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| Army Arraigns Soldier Charged With Rape |
| 2006-10-28 |
| FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - The Army arraigned a 101st Airborne Division soldier Friday who was charged with raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing three others in her family. Pfc. Bryan L. Howard is accused of plotting in March to rape and kill the teenager in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Three other soldiers and a former Army private from the division's 502nd Infantry Regiment also face charges related to the attack. Howard deferred entering a plea or scheduling a court-martial during the proceedings at Fort Campbell. Both his attorney, Cpt. Ryan Rosauer, and his father Lynn Howard in the audience, declined to speak to reporters. Two other soldiers accused of rape and murder with him in the attack - Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman - could be given the death sentence if they are convicted, a military judge ruled earlier this month. Both will be arraigned soon, the military said. Former Army private Steve Green also faces rape and murder charges but is being tried in federal court. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Skidmark, Did you know that enlisted defendants in a General Courts Martial can request that a third of the board members be made up of fellow enlisted members? I'm sure ex-JAG could give you the particulars from the lawyer side of the table. From someone who sat on the other, its not a good idea if you are looking for sympathy. As one of my troops pointed out, sympathy is found in the dictionary between sh!t and syphilis. |
| Posted by: Procopius2K 2006-10-28 09:47 |
| #3 Missing the point aren't we? A premeditated home invasion, rape and murder of a child. Three more murders to hide the event. A conspiracy of denial. I wonder if we wouldn't be crying 'off with their heads' in NT, TX or MO. It's better that they are tried by a committee of their peers. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2006-10-28 09:00 |
| #2 A solider who rapes and then kills a 14 year old girl is more than a rapist and a murderer -- he has undermined everyone else in his unit. Military discipline can be harsh, but it's harsh for a reason: to preserve unit effectiveness in battle. Or so I'm told by several combat-experienced commanders with whom I've discussed these cases. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-10-28 08:46 |
| #1 Death Sentence! I'm not at all defending these guys, but geesh! We havent even given a single murdering, insurgent a death sentence yet. We used to shoot them in the head, right there in the field when we caught them, now they live out their days in relative luxury at Gitmo. But these dudes get the death sentence? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-10-28 07:07 |