Jury Returns Death Sentence in GI Killings

Yahoo news ^ | April 29,2005 | ESTES THOMPSON

[AmericanMade1776]

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 no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness," Akbar told the jury before it began deliberating. He spoke in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear.

Jurors took about seven hours to reach their decision Thursday. Last week, the same 15-person military jury took just two and a half hours last week to convict Akbar of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.

[AmericanMade1776]

Justice!

[ISonnet]

Akbar, Thanks for the nice apology, now die.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Akbar will be the sixth person on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The last U.S. military execution was in 1961.

This part of the article bothers me.

[billorites]

We'll die before he does.

[Piquaboy]

It will be years before it really happens, if it ever does.

[Pondman88]

Die Scum!!!!

[AmericanMade1776]

"He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer," chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan said. He added that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed."

(from same article)

[mystery-ak]

What happens next...is he afforded an automatic appeal?....

[Old Sarge]

"I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness"

No apologies needed. You guilty ass is going to die.

I'd wager that Danny Pearl and all the other souls who were slaughtered by you or your Muslim brethren, begged for forgiveness before they died, too.

Let the punishment fit the crime. Strap a bomb belt to your ass, and we can watch you self-detonate. It's the sanctioned way his Muslim brethren enter paradise. That's all the sensitivity I have for you, moojie.

[AmericanMade1776]

Why is he still allowed to wear a uniform, even to trial?

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, left, is led from the Staff Judge Advocate Building at Fort Bragg, N.C., Wednesday, April 27, 2005, during the sentencing phase of his court-martial. Akbar, a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division was convicted last week by a unanimous 15-person jury on two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder. Akbar faces either a life sentence or death sentence for killing two officers and wounding 14 others at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, March 23, 2003 Akbar's lawyers said he plans to make a statement to the jury

[conservativecorner]

Let's Get er' done in record time so that he can go meet with the 70 he-goats that will now call him their prison be-ach for eternity.

[Military family member]

If it's a military trial, then he has to be in uniform.

[RushCrush]

Wait, he can be rehabilitated!/ liberal logic

[SMARTY]

"Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology..."

What a regular bust-out! The other day, I read a short military bio on him and his performance/behavior in the service. Sounds like, killing two innocent people is the only thing this guy ever did with any efficiency in his life. Make this loser dead, please!

[Leatherneck_MT]

Yes he is. That's SOP in the Military Judicial System.

[AmericanMade1776]

Will they take the uniform from him now, or does he have to wear it to the execution?

[Old Grumpy]

"Defense attorney Maj. David Coombs told jurors that a sentence of life without parole would allow Akbar to be treated for mental illness and possibly rehabilitated."

"Death is an absolute punishment, a punishment of last resort," Coombs said."

Rehabilitated? Not a chance. And as for this murderer's attorney saying death is an absolute punishment, he's right. His client "punished" two other people by his own hand and they didn't have the opportunity to get a trial. Lethal injection is too easy a death for him.

[Arrowhead1952]

See also the earlier thread

Akbar Sentenced to Death for Grenade Attack

[mystery-ak]

...may I suggest that they just toss a few grenades into his cell...

[Military family member]

I believe he wears the uniform, but striped of all rank and insignia