Posted on Nov 19, 2014
Military court weighing fate of condemned soldier. What Are Your Thoughts?
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From: Army Times
A former U.S. soldier sentenced to death for killing two fellow soldiers and injuring 14 others in an attack in Kuwait is pinning his hopes of staying alive on an argument jurors should have never seen his diary.
Attorneys for 43-year-old Hasan K. Akbar argued on Tuesday that the one-time sergeant's writings, which include details of how he converted to radical Islam, were so inflammatory, that without the proper context, jurors were most likely to focus on the most damaging parts while considering whether to impose a death sentence.
"They didn't present the information in any meaningful way," said Lt. Col. John Potter, a military lawyer arguing the case for Akbar before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington.
Akbar was with the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when he was sentenced to death in 2005. He killed Army Capt. Christopher S. Seifert and Air Force Maj. Gregory L. Stone in Kuwait two years earlier during the early days of the Iraq war.
Prosecutors say he threw four hand grenades into tents as members of his division slept, then fired his rifle at soldiers in the ensuing chaos on March 23, 2003. A military jury at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, convicted Akbar and handed down the sentence. The military has not carried out an execution since 1961. Akbar is one of five ex-soldiers facing a death sentence, the only one for actions in the Iraq war.
Potter told the judges the defense failed to prepare witnesses and errantly let jurors see Akbar's diary, which contained multiple anti-American passages.
Potter said allowing the jury to read the diary "eviscerated the defense in any meaningful way."
"We think the diary, there's no tactical reason to submit the diary," Potter said.
In one entry dated Feb. 23, 2002, Akbar wrote that he believed staying in the Army would eventually lead him to prison.
"I had a premonition that if I re-enlisted I would find myself in jail. That is probably true because I already want to kill several of them," Akbar wrote of his fellow soldiers.
The judges hearing the case focused on how the diary fit into the rest of the defense strategy, asking whether attorneys did anything to put the passages in the context of Akbar's pre-military life or any mental issues he may have had.
Potter noted that the defense put on 38 minutes of mitigation evidence and argument and didn't present any testimony from his family to humanize him. Instead, the lawyers failed by letting jurors pick through the diary and focus on the passages that left their client in the worst possible light.
Prosecutors said Akbar's defense attorneys acted in his best interest to try and prevent a death sentence from being issued in one of the "most egregious offenses in modern military history." The defense attorneys focused on the most viable arguments and witnesses, Maj. Kenneth Borgnino said.
Prosecutors noted that much of Akbar's family likely wouldn't have made a good impression on the witness stand.
The judges did not indicate when a ruling would be issued.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2014/11/19/akbar-appeal-111914/19265341/
A former U.S. soldier sentenced to death for killing two fellow soldiers and injuring 14 others in an attack in Kuwait is pinning his hopes of staying alive on an argument jurors should have never seen his diary.
Attorneys for 43-year-old Hasan K. Akbar argued on Tuesday that the one-time sergeant's writings, which include details of how he converted to radical Islam, were so inflammatory, that without the proper context, jurors were most likely to focus on the most damaging parts while considering whether to impose a death sentence.
"They didn't present the information in any meaningful way," said Lt. Col. John Potter, a military lawyer arguing the case for Akbar before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington.
Akbar was with the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when he was sentenced to death in 2005. He killed Army Capt. Christopher S. Seifert and Air Force Maj. Gregory L. Stone in Kuwait two years earlier during the early days of the Iraq war.
Prosecutors say he threw four hand grenades into tents as members of his division slept, then fired his rifle at soldiers in the ensuing chaos on March 23, 2003. A military jury at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, convicted Akbar and handed down the sentence. The military has not carried out an execution since 1961. Akbar is one of five ex-soldiers facing a death sentence, the only one for actions in the Iraq war.
Potter told the judges the defense failed to prepare witnesses and errantly let jurors see Akbar's diary, which contained multiple anti-American passages.
Potter said allowing the jury to read the diary "eviscerated the defense in any meaningful way."
"We think the diary, there's no tactical reason to submit the diary," Potter said.
In one entry dated Feb. 23, 2002, Akbar wrote that he believed staying in the Army would eventually lead him to prison.
"I had a premonition that if I re-enlisted I would find myself in jail. That is probably true because I already want to kill several of them," Akbar wrote of his fellow soldiers.
The judges hearing the case focused on how the diary fit into the rest of the defense strategy, asking whether attorneys did anything to put the passages in the context of Akbar's pre-military life or any mental issues he may have had.
Potter noted that the defense put on 38 minutes of mitigation evidence and argument and didn't present any testimony from his family to humanize him. Instead, the lawyers failed by letting jurors pick through the diary and focus on the passages that left their client in the worst possible light.
Prosecutors said Akbar's defense attorneys acted in his best interest to try and prevent a death sentence from being issued in one of the "most egregious offenses in modern military history." The defense attorneys focused on the most viable arguments and witnesses, Maj. Kenneth Borgnino said.
Prosecutors noted that much of Akbar's family likely wouldn't have made a good impression on the witness stand.
The judges did not indicate when a ruling would be issued.
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/crime/2014/11/19/akbar-appeal-111914/19265341/
Death Penalty
Kuwait
UCMJ
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 487
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Whatever the case whether you are in the airforce,navy ,enginering corps etc,is not fair for a comrade in arms to open fire on his fellow troop members.So he deserves the death penalty
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In March of 2003 I was with a group of Observer-Controller/ Trainers embedded with an assigned Company for 7-10 days at a time. We had just finished when we were assigned a new Battalion and told to make contact that evening to begin operations the following morning.
The Platoon I was assigned had already bedded down for the night, so I sat up with the PSG and a cup of hot coffee for a few hours going over what we would be doing in the morning.
That morning came far too early as the grenades went off about 100 meters away.
I was part of the medical effort and assisted in the search for what we originally thought were a small group of infiltrators.
To our HORROR, we found out from the 1SG that the one person responsible had been found cowering in a SCUD bunker nearby.... and it was a recently converted US Soldier who had "gotten religious and told everyone he wanted to go home again".
I will never forget that day, those terrible hours of our frantic work with everyone, and the final outcome of finding out that so much damage had come from an American soldier.
Get that uniform off of him
Put him in whatever color he gets now
...and give him what he wanted all along
Quick Passage to meet Allah...right before Allah sends him to meet Shaitan
Honestly, I thought this filth had already been executed <sigh>
The Platoon I was assigned had already bedded down for the night, so I sat up with the PSG and a cup of hot coffee for a few hours going over what we would be doing in the morning.
That morning came far too early as the grenades went off about 100 meters away.
I was part of the medical effort and assisted in the search for what we originally thought were a small group of infiltrators.
To our HORROR, we found out from the 1SG that the one person responsible had been found cowering in a SCUD bunker nearby.... and it was a recently converted US Soldier who had "gotten religious and told everyone he wanted to go home again".
I will never forget that day, those terrible hours of our frantic work with everyone, and the final outcome of finding out that so much damage had come from an American soldier.
Get that uniform off of him
Put him in whatever color he gets now
...and give him what he wanted all along
Quick Passage to meet Allah...right before Allah sends him to meet Shaitan
Honestly, I thought this filth had already been executed <sigh>
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SPC Mariendia Williams
It is a very heavy feeling of betrayal when you discover it is one of your own, but he covered and became the enemy with his actions.
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And, here, they call this religion, the "religion of peace". Sounds like an oxymoron; but more moron than oxy.
The only uniform he needs now is a set of fatigues with a big "white P" on the back and a firing squad. No lethal injection. PERIOD!!!!!!
Or, turn him loose in general population and the guards and the warden turn their backs for awhile. I bet the other prisoners might have something for him.
The only uniform he needs now is a set of fatigues with a big "white P" on the back and a firing squad. No lethal injection. PERIOD!!!!!!
Or, turn him loose in general population and the guards and the warden turn their backs for awhile. I bet the other prisoners might have something for him.
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SCPO Charles Thomas "Tom" Canterbury
I just love all of the tax dollars we waste defending schmucks like this. Â
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Here we are in a time of budget cuts and we still have these people bleeding the system everyday of more and more money. Complete what the jury said should be done a long time ago.
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Can I volunteer to mix the solution? I promise it will kill him. Just not too quickly.
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He deserves the Death Penalty for Treason....He reminds me of Timothy McVeigh.
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The worst thing you can be is a trader put him a pink jump suit till we rid our country of this trash
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PFC Jimmy Farmer
That is exactly what he wants. If we put him to death, he becomes a martyr for future ideologist. I say we just stow him away in a deep dark hole, never to see the light of day. Bread and water for the remainder of his sad, pathetic life.
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SSG Brian Tobin
No need to continue spending tax dollars on this guy, a few dollars and he is done by lead poisoning. He has been tried and convicted but of course the lawyer is trying to get him life because he did not provide a rigorous defense according to the article. Meanwhile his victims are still dead and the families are still mourning and have to hear about this guy.
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Strip him of anything military,stripes buttons,ribbons, and give him a firing squad with no blindfold.
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SGT Stephen George
When it comes to Curing Terrorism I say we do it by the numbers:
1. Identify the target;
2. Let loose with a full 40 round 5.56 magazine ...dead center mass;
3. Confirm Death;
4. Take DNA sample;
5. Gut em like a deer;
6. Call in a HELO w/ 40 LBS of frozen pork chops;
7. Insert pork into body cavity;
8. Bury face down, ass up, facing away from Mecca;
9. And have a DOZEN HASIDIC WHORES PISS ON THE GRAVE;
10. Post on Al Jazeera ... .
THAT'S THE CURE FOR TERRORISM ...and it'd get their attention. Apparently they're not scared to die ...BUT THEY ARE SCARED OF NOT GOING TO PARADISE ...& THAT AINT HAPPENING WHEN YOUR MUSLIM, DEAD, & HAVE 40 POUNDS OF PORK INSIDE YOUR BODY CAVITY ...LET'S START LIVING IN REALITY ...just saying.
1. Identify the target;
2. Let loose with a full 40 round 5.56 magazine ...dead center mass;
3. Confirm Death;
4. Take DNA sample;
5. Gut em like a deer;
6. Call in a HELO w/ 40 LBS of frozen pork chops;
7. Insert pork into body cavity;
8. Bury face down, ass up, facing away from Mecca;
9. And have a DOZEN HASIDIC WHORES PISS ON THE GRAVE;
10. Post on Al Jazeera ... .
THAT'S THE CURE FOR TERRORISM ...and it'd get their attention. Apparently they're not scared to die ...BUT THEY ARE SCARED OF NOT GOING TO PARADISE ...& THAT AINT HAPPENING WHEN YOUR MUSLIM, DEAD, & HAVE 40 POUNDS OF PORK INSIDE YOUR BODY CAVITY ...LET'S START LIVING IN REALITY ...just saying.
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