Army Sergeant to Be Tried in Grenade Attack

[darrels joy]

Army Sergeant to Be Tried in Grenade Attack

Thursday, March 04, 2004

The U.S. Army intends to court-martial a sergeant accused of tossing grenades into fellow service members' tents while stationed in Kuwait. The attack killed two officers.

The court-martial, expected to take place this summer, could result in the death penalty for Sgt. Hasan Akbar (search), 32.

Akbar faces two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder for the attack on 101st Airborne Division (search) soldiers at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait on March 23, 2003, during the early days of the Iraq war.

In addition to the two officers killed, 14 people were injured.

Prosecutors have alleged that Akbar stole seven grenades from a Humvee he was guarding, then walked to the brigade operations area an hour later to attack the officers.

An attorney for Akbar said last year that no eyewitnesses placed the soldier at the scene and that other soldiers were too quick to assume that he committed the crime because he is Muslim.

The soldiers killed were Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa., and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, of Boise, Idaho.

It is the first time since the Vietnam War that a U.S. Army soldier has been prosecuted for the murder or attempted murder of another soldier during wartime, the Army has said.

To be sentenced to death, Akbar would need to first be convicted by a unanimous verdict of the jury, then sentenced to death by a similar unanimous vote after a separate sentencing phase.

The sentence would then be reviewed by an Army appeals court, a general military appeals court and, ultimately, the president before it would be carried out, said Fort Bragg spokesman Lt. Col. Billy Buckner.

The last death sentence handed down by the Army was in 1996 for Sgt. William Kreutzer, who killed one person and injured others when he fired on soldiers exercising on a field at Fort Bragg.

Akbar's case was transferred to Fort Bragg from Fort Campbell, Ky., because most of the 101st has been in Iraq and cannot handle the case. Fort Bragg is home to the 18th Airborne Corps headquarters, which oversees the 101st and other divisions.

No date has been set for the court-martial. Akbar is being held at a military prison at Fort Knox, Ky., where an arraignment is to be held next week, said Lt. Col. Jon Guden, a lawyer with the 18th Airborne Corps.

Akbar is represented by two military attorneys and one civilian lawyer. He is expected to be moved to a North Carolina military prison once pretrial hearings begin at Fort Bragg, Guden said.

Akbar is allowed to receive a jury trial by at least 12 soldiers, with at least four of them enlisted, as is the defendant.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113277,00.html

[SuperScout]

I posted the same story on another thread. Didn't mean to "walk" on yours! I guess as long as we get the word out, it doesn't matter. This Akbar is the absolute lowest form of life, and has forfeited his right to breath our free air.

[the humper]

More expeditious and a helluva lot cheaper, if they would have sent the sarge immediately back to his unit. Things have a strange and very democratic way of happening on the line.
SF
NC

[travisab1]

Penalty... Horsewhipped, Shot then Hanged by the thumbs 2 inches from the ground. Don't kill him. Have some fun first...

Travis

[Seascamp]

Nope, this particular Sergeant won?t see the gallows or anything remotely close I?d bet. The Court Marital prosecution may try to bring forth capital offences but I?d bet that they would never see the light of day. There is absolutely no way, no way, a US Pres. is going to allow the military to carry out a death sentence on a US military Moslem, especially a Moslem who happens to be a black guy.
Though the charges are very dissimilar, the situation is very reminiscent of the Court Martial of the Marine ?Bobby? Garwood. In that instance it was totally obvious that the then Pres.Carter wasn?t having any of it, and had a full nelson squeeze and bend on the Court Martial board. To do otherwise would have invited the hot breath of hell right into the Oval Office.

So, at the end of the day the Marines were forced to suck it up and just let it go. I see the same situation with this case as it?s way too high profile for much to happen beyond documenting the Court Martial and issuing some well, well negotiated and foregone result. My guess is a few years of confinement until the spot light is off, then he?ll be a forgotten episode and probably a candidate for some kind of low profile special review, etc. etc.

Scamp

[SuperScout]

$20 bill in my pocket says you're wrong about the final outcome. Maybe the fix will be on to not go for the capital punishment, but if this cretin is sent to Ft. Leavenworth, it will be for life, and his life won't be worth a plug nickle. This is one of those instances where "barracks justice" would seem preferable, as it certainly would be certain, swift, and permanent.

[phuloi]

I`ll take a little of that action,myself.Remember,this is NOT an incident of "fragging",instead,it`s a blatant act of treason-punishable by death by firing squad.He`s going down.

[Seascamp]

......... you would know the mood and temperament of the US Army infinitely better than I so I?ll limit the bet to something like a dinner sometime. My bias and mind set has to do with the Garwood Court Martial and what a potential bomb that was at the time. Upon reading the court transcript I found that the evidence was at times subjective and at times contradictory but the Marines had a solid case in the balance.

My knowledge of the USMC is they don?t fold up their tent easily, especially with a situation like the allegations against Garwood. So in the current situation the question in my mind is if Justice will prevail or will politics prevail. If justice prevails then you could be spot on, however, if politics wins out then its jump ball and we?ll see how it all washes out. Another factor is that I suspect that the US Army has a lot more political stroke than the USMC unless the USN runs interference for the USMC. Given this, the Army may be able to fend off the inevitable political interference and media bashing.

Scamp

[BLUEHAWK]

Well, barracks justice is gonna prevail, no matter what happens under the UCMJ. I'd be surprised to learn of any payback while the man is in stockade, but the Fort... that's a whole different deal.

Once he gets there, if not the squad, I give it maybe... two years. They'll house him "privately" of course, from the git, if for no reason other than not being complicit in an "assisted suicide". But there WILL come a day... and it would not shock me if nobody ever discovers the identity of the perpetrator(s).

[DMZ-LT]

Seifert 's father served in my unit , 3/5 Cav , in Vietnam. I'd cut out Akbars liver and feed it to him. Don't f@#@ with my kid. I am betting with Brice