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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: No death penalty for US soldier charged with Afghan killings No death penalty for US soldier charged with Afghan killings By Laura Myers in Seattle AN AMERICAN soldier accused of murdering three Afghan civilians will not face the death penalty if convicted. The US army has ruled that Corporal Jeremy Morlock will face a full military court martial. Although a premeditated murder charge carries the possibility of a death sentence, the army has decided not to press for this. The 22-year-old soldier is oADVERTISEMENTne of five defendants charged with murder and conspiracy over the deaths between January and May this year. Another seven soldiers from the same unit have been charged with conspiracy to cover up the alleged murders, said to have taken place when Morlock's unit was deployed in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. The five accused of murder allegedly threw grenades and opened fire on civilians in unprovoked assaults while the other seven are accused of dismembering the victims and collecting body parts. All five deny all the charges. Morlock's civilian lawyer, Michael Waddington, has claimed that the three slain Afghans - two killed by grenades and rifle fire, one by gunfire - were victims of a "rogue platoon running around killing people," and that his client, while present, "did not cause the deaths of any of these individuals". The lawyer said Morlock had co-operated with investigators so far and was suffering from repeat concussions caused by explosions during his service in Afghanistan. "There are a lot of reasons they wouldn't seek the death penalty, especially when you have someone who has physical injuries from a combat zone," said Waddington. Army investigators say that in interviews conducted in May, Morlock detailed the alleged murders, which he claimed were organised by his unit leader, Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. Military prosecutors say Morlock acted as an assistant to Sgt Gibbs in the murders and helped enlist three other soldiers to carry them out. But Waddington said he would seek to have Morlock's statements to army investigators suppressed on the grounds that they were given while he was under heavy medication for his battle injuries. A spokeswoman for the US army said that no decision had been made on whether to send the other four soldiers accused of murder to trial.
Poster Comment: you can see in the article that this particular soldier has brain damage from repeated concussions it says, and was taking medication as well. When a soldier survives an IED attack, then there is a 50% chance he got brain damage. and the army will not look for it unless the soldiers specifically says he thinks he was brain damaged. since soldiers are not likely to do that they end up moving on with un-diagnosed brain damage. this guy it says had repeated concussions. look at the damage he sustained to his person for being in the military. He followed orders and this involved killing people who shouldn't have been killed. and now he's on trial for it.
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