Posted on Nov 19, 2014
Military court weighing fate of condemned soldier. What Are Your Thoughts?
394K
3.4K
1.23K
80
79
1
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
2
2
0
I say put him in a tent and let people frag him. Don't do it right away let him sweat it out for awhile and do it when he isn't expecting it. He didn't have to reenlist. He wasn't made to do it he chose to reenlist. So his bullsh** story isn't getting no tear on this end. This is a free country and he could of got out of the military and move to another country of his choice. I just came home from vacation last week and I was on the plane with to NCOs bringing back a kid who was AWOL. If you don't want to serve don't join. Don't make excuses or do stupid things like taking others lives because you want to be a coward.
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
2
2
0
I remember hearing the reports of this (my unit was south and in a different camp) and was absolutely floored. He's nearly as bad as that other POS - "Major" Hassan, turning on his fellow soldiers, and an oath breaker. Words mean nothing, his actions spoke volumes about his intent. Roast him.
(2)
(0)
CW4 (Join to see)
Having slept in the tent next this traitor on Camp PA, and remembering the commotion it created that night potentially opening the door for a fraticide incident (thank god it didn't happen) 12 years later and countless tax payers money spent to endure due process is adhered too, I hope it's carried out quickly.
(0)
(0)
SFC Dave H.
Our Company aviation liason with the 1BCT 101st was injuried with shrapnel and I had friends that were there and knew of this guy. They say he is a wack job and put on ammo detail. Little did they know he would steal grenades from that detail and use them against his own unit. Desirves to die and buried at sea.
(0)
(0)
2
2
0
His death, at the point of a rifle is what he deserves. If this man lives his life in a cell we will be sending the wrong message to any (anti)soldier who thinks they can destroy the trust between all of us brothers-in-arms.
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
I honestly feel he should get the death penalty. He had killed and injured troops which deserves the death penalty
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE DEATH PENALTY, AND IN THIS CASE, THAT WOULD MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD TO ALL OF HIS RADICAL BUDDIES ANYWAY. LET HIM SIT IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING....NOT EVEN CLOTHES, COVERS OR EVEN A BED, AND FEED HIM BREAD AND WATER ONCE A DAY.
(2)
(0)
CW3 Jim Norris
OK, but a firing squad cost far less than keeping this piece of subhuman debris on the earth for one more day. Unmarked grave in a pork production feed yard....
(0)
(0)
Sgt Alan Voracek
I like your thinking LCpl. Unfortunately in todays society the are to many bleeding heart liberals who feel solitary confinement would be cruel and unusual punishment. A criminal can no longer be treated as such. Apparently we have to coddle and nurture these criminals so they can be reformed and brought back into society.
(0)
(0)
2
2
0
2
2
0
kick him to death with my steel toed boots .... guilty as guilty can ever ever get
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
Soldiers rely on each other to survive in combat---He murdered his fellow soldiers---He shouldn't received special treatment for any reason and should be executed.
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google