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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSeven SEALs granted immunity in Iraq war crimes trial at Naval Base San Diego
If true, this troop needs the book thrown at him.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-seals-granted-immunity-in-murder-trial-20190126-story.html
By Andrew Dyer
Jan 26, 2019 | 8:05 PM
| San Diego
Seven SEALs granted immunity in Iraq war crimes trial at Naval Base San Diego
Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward R. Gallagher is accused of murder and other war crimes. (Courtesy Navy)
New details in the case against a Navy SEAL charged with multiple war crimes emerged during a marathon hearing this week at Naval Base San Diego.
Fridays hearing revealed that seven Navy SEALs have been granted immunity to testify for the prosecution during the upcoming trial of Edward R. Gallagher, a chief special warfare operator alleged to have murdered a wounded teenage Islamic State combatant by stabbing him in the neck.
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The defense argued that these figures would prejudice a jury panel. The judge denied the motion. Defense attorneys also asked that evidence seized from three of Gallaghers cellphones be suppressed. All evidence in the case is under a protective order, but photos, videos and text messages are part of the governments case against the SEAL.
Gallagher took the stand and testified that when he was arrested on Sept. 11, he was not allowed to call his attorney. Naval Criminal Investigative Service interrogators asked him to use his fingerprints to unlock his phone, he said, and investigators watched Gallagher enter his pass code, which they used to unlock his other devices.
The judge had not ruled on that motion as of late Friday evening. Prosecutors also revealed they have a knife recovered from Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in Coronado and that it tested positive for DNA. They did not say whose DNA or that it was the murder weapon, though it was undergoing further testing. More details about the battle that precipitated that alleged murder also came to light.
Prosecutors said the incident began May 3, 2017, with a drone strike and two Hellfire missiles hitting two sides of a home in Mosul. Witness statements conflict about whether the injured Islamic State fighter was inside the home when it was struck. The prosecution says he was, but the defense said their witnesses say he was injured by gunfire, not the drone strike. Both sides agree that Iraqi forces loaded the combatant onto the hood of a Humvee and delivered him to Gallaghers team. Gallagher, a medic, began treating him.
Prosecutors say Gallagher stabbed the fighter, estimated to be between 15 and 17 years old. Gallagher also is accused of posing for photos with the corpse, operating a drone over it and, sometime later, celebrating his reenlistment next to it.
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