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Corpsman to Testify in Awad trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) - During two tours of duty in Iraq, Navy corpsman Melson J. Bacos experienced fire fights with insurgents, soldiers dying in his arms, thoughts of whether he'd live another day, he said. Now he has another unnerving assignment. On Friday, the 21-year-old is scheduled to give testimony that military prosecutors hope will help them convict seven Marines accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania.Bacos, a medic who patrolled with the Marines, will have similar charges dropped in exchange for testimony during his court-martial, his attorney, Jeremiah Sullivan III, told The Associated Press. The military has said Bacos was with the Marines in April when 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad was kidnapped and murdered. Some of the troops are accused of stealing an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel and placing them in a hole with Awad's body, apparently to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Bacos was accused of firing the AK-47 in the air to expend some shell casings as part of the cover-up. He was charged with murder and kidnapping under a legal principle that anyone who didn't try to stop the crime is as culpable as the triggerman. Posted by: Steve White 2006-10-06 |
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