The U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians last weekend twice had been injured in tours in Iraq and was reluctant to leave his fourth deployment, a Seattle lawyer said Thursday.
"He was not thrilled to pass another deployment," said the lawyer, John Henry Browne. "Told him he did not return, and then said he was going to."
Browne, a famous Seattle defence counsel has recently defended "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore, said that he was asked to represent the soldier, a Sergeant of old staff of 38 years of joint Base Lewis - McChord South of Tacoma.
The soldier lives in the Seattle area and asked to be represented by Browne, when he was placed in detention, said the lawyer. Browne said he met the family of staff sergeant, and unless the soldier returned to Joint Base Lewis - McChord in the coming days, he will travel to meet the soldier everywhere where he is detained.
Browne declined to give the name of the soldier, the army has not published, but said he has two young children, aged 3 and 4.
Browne said that he spoke with the soldier and he characterized as "shocked". Browne suggested the soldier had suffered the stress of multiple deployments, but he said that it was not clear if the man presented the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
However, counsel said that Dr. Richard Adler, an expert in PTSD, will work for the defence team.
Browne described the soldier as a highly decorated and said that he had twice been wounded during deployments to the Iraq, when it reached trauma head concussions and, once, a leg injury serious which he lost part of his foot.
Browne, said the soldier is at the origin of the Midwest, but would not more specific.
Some reports indicated that alcohol may be a factor in the shooting. Browne said that, as was aware of the family of the soldier, it is not a problem with alcohol. He also said that he may have marital problems reports were not correct.
"They have a fabulous wedding," said Browne.
However, a senior US official said the New York Times in the night of the massacre the soldier had been alcohol - a violation of military rules in combat zones - and suffering from stress related to his fourth round battle and tensions with his wife on deployments.
"When it comes, it will be a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues - it has broken," said the official, who was informed of the investigation and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the soldier has not yet been formally charged.
As further details emerged about the reasons behind the shootings, the U.S. official said that the army is preparing to spend the Sergeant in a prison in the United States as early as Friday, probably at Fort Leavenworth, Kan, just one day after he stole a site of detention at the Kuwait of the Afghanistan.
The soldier is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in the villages near his base in the South of the Afghanistan in the early Sunday, killing nine children and seven other civil and then burn some of their organs. The shooting, which was followed by an incident controversial to the Qur'an involving us troops, has outraged the Afghan officials.
The suspect flew out the Afghanistan, Wednesday night, in what officials describe as a provisional containment at the Kuwait facility. Officials anonymously described as a father of two children who was in the army for 11 years. He served three tours in Iraq and started its first deployment to Afghanistan in December.
A source of the Congress, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, told the Associated Press that it was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, prior to an operation of village-stability of the villages where the attack took place.
Browne recently represented Harris-Moore, a young thief nicknamed the "barefoot Bandit" which drew international attention to steal cars, boats and aircraft during a performance of Act two years. Browne and his co-counsel, Emma Scanlan, helped Harris-Moore to reach State and federal plea deals, and then convince a judge of the State to give the lower end of the range of the sentencing: seven years in prison.
Browne said it was only three or four cases military before. The soldier will also be at least a military lawyer.
Military lawyers say once prosecutors involved in the initial investigation of an alleged crime involving a member of the service have what they think to be a solid understanding of what has happened and are satisfied with the evidence collected, they loads project and present it to a commander.
This person then makes a judgment on if there is probable cause to believe that an offence has been committed and that the accused committed it.
The Commander then "prefer" the charges to the convening authority - usually, the Commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned, but higher sometimes.
Journalist staff of the Seattle Times Mike Carter contributed to this story.
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