Death Sought For Ex-GI In Slayings, Rape in Iraq

Justice Department attorneys will pursue the death penalty against a former U.S. Army soldier accused of raping and killing an Iraqi teenager and slaying her family members last year, according to papers filed yesterday in federal court. It could be the first capital case to proceed against a U.S. service member arising out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prosecutors revealed that they will seek death for former Pfc. Steven D. Green should he be convicted of the March 12, 2006, slayings of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14, her parents and her young sister -- one of the worst homicide cases of the war. Green is accused of plotting the attack with three other U.S. soldiers in the hotly contested Mahmudiyah area south of Baghdad.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales approved seeking the death penalty in the case, in part because the crimes were "heinous, cruel and depraved," according to the documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

"We're disappointed that the attorney general is seeking to execute a soldier for an alleged crime in a war zone," said Patrick Bouldin, a federal public defender who represents Green. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on the filing.

Green has been charged in federal court because he was discharged from the Army before the murder allegations surfaced in spring 2006, an unusual move that could put him before a civilian jury for crimes that allegedly occurred on the battlefield thousands of miles away. In court hearings, Green has been described as being deeply affected by the deaths of his fellow soldiers and the stress of combat.

The three other soldiers have been charged with the slayings in military courts-martial: One pleaded guilty and received a 90-year sentence, one pleaded guilty and received a 100-year sentence, and the third is scheduled to go to trial this month. Authorities have portrayed Green as the ringleader of the plot, in which the soldiers wore disguises and set the teenager and her home on fire to conceal the crime.

David P. Sheldon, a defense attorney for Spec. James Barker, one of the soldiers sentenced, said he was surprised by the decision to pursue death for Green. Barker, who admitted raping the teenager and said Green killed her and her family members, received a 90-year sentence but could be eligible for parole in 10 years.

"The government knew that Green had an extremely intense hatred for Iraqis, and yet they did nothing to treat him, and they knew he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder," Sheldon said. "They knew he was a canister of gas waiting to go off. What did they do? They put him on the front lines."