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US soldier charged with killing Iraqi has hearing
2008-09-21
CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq - A pretrial hearing began Sunday for a U.S. soldier charged with fatally shooting an Iraqi detainee earlier this year and lying about it. 1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna appeared in uniform with his attorneys in the wood-paneled courthouse at Camp Speicher, a large U.S. base near Tikrit, north of Baghdad. The hearing was meant to determine whether there is enough evidence for a court-martial. Proceedings stopped temporarily when the defense argued that the investigating officer should be replaced because he had read unsworn witness testimony that cannot be legally presented as evidence. A decision on the defense motion was expected Sunday afternoon. A similar hearing for a second U.S. soldier charged in the case, Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, took place Sept. 13-14, but no decision has been made on whether he will face a court-martial. Behenna and Warner have been charged with shooting an Iraqi, Ali Mansour Mohammed, at or near their forward operating base, Summerall, on May 16 near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. The men face charges of premeditated murder, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. military. Warner, of Braggs, Okla., is also charged with being an accessory after the fact. They could face life in prison without parole if tried and convicted. Behenna, from Edmond, Okla., is the son of Vicki Behenna, a federal prosecutor who helped convict Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Both men are assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky.
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