Jury gets fragging case

[unhappycamper]

Jury gets fragging case
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 3, 2008 6:03:54 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury is poised to decide the fate of a New York Army National Guard soldier accused of killing two superior officers in the first alleged “fragging” case arising from the war in Iraq.

The case against Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez of Troy, N.Y., was given to jurors Tuesday after about five hours of closing arguments at Fort Bragg. The 14 jurors spent several hours reviewing the judge’s instructions, then said they would return Wednesday to begin deliberating.

Martinez, 41, could face the death penalty if convicted of premeditated murder in the deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito of Suffern, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of Milford, Pa. All three were members of the 42nd Infantry Division.

Both men were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated in a window of their room at Saddam Hussein’s Water Palace in June 2005 near Tikrit.

Martinez is the first soldier from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to be accused of killing a direct superior, a crime known as “fragging” during the Vietnam war. Witnesses have testified that Martinez and Esposito were at odds because Esposito believed Martinez was lax in operating the unit’s supply room.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_martinez_120308/%2e