http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904180391A jury has been seated in the case of a former Army soldier charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family. Former Pfc. Steven Dale Green, 23, is the first ex-soldier to be charged as a civilian under a 2000 law that allows U.S. authorities to prosecute former members of the military for crimes overseas.
Opening statements are set to begin April 27 in federal court in Paducah, following a break. Attorneys yesterday selected the jury -- 15 women and three men -- from a pool of 80 prospective candidates.
Green, of Midland, Texas, faces 17 counts, including murder and rape. He is being tried in Paducah because it is the closest federal court in the Western District to Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was last stationed.
Diagnosed with an antisocial-personality disorder, Green was discharged from the 101st Airborne Division two months after the attack in Iraq, which occurred March 12, 2006. Green, who is accused by prosecutors of being a central figure in the rape of Abeer Kassem al-Janabi and the killing of her, her parents and sister, has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say that they will ask for a death sentence if Green is convicted....
(more@ link, including potential witnesses, other soldiers already courtmartialed, family of Abeer)