Sgt. Held in Attack Feared Persecution

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - A sergeant accused of killing a fellow serviceman by throwing grenades into tents at a military command center in Kuwait told his mother he feared persecution because he is a Muslim and reportedly had recently been reprimanded for insubordination.

Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 101st Airborne Division's 326th Engineer Battalion was in custody, said George Heath, a civilian spokesman at Fort Campbell. Heath said Akbar had not been charged with a crime but was the only person being questioned in the attack that also wounded 15 other soldiers Sunday, three seriously.

Jim Lacey, a correspondent for Time magazine, told CNN that military criminal investigators said Akbar was recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would not join his unit's push into Iraq.

The motive in the attack ``most likely was resentment,'' said Max Blumenfeld, another U.S. Army spokesman.

The Army identified the dead soldier as Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa. Heath said Seifert was married. A spokesman for Seifert's mother and father - Thomas and Helen Seifert, also of Easton - said the family would not immediately speak with reporters.

``We do want to honor Chris. We have suffered a loss in our family. We are grieving right now,'' said spokesman Mark Drill.

A woman who said she is Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, told The Tennessean of Nashville that she was concerned her son might have been accused because he is a Muslim, adding he was not allowed to participate in the first Gulf War because of his religion.

``He said, `Mama, when I get over there I have the feeling they are going to arrest me just because of the name that I have carried,''' Bilal told the newspaper for a story published on its Web site Sunday night.

She said in a telephone interview from her Baton Rouge, La., home that the military had not contacted her and expressed disbelief in the accusations against her son, who she said spells his first name Hasan.

``He wouldn't try to take nobody's life,'' she said. ``He's not like that. He said the only thing he was going out there to do was blow up the bridges.''

A message left by The Associated Press at a listing for Bilal was not immediately returned Sunday.

The attack happened in the command center of the 101st Division's 1st Brigade at Camp Pennsylvania at 1:30 a.m. Sunday (5:30 p.m. EST Saturday).

One grenade went off in the command tent, Blumenfeld said. The tent, the tactical operations center, runs 24 hours a day and would always be staffed by officers and senior enlisted personnel.

Names of the wounded were not released. However, a newspaper photo of the 1st Brigade's commander, Col. Frederick Hodges, showed him with blood on his uniform and his arm in a sling.

Akbar was born Mark Fidel Kools. His mother said she changed his name to Hasan Akbar after she remarried when he was a young boy. Public records found by The Associated Press showed listings for Hasan Akbar under the name Kools as well.

The FBI combed Akbar's apartment complex in Clarksville, Tenn., early Sunday, looking for clues, The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper in Clarksville reported.

One address for Mark Fidel Kools in Los Angeles is the Bilal Islamic Center, a collection of small buildings and mobile homes around a mosque that's under construction. Two members said they did not know Kools under his family name or his Muslim name, Hasan Akbar.

``We have a whole lot of Hasans and Akbars here,'' said Mohammed Akbar Lee, who identified himself as a security guard at the center.

Mark Fidel Kools came to the University of California, Davis, in 1988, school spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said. He was a double major in aeronautical and mechanical engineering, and graduated with a bachelor's degree as Hasan Karim Akbar nine years later, apparently because ``he stopped and started several times'' with his classes, Lapin said.

Heath said Akbar should eventually come back to Fort Campbell, though military officials could decide to convene a court martial board in Kuwait. He said he was not sure what kind of penalty Akbar could face if convicted, including the death penalty.

``I don't think that the military has executed but one person, maybe two, and they may have two in jail with the death penalty, and appeals ongoing,'' Heath said.

Dennis Olgin, 56, a former Army prosecutor who now practices criminal and military law in Louisville, said it's possible Akbar could be charged with intentional murder, one count of attempted murder for everyone that was sleeping in the tent and aggravated assault.

Olgin said the soldier could be charged with treason, but said the murder charge would be easier to prove.

``Life would be the minimum for the murder charge,'' Olgin said. ``Since it was in combat, it's possible that he could get the death penalty. That would be up to a jury and it would have to be unanimous.''

The three soldiers with the most significant injuries from the attack were in serious but stable condition Sunday, Heath said.

``When somebody's firing at you, you know who the enemy is. When they're standing in the same ... chow line, or using the same shower with you, it's hard to recognize. It's had a detrimental effect, probably, on the morale.''

``I was very scared because I didn't know where my wife was,'' said Robert Ward, whose wife, Lorna, is a specialist in the 101st Airborne Division. ``All I could think of and worry about was I prayed that it wasn't my wife. I just couldn't believe that it was one of ours that actually did it.''

The 101st Airborne is a rapid deployment group trained to go anywhere in the world within 36 hours. The roughly 22,000 members of the 101st received deployment orders Feb. 6. The last time the entire division was deployed was during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which began after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait.

Most recently, the 101st hunted suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Camp Pennsylvania is a rear base camp of the 101st, near the Iraqi border. Kuwait is the main launching point for the tens of thousands of ground forces - including parts of the 101st - who have entered Iraq.

The UCMJ doesn't have "hate crimes" in it. The penalty for "Murder", (UCMJ 918 Art. 118), is Death.
Personally, I view any crime as something other than "love", but I feel the term "hate crime" to be redundant, politically correct bullsh!t. That's why I didn't use it.
The guy, if guilty, is either a murderer or a traitorous murderer, depending on motive. In either case, don't soil the rope, just find a solid wall and stand him against it....costs maybe two bucks worth of ammo, ropes are expensive, and probably would not be re-used.

A lovely and appropriate thought, but since 1984, the means of military execution of the dewth penalts has been specified as lethal injection, per an executive order signed by then-president Reagan. Specifics regarding the current process and procedures for seeking and carrying out capital punishment under the UCMJ are as follows:

(Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99)
Date of last military execution: On April 13, 1961, U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
(R. Serrano, "Last Soldier to Die at Levenworth Hanged in an April Storm," Los Angeles Times, 7/12/94).
Number of DR inmates: 7
Minimum Age to Receive the Death Penalty: 18 years
Death Row Location: U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Method of Execution: Lethal Injection
Date the Death Penalty Was Reenacted after Furman
In 1983, the Armed Forces Court of Appeals held in U.S. v. Matthews, 16 M.J. 354, that military capital sentencing procedures were unconstitutional for failing to require a finding of individualized aggravating circumstances. In 1984, the death penalty was reinstated when President Ronald Reagan signed an executive order adopting detailed rules for capital courts-martial. Among the rules was a list of 11 aggravating factors that qualify defendants for death sentences.
Life Without Parole
A recent amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice offers a new alternative to the death penalty. For crimes that occurred on or after November 17, 1997, a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is now possible. Prior to this legislation, those servicemembers serving a life sentence would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Clemency Process
The President has the power to commute a death sentence and no servicemember can be executed unless the President personally confirms the death penalty.
Capital Offenses
The Uniform Code of Military Justice provides the death penalty as a possible punishment for 15 offenses, many of which must occur during a time of war. All 8 men on the military's death row were convicted of premeditated murder or felony murder.
Who Decides Sentence
In a military capital case, the convening authority -- a high ranking commanding officer who decides to bring the case to a court martial -- decides if the death penalty will be sought. Once decided, the convening authority picks those servicemembers who will serve as panel members/jurors.
One requirement for the panel is that if the accused so chooses, at least 1/3 of the panel must consist of enlisted personnel.
The only other requirement of a panel is that it consist of at least five members. Therefore, the number of panelists in a military death penalty case can vary from case to case. Although no state provides for a panel of less than 12 jurors in a capital case, military appellate courts have rejected challenges to capital court-martialed panels with fewer than 12 members.
Overview
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses can be punishable by death, though many of these crimes -- such as desertion or disobeying a superior commissioned officer's orders -- carry the death penalty only in time of war.
The "convening authority" -- a high-ranking commanding officer who decides to bring the case to trial -- chooses whether the government will seek a death sentence. If the case is referred capitally, the defendant cannot choose a bench [judge only] trial; rather, the case must be tried before a panel of at least five military members. The Uniform Code of Military Justice also precludes the defendant in a capital case from pleading guilty. Thus, every military death penalty case is resolved by trial before a panel of servicemembers.
A death penalty will be imposed only if the panel members reach unanimous agreement on four separate points. First, a military defendant cannot be sentenced to death absent a unanimous conviction of a death-eligible offense.... If the panel returns a unanimous conviction, the case then enters the sentencing phase.... The case's outcome will depend upon the [panel] members' resolution of three issues. First, they must determine whether the government has proven a specified aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt.... Most of these aggravating factors -- such as killing more than one person or being the triggerman in a felony murder -- are similar to those found in civilian capital punishment schemes. Other factors -- such as committing an offense with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or knowingly endangering a mission -- are unique to the military.
The panel must then weigh all of the aggravating evidence in the case against any evidence in extenuation and mitigation. A death penalty may not be imposed unless the members unanimously conclude that the aggravating circumstances substantially outweigh the mitigating circumstances. Finally, even if every member agrees upon the existence of an aggravating factor and concludes that the evidence in aggravation outweighs the extenuating and mitigating evidence, any member is still free to choose a sentence other than death. Thus, members must unanimously conclude that death is an appropriate sentence.
When a death sentence is imposed, the record is initially reviewed by the convening authority, who has the power to reduce sentences and to set aside guilty findings.... The convening authority can reduce the sentence, but cannot increase it. And this review is no mere rubberstamp. Several years ago, a Marine Corps general commuted an adjudged death sentence to imprisonment for life. If the convening authority approves the death sentence, the condemned servicemember will be moved to military death row. The record of trial then goes before one of the military justice system's four intermediate appellate courts: the Army, Navy-Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.... If the Court of Criminal Appeals affirms a death sentence, the case then goes before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, as the Court of Military Appeals was renamed in 1994. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is a five-member Article 1 court that sits atop the military justice system. Its judges are civilians appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate to serve 15-year terms.
If the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces affirms the sentence], the case is eligible for Supreme Court review. The Supreme Court's certiorari jurisdiction over military justice cases... was enacted in 1983.... When the Supreme Court affirms [the sentence] or denies certiorari in a military capital case, the death sentence is then reviewed by the executive branch. If the President approves the death sentence, the condemned servicemember can seek habeas relief from the Article III judiciary. If the habeas petition is ultimately denied, the condemned servicemember will be led from death row down a flight of stairs to the USDB's death chamber. There he will be strapped to a gurney and executed by lethal injection.
Racial Disparity
There is racial disparity on the military's death row. Of those on the military death row today, five are African-American, one is a Pacific Islander, and only one is Caucasian. Whereas nationwide, about half of the 3,600 death row inmates are members of a minority, the military has an 86 percent minority death row population.
According to Dwight Sullivan (see above), "While the number of servicemembers under death sentence is fairly small, the racial disparity in military death penalty cases has been distressingly persistent. During World War II, African-Americans accounted for less than 10 percent of the Army. Yet, of the 70 soldiers executed in Europe during the war, 55 [79%] were African-American. After President Truman ordered an end to the armed forces' segregation in 1948, this racial disparity actually increased. The military carried out 12 executions from 1954 until the most recent one in 1961. Eleven of the 12 executed servicemembers were African-American."
"The death sentences adjudged since 1961 have continued to fall disproportionately on minority servicemembers. In 1983, when the Court of Military Appeals issued its Matthews opinion invalidating the military death penalty, seven servicemembers were on death row. Five were African-American, one was Latino, and one was Caucasian."
In addition to the racial disparity among death row inmates, there is also racial disparity among victims. Each time an African American has been sent to the military's death row, the case has involved a white victim.
Number of Executions: 135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916.

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