Ex-soldier appealing sentences in Iraq deaths

[unhappycamper]

Ex-soldier appealing sentences in Iraq deaths
By BRETT BARROUQUERE Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
Jan. 21, 2011, 12:33PM

CINCINNATI — A federal appeals panel on Friday questioned the limits of a law that allowed the government to charge and convict a former U.S. soldier in civilian court of crimes committed while on active duty in Iraq.

Judge Boyce Martin of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati asked attorneys in the case of former Pfc. Steven Dale Green if the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act was written unconstitutionally or if it is being applied counter to the law.

"That's just the issue before us," Martin said. "The difference is there are no other cases like this."

A civilian jury in Paducah, Ky., convicted Green, 25, of Midland, Texas, in 2009 of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering three of her family members while on active duty with the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division near Mahmoudiya, Iraq, in March 2006.

Green was discharged from the Army with a personality disorder in May 2006, before the full scope of the crime became known to the Army and charges were brought. Green is serving five life sentences in a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz., after jurors couldn't agree on whether to impose the death penalty.

Four other soldiers were convicted in military proceedings. One is free, the other three remain in custody, but have parole opportunities in the future.

[elias49]

1. Another soldier evading justice? Seems to happen a lot...

Too many times I've read of soldiers being spanked for crimes that anyone else would be incarcerated for. Soldiers getting discharged because they were 'just following orders' or because the evidence was tampered with or insufficient because of some technicality.
But actually getting justice served? Not so much.
Eerie that he happens to be doing (temporary) time in Tuscon, isn't it?
Good thing Jared Loughner wasn't wearing a uniform that Saturday in Tuscon. Who knows?

Pfc Green raped and murdered a 14 year old girl and murdered 3 of her family members. Do we really need to give him a second turn at bat?
Bullshit.