Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Antonio Express-News
April 29, 2008 By Scott Huddleston
FORT HOOD — Lawyers for the government say a San Antonio soldier ruthlessly killed a wounded man in Iraq last summer, then lied to cover his tracks.
“His subordinates didn't know any better, and his superiors weren't watching,” Maj. Jacob Wolf, government co-counsel, said as the trial of Sgt. Leonardo Treviño got under way Monday.
Treviño's defense attorney, Richard Stevens, painted a different picture. He said the sergeant and Burbank High School graduate was the target of a conspiracy created by men under his command.
Stevens attempted to raise doubts about each of the government's witnesses, saying they didn't come forward with their allegations until last Aug. 25, nearly two months after an unnamed al-Qaida insurgent was shot to death in Thura, a village northeast of Baghdad.
Younger soldiers under the 31-year-old sergeant's command sought revenge because he'd used “smoke sessions,” a means of disciplining troops by making them do push-ups, flutter kicks and other strenuous exercises, Stevens said. They only wanted him removed as the section sergeant, not knowing they'd be questioned for many hours by military investigators, he said.
“They had no idea that things were going to blow up to the extent that they did,” he added.
The June 26 incident began with a firefight between Treviño's Small Kill Team and three insurgents. One insurgent was killed instantly; another got away. The third man was found in a nearby house, bleeding heavily.
The case hinges to a large extent on whether that man still posed a threat. While government lawyers say he was “out of the fight,” Stevens said at least two eyewitnesses have given statements proving that Treviño's actions were “wholly within the rules of engagement that he was operating under.”
Two soldiers who were in the room and later acquitted on lesser charges — Spc. John Torres and Cpl. Justin Whiteman — are expected to testify. Treviño is charged with attempted murder in connection with a shot to the man's torso and with premeditated murder in connection with a shot to the head. He also is charged with solicitation of murder for allegedly telling Torres to suffocate the man, and with obstruction of justice. The latter charge is based on allegations that he told Whiteman to lay a pistol by the body.
But Stevens said evidence that the pistol later was found with Treviño's items in Iraq is questionable because investigators initially found nothing. Later, while his client was in custody in Kuwait, some soldiers under him reported finding it, Stevens said.
“While Sgt. Treviño was in another country, this Iraqi pistol materialized in his room,” he said.
An all-male jury of three officers and four enlisted men will begin hearing testimony today. All have served in combat — one in Afghanistan, the rest in Iraq.
April 29, 2008 By Scott Huddleston
FORT HOOD — Lawyers for the government say a San Antonio soldier ruthlessly killed a wounded man in Iraq last summer, then lied to cover his tracks.
“His subordinates didn't know any better, and his superiors weren't watching,” Maj. Jacob Wolf, government co-counsel, said as the trial of Sgt. Leonardo Treviño got under way Monday.
Treviño's defense attorney, Richard Stevens, painted a different picture. He said the sergeant and Burbank High School graduate was the target of a conspiracy created by men under his command.
Stevens attempted to raise doubts about each of the government's witnesses, saying they didn't come forward with their allegations until last Aug. 25, nearly two months after an unnamed al-Qaida insurgent was shot to death in Thura, a village northeast of Baghdad.
Younger soldiers under the 31-year-old sergeant's command sought revenge because he'd used “smoke sessions,” a means of disciplining troops by making them do push-ups, flutter kicks and other strenuous exercises, Stevens said. They only wanted him removed as the section sergeant, not knowing they'd be questioned for many hours by military investigators, he said.
“They had no idea that things were going to blow up to the extent that they did,” he added.
The June 26 incident began with a firefight between Treviño's Small Kill Team and three insurgents. One insurgent was killed instantly; another got away. The third man was found in a nearby house, bleeding heavily.
The case hinges to a large extent on whether that man still posed a threat. While government lawyers say he was “out of the fight,” Stevens said at least two eyewitnesses have given statements proving that Treviño's actions were “wholly within the rules of engagement that he was operating under.”
Two soldiers who were in the room and later acquitted on lesser charges — Spc. John Torres and Cpl. Justin Whiteman — are expected to testify. Treviño is charged with attempted murder in connection with a shot to the man's torso and with premeditated murder in connection with a shot to the head. He also is charged with solicitation of murder for allegedly telling Torres to suffocate the man, and with obstruction of justice. The latter charge is based on allegations that he told Whiteman to lay a pistol by the body.
But Stevens said evidence that the pistol later was found with Treviño's items in Iraq is questionable because investigators initially found nothing. Later, while his client was in custody in Kuwait, some soldiers under him reported finding it, Stevens said.
“While Sgt. Treviño was in another country, this Iraqi pistol materialized in his room,” he said.
An all-male jury of three officers and four enlisted men will begin hearing testimony today. All have served in combat — one in Afghanistan, the rest in Iraq.