Hearing ends for GI accused of killing Iraqi

[unhappycamper]

Hearing ends for GI accused of killing Iraqi
By Angela K. Brown - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 13, 2007 5:32:53 EST

FORT HOOD, Texas — An Army sergeant should be court-martialed because he shot a severely wounded al-Qaida insurgent, ordered a medic to suffocate him and then shot the unarmed man again because “he just wouldn’t die,” a military prosecutor said Wednesday.

But an attorney for Sgt. Leonardo Trevino, who faces murder and other charges for alleged June incidents in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, said he should not go to trial because witnesses lack credibility and hold grudges against their squad leader.

“This is a battlefield situation that should remain on the battlefield,” defense attorney Richard Stevens said Wednesday at the conclusion of an Article 32 hearing.

The defense did not call any witnesses, and Trevino, a 1st Cavalry Division soldier, did not make a statement. Two prosecution witnesses, a soldier and an Army investigator, were in Iraq and unable to testify Wednesday by telephone as previously planned.

The investigating officer who presided over the two-day hearing will decide if there is enough evidence to support the charges and then recommend to a commanding officer whether Trevino should have a court-martial.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_trevino_071212/