (B) 6. Dwight J. Loving (B) 7. William Kreutzer (W)* 8. Hasan Akbar (B) *Awaiting re-trial or re-sentencing. (Source: NAACP Legal Defense Fund) Number of Executions 135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916 (Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99) Date of last military execution On April...

In his 20 years in the military, Lt. Col. Tim Gardipee of Missoula has served combat tours in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo. But Gardipee says one of the most difficult and emotionally trying duties he has been assigned by the U.S. Army came last month at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Army Reserve officer was selected from a pool of officers at Fort Bragg to serve on the court-martial jury in the trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who was convicted of the premeditated murder of two fellow American soldiers and wounding of 14 others, at just past midnight March 23, 2003,...

THE U.S. military values some lives more than others. That’s the only conclusion you could draw from the trials of two U.S. soldiers--one accused of killing two American officers, the other of executing two Iraqi civilians. Last week, Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death for using grenades and his rifle at a base camp in Kuwait to kill two officers and injure 14 other soldiers shortly after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. The chief prosecutor at the military trial, Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan, said that “[Akbar] is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer.” But Akbar’s military attorney never presented...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Relatives of those killed in Sgt. Hasan Akbar's grenade attack on his comrades said yesterday that he deserved a jury's death sentence, but experts in military law say it's hardly certain the execution will ever happen. The military hasn't executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to death. Experts say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who, unlike a governor, must take an active role when a service member gets the ultimate punishment. ''It is unique to the military justice system that there...

The instant a military panel convicted U.S. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the killing of two army officers and wounding 14 other U.S solders at a military base in Kuwait the first week of the Iraq war, Akbar's father screamed racism. He claimed that white racists and Nazis had harassed his son in the barracks, and that drove him to his murderous assault. He demanded an army investigation. That isn't likely to save Akbar from getting the death penalty. The death penalty for him sends the stern message that any hint of disloyalty or rebellion within the ranks will not...

The military has not executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to their deaths. Specialists say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who unlike a governor, must take an active role in signing off when a service member gets the ultimate punishment.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to die Thursday night for a grenade and rifle attack that killed Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert and an Air Force officer and wounded 14 others. Helen Seifert, of Williams Township, began to weep as she watched the man who killed her son chained and led away from the courtroom.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology, a soldier was sentenced to death by a military jury for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades early in the Iraq invasion. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 34, could have been sentenced Thursday to life in prison with or without parole for the March 2003 attack on members of the elite 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Two officers were killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded. "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had...

A US soldier said to have hated America has been sentenced to death for the murder and attempted murder of comrades during the invasion of Iraq. Sgt Hasan Akbar used grenades and a rifle to kill two officers and wound 14 other personnel at a camp in Kuwait in the opening days of the war.Prosecutors said the murders were ideologically driven hate crimes. Defence lawyers do not dispute the attack but argue Akbar was too mentally ill to have planned the attack. The death penalty was announced a week after he was convicted by a military jury at Fort Bragg,...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury sentenced Sergeant Hasan Akbar (search) to death for the 2003 murders of two officers in a grenade attack at an Army camp in Kuwait.

Fort Bragg -- An Army sergeant convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quietly said he was sorry Thursday before a military prosecutor urged the jury to sentence the soldier to death because he was an idealogically driven killer. "I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy, and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar told the 15-person military jury. Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Facing a possible death penalty for his fatal attack on fellow soldiers, Sgt. Hasan Akbar will make an unsworn statement to the jury in his own defense, a lawyer said Wednesday. The statement by Akbar is to come Thursday, the fourth day of the sentencing phase of his court-martial, said the defense lawyer, Maj. David Coombs. Akbar was convicted last week of premeditated murder and attempted murder in the March 2003 attack on the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Akbar will speak from the witness box, and prosecutors will be able to call...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The parents of an officer killed by a soldier's grenade and rifle attack on a 101st Airborne Division camp in Kuwait testified Tuesday that their son's death created a hole in their lives that they can't fill. "When you think about all the plans you were going to carry out ... that's not going to happen now," said Richard Stone, father of Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone. "With Greg, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him." Gregory Stone and Army Capt. Christopher Seifert were killed and 14 other service members...

(FORT BRAGG) - The prosecution has rested its case in the sentencing phase of the court-martial of an Army sergeant convicted of murdering his fellow soldiers. Seven witnesses testified, following the 15 that testified on Monday. Defense attorneys are expected to call their witnesses Wednesday. The defense admits Sergeant Hasan Akbar carried out the attack, but claims he was mentally unstable at the time. The judge in the case says he expects deliberations to begin on Thursday. Meanwhile, jurors have been sent home for the day with copies of Akbar's diary and a mitigation report. Witnesses detail physical, emotional trauma...