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August 25, 2008

Attorney: Oklahoma soldier did not kill Iraqi

NASHVILLE — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An Oklahoma soldier accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of an Iraqi detainee says he did not kill the man and will fight the charges, his attorney said Monday.

Clarksville, Tenn., attorney James Phillips also said a hearing for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner of Braggs has again been reset to give the civilian attorneys time to travel to Iraq.

“We will fight this thing all the way until the end,” said Phillips, who has a background in handling military trials.

Warner and 1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna, of Edmond, are accused of shooting Ali Mansour Mohammed “at or near” their forward operating base north of Baghdad and then lying about it. The military has not said when Mohammed died.

Iraqi eyewitness accounts of the death will be part of an Article 32 hearing for Warner, now set for Sept. 11, Phillips said. An Article 32 hearing is equivalent to a civilian preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a court-martial.

A hearing date for Behenna has not been set, and his attorney, Jack Zimmerman, also has said he will fight the charges.

Phillips could not give details of the witness accounts and said much of the military’s evidence against the soldiers will be revealed at the hearing at a U.S. base in Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

“In a case like this, (the hearing) is a big deal because we have so many Iraqi witnesses,” Phillips said.

Warner and Behenna are assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. Both were charged in July with premeditated murder, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice, according to a statement from the military. Warner faces an additional charge of accessory after the fact.

The military says Mohammed initially was believed to have been released from U.S. custody around May 16. But charges filed by the military say Warner and Behenna killed him “by means of shooting him with a pistol.”

Phillips said he believes Mohammed was in custody because he had “a relationship to terrorist acts.”

Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, an Army spokeswoman in Iraq, said Mohammed was detained for suspected criminal activity, but wouldn’t give specifics, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Phillips said if the case goes to a court-martial, it will likely be held in Iraq. Warner will be represented by two civilian attorneys, including Phillips, and two trial defense attorneys appointed by the military.

The military said punishment could include the possibility of life imprisonment without parole, depending on the results of the investigation.

Following the 101st Airborne’s last deployment to Iraq in 2006, four Fort Campbell soldiers were charged in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees. The soldiers received sentences between nine months and 18 years in prison for their roles in the deaths during a May 9, 2006, raid near Samarra, Iraq.

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