Clandestino
04-28-2005, 11:09 AM
By ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 48 minutes ago
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A soldier convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quickly and quietly said he was sorry Thursday to the jury that will decide whether he lives or dies.
"I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar told the 15-person military jury.
Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear.
The defense rested its case after Akbar addressed the jury. After closing statements, the military judge was to give jurors instructions before they begin deliberations.
The 34-year-old Akbar faces three possible sentences — death, life with parole or life without parole. The same jury convicted him last week of two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder.
Prosecutors have said Akbar launched the attack on members of the 101st Airborne Division in March 2003 at Camp Pennsylvania because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war.
The 101st was waiting to join the U.S. invasion of Iraq that had begun two days earlier.
While the defense contends Akbar was too mentally ill to plan the attack, they have never disputed that he threw grenades into troop tents in the early morning darkness and then fired on soldiers in the ensuing chaos.
Army Capt. Chris Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, were killed in the attack and 14 others were wounded. A key part of the prosecution's sentencing case was tearful testimony from victims and relatives of the dead men.
The court-martial is the first time since the Vietnam era that an American has been prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime. If given a death sentence, Akbar will join five others on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. There is an automatic appeal.
1 hour, 48 minutes ago
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A soldier convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quickly and quietly said he was sorry Thursday to the jury that will decide whether he lives or dies.
"I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar told the 15-person military jury.
Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear.
The defense rested its case after Akbar addressed the jury. After closing statements, the military judge was to give jurors instructions before they begin deliberations.
The 34-year-old Akbar faces three possible sentences — death, life with parole or life without parole. The same jury convicted him last week of two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder.
Prosecutors have said Akbar launched the attack on members of the 101st Airborne Division in March 2003 at Camp Pennsylvania because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war.
The 101st was waiting to join the U.S. invasion of Iraq that had begun two days earlier.
While the defense contends Akbar was too mentally ill to plan the attack, they have never disputed that he threw grenades into troop tents in the early morning darkness and then fired on soldiers in the ensuing chaos.
Army Capt. Chris Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, were killed in the attack and 14 others were wounded. A key part of the prosecution's sentencing case was tearful testimony from victims and relatives of the dead men.
The court-martial is the first time since the Vietnam era that an American has been prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime. If given a death sentence, Akbar will join five others on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. There is an automatic appeal.