| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Kuwaiti Cop on Trial for U.S. Shootings |
| 2003-02-05 |
| A Kuwaiti policeman accused of shooting and seriously wounding two U.S. Army soldiers said at Wednesday's trial opening that he doesn't remember doing so and is psychologically ill. His lawyer entered an insanity plea on his behalf. "Merkins? I shot 'em? Did I do that? Have we been introduced?" The Nov. 21 shootings happened after Khaled al-Shimmiri, 20, allegedly stopped the car of the two soldiers, both from Lake Charles, La., on a highway and told them they were speeding. "I don't remember that I tried to kill them," he said, when asked by a judge if he had tried to murder the two soldiers. "I was sick, and I asked my partner (in the patrol car) to take me home." "He wouldn't do it, so I shot some infidels instead..." He said he had been receiving treatment for psychological problems in Kuwait and Jordan. "Oh, yasss. I've been a nut for some time now..." Al-Shimmiri also indicated he had no motive to shoot Master Sgt. Larry Thomas, 51, and Sgt. Charles Ellis, 27. "There is nothing between me and Americans," he said, standing clean-shaven in a beige prison uniform in the caged defendant's dock. Al-Shimmiri's lawyer, Nawwaf al-Mutairi, entered an insanity plea on his client's behalf and told reporters later that al-Shimmiri had no links to terrorist groups. "This is the case of a crazy person," the attorney told the three-judge panel at the end of a brief hearing. Court was adjourned until Feb. 19 at the request of al-Mutairi, who said he needed time to read the case file and call witnesses. "Yer honor, my client's ain't a bad boy. He's just a little... you know. Nuts." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 I don't think the Kuwaitis are going to screw around with him, though they might toss him in the nuthouse. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-05 21:42:50 |
| #2 So, in the local court sytem, is the Jihad defense different than insanity, and does the court recognize it over there? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-02-05 16:25:05 |
| #1 Motive? Jihad! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-05 12:26:39 |