Posted on 01/31/2005 1:29:06 PM PST by KiloLima
FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A motions hearing started Monday in the case of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who faces an April trial on charges of killing two officers in an attack on his own men during the opening days of the Iraq invasion. A judge ruled late last year that Akbar's statement acknowledging that he rolled grenades into tents at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, will be admissible when his court-martial begins. The trial is scheduled to start April 5.
The judge excluded statements Akbar made to two sergeants who guarded him after the attack, saying Akbar had not yet been informed of his legal rights.
The April trial date represents a delay granted to defense attorneys, who say they want to gather evidence to support their argument that Akbar was insane at the time of the March 2003 attack, which came just days into the Iraq war.
Akbar is accused of stealing grenades from a Humvee and rolling them into the tent of fellow members of the 101st Airborne Division. Killed were Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40. Another 14 soldiers were injured.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
on the bright side, Ernesto Miranda's killer got off because he wasn't given his newfangled "Miranda rights" .
how's that for funny irony?
this isn't such a bad thing. the "insanity defense"
very rarely ever works.
That's the good news. I believe the Army recently shifted from hanging to lethal injection. The death chamber used to be in the basement of the Disciplnary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. Hopefully Akbar will get familiar with it soon.
Part of the delay was that the 101st went into Iraq for a year after the attack. The CG made the call not to try the case in theater as too much of a distraction. The members of a court-martial panel would have had to be taken away from their normal duties fighting the war. Even with the evidence that's excluded, there's plenty to show he did it. The real issue will be the insanity plea.
Since Akbar also made statements that he didn't agree with the war, it seems treason could also have been supported as a charge. He threw the grenade into the brigade ops center not because of some personal vendetta, but in an attempt to disrupt the unit on the eve of its attack.
Soldiers have Miranda rights?
I've thought about this SOB many times- wondered WHAT was taking so long to get him tried.
Times like this make me long for a little frontier justice.
I'm also wondering why his "sleep disorder" didn't keep him out of the Army or didn't prevent him from tossing the grenade. Also, why didn't "insanity" keep him out of the Army? Was he having a "lucid episode" during recruitment, physical exam, basic and deployment? That's just too long to go without displaying some psychotic features. Too bad he wasn't shot on the spot.
Oh! The only reason the guy can't sleep is because he's got a black heart, soul, and evil intentions. I wouldn't get much sleep, either.
He should fry. Maybe the families of the departed can throw a grenade into his cell.
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