Lawyer: French attacks suspect claimed innocence

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PARIS (AP) — An Algerian lawyer said Monday that she has evidence the young man accused of killing seven people in attacks on French soldiers and a Jewish school claimed his innocence to police. Separately, France announced it was expelling several foreign Islamist extremists on its soil.

Mohamed Merah, 23, was killed after a more than 30-hour standoff with police at his apartment in Toulouse after being identified as the suspect behind the killing spree last month. Authorities have said that during negotiations Merah claimed to have links to al-Qaida and confessed to the killings.

But Zahia Mokhtari, a lawyer for Merah's Algerian father, told BFM television on Monday that she had two identical videos of Merah that contradict the police narrative. "In these videos, he says, 'I am innocent. Why are you killing me? I didn't do anything,'" she said.

Mokhtari would not detail how she got the videos, saying she would reveal more on their origin once she files a lawsuit in French courts against the elite police force, RAID, that killed Merah.

Merah is alleged to have killed three paratroopers, a rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren, attacks that put French authorities on edge. President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed a crackdown on foreign Islamist radicals, and the Interior Ministry said Monday that deportations are in progress.

An Algerian Islamist radical convicted for a role in 1994 attacks in Marrakech and said to have recently started linking up again with extremists was deported Monday along with an imam from Mali who preached anti-Semitism and the rejection of the West, the Interior Ministry said.

A Saudi imam who has systematically preached the need to isolate women among other things is to be forced home imminently. Efforts to deport two other people are in progress and more such actions can be expected "shortly," the statement said.

A police official with knowledge of the investigation into the Merah case cast doubt on the Algerian lawyer's claims about the videos Monday, noting that Merah led police to evidence that proved he was the perpetrator.

Prosecutors say Merah spoke at length with negotiators from the RAID force throughout the standoff while he was holed up in a Toulouse apartment.

During these conversations, authorities say, Merah told them where to find a video he took of the crime spree. Al-Jazeera television has said it received a copy of the video, which shows the deaths of three paratroopers, three Jewish children and a rabbi from the killer's point of view.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of police rules, added that Merah had toyed with police during the standoff, initially agreeing to surrender but later vowing to "die with his weapons in his hands."

Police have said that Merah said he had links to al-Qaida but have cast doubt on that claim. They are holding his brother on suspicion he helped to prepare the attacks and are looking for a possible third man who may also have been involved.

The killings have left France reeling, reviving worries about Islamist extremism and shaking up the French presidential campaign.

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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

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Lawyer: French Attacks Suspect Claimed Innoncence

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An Algerian lawyer said Monday that she has evidence the young man accused of killing seven people in attacks on French soldiers and a Jewish school claimed his innocence to police. Separately, France announced it was expelling several foreign Islamist extremists on its soil.

Mohamed Merah, 23, was killed after a more than 30-hour standoff with police at his apartment in Toulouse after being identified as the suspect behind the killing spree last month. Authorities have said that during negotiations Merah claimed to have links to al-Qaida and confessed to the killings.

But Zahia Mokhtari, a lawyer for Merah's Algerian father, told BFM television on Monday that she had two identical videos of Merah that contradict the police narrative. "In these videos, he says, 'I am innocent. Why are you killing me? I didn't do anything,'" she said.

Mokhtari would not detail how she got the videos, saying she would reveal more on their origin once she files a lawsuit in French courts against the elite police force, RAID, that killed Merah.

Merah is alleged to have killed three paratroopers, a rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren, attacks that put French authorities on edge. President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed a crackdown on foreign Islamist radicals, and the Interior Ministry said Monday that deportations are in progress.

Zahia Mokhtari, lawyer for Mohamed Benallal Merah, the father of Mohamed Merah, in Algiers, Thursday, March, 29, 2012. Mokhtari says she has evidence that the man accused of killing seven people in attacks in southwestern France claimed his innocence to police. Mohamed Merah was killed after a more than 30-hour standoff with authorities, who have said he confessed to the killing spree and refused to surrender peacefully. (AP Photo/ Sidali Djarboub) Close

An Algerian Islamist radical convicted for a role in 1994 attacks in Marrakech and said to have recently started linking up again with extremists was deported Monday along with an imam from Mali who preached anti-Semitism and the rejection of the West, the Interior Ministry said.

A Saudi imam who has systematically preached the need to isolate women among other things is to be forced home imminently. Efforts to deport two other people are in progress and more such actions can be expected "shortly," the statement said.

A police official with knowledge of the investigation into the Merah case cast doubt on the Algerian lawyer's claims about the videos Monday, noting that Merah led police to evidence that proved he was the perpetrator.

Prosecutors say Merah spoke at length with negotiators from the RAID force throughout the standoff while he was holed up in a Toulouse apartment.

During these conversations, authorities say, Merah told them where to find a video he took of the crime spree. Al-Jazeera television has said it received a copy of the video, which shows the deaths of three paratroopers, three Jewish children and a rabbi from the killer's point of view.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of police rules, added that Merah had toyed with police during the standoff, initially agreeing to surrender but later vowing to "die with his weapons in his hands."

Police have said that Merah said he had links to al-Qaida but have cast doubt on that claim. They are holding his brother on suspicion he helped to prepare the attacks and are looking for a possible third man who may also have been involved.

The killings have left France reeling, reviving worries about Islamist extremism and shaking up the French presidential campaign.

———

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

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Lawyer: suspect in Afghanistan was the depression after the Iraq

OLYMPIA, Wash (AP) — the U.s. military. confusion caused by the killing of 17 civilians in Afghanistan marks his second tour in Iraq during the event, which will be "a horrible depression", his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer, John Henry Browne said he could not discuss details of the case, in the absence of further classified. But he expects to be the focal point of the Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales against in the case of a problem.

"It was caused by him, a huge depression, and," Browne said.

The lawyer said that in the past, experienced a serious foot Bales, and his deployments, injury and trauma to the head, the other significant risks. In addition, exchanges of military foot had been blown in Afghanistan the day before the massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with premeditated murder and 17 counts of other offences. He is running in the Us military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The defense team is now in the collection of evidence and other Us soldiers in Afghanistan, who knew Bales interview.

"All you've spoken to compulsory military service does not have any positive things to say about him, but amazingly," said Browne, who is not a team in Afghanistan.

To address these Browne does not believe the group, visit the villages, where the killings took place. The researchers are likely to stay in Afghanistan for a few more weeks.

Browne was questioned by the United States Government against bales, noting at the scene of the crime has not been preserved.

"It is going to be difficult to prove the prosecution," Browne said. ' Is not a ' CSI ' information. Is not in the DNA, which I know. "There is a ballistics, that I know."

Bales has indicated that he had prescription drugs, he or she may have, before the shooting is something the attorney took a larger memory recollection — problems with the indicator.

The lawyer also said, he is the night of the shootings. In a separate interview with The Washington Post Browne said Wednesday at the Bales will be remembered, the smell, the gunfire and human bodies, but not much more.

Browne added his client reported suffering from nightmares, pojastaan war scenes and headache after his multiple combat tours. Bales told of his legal team, that he has woken the night sweats with the long and often concerned with inset, memories of the scene in Iraq that he and his infantry company saw several years ago, Browne said.

The lawyer stressed the Bales does not recognise seemed surprised when his gun was taken away, the newspaper reported.

US military officials said, were drinking in the southern Afghan base Bales on March 11 before the creeping bent away from the village in the middle of the night, Shooting his victims, and then many of them on fire. The nine were children.

Bales has been in the past, alcohol and violence.

In 2002, he was arrested for drunken assault Tacoma Casino security guard. The charge was dismissed after the Bales of anger management training for 20 hours.

In 2008, the pair accused the woman's hand and grabbing his crotch thrusting towards the kicking and punching an intoxicated woman's boyfriend, the Bales before the police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at: http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

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Lawyer: suspect in Afghanistan was the depression after the Iraq

OLYMPIA, Wash (AP) — the U.s. military. confusion caused by the killing of 17 civilians in Afghanistan marks his second tour in Iraq during the event, which will be "a horrible depression", his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer, John Henry Browne said he could not discuss details of the case, in the absence of further classified. But he expects to be the focal point of the Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales against in the case of a problem.

"It was caused by him, a huge depression, and," Browne said.

The lawyer said that in the past, experienced a serious foot Bales, and his deployments, injury and trauma to the head, the other significant risks. In addition, exchanges of military foot had been blown in Afghanistan the day before the massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with premeditated murder and 17 counts of other offences. He is running in the Us military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The defense team is now in the collection of evidence and other Us soldiers in Afghanistan, who knew Bales interview.

"All you've spoken to compulsory military service does not have any positive things to say about him, but amazingly," said Browne, who is not a team in Afghanistan.

To address these Browne does not believe the group, visit the villages, where the killings took place. The researchers are likely to stay in Afghanistan for a few more weeks.

Browne was questioned by the United States Government against bales, noting at the scene of the crime has not been preserved.

"It is going to be difficult to prove the prosecution," Browne said. ' Is not a ' CSI ' information. Is not in the DNA, which I know. "There is a ballistics, that I know."

Bales has indicated that he had prescription drugs, he or she may have, before the shooting is something the attorney took a larger memory recollection — problems with the indicator.

The lawyer also said, he is the night of the shootings. In a separate interview with The Washington Post Browne said Wednesday at the Bales will be remembered, the smell, the gunfire and human bodies, but not much more.

Browne added his client reported suffering from nightmares, pojastaan war scenes and headache after his multiple combat tours. Bales told of his legal team, that he has woken the night sweats with the long and often concerned with inset, memories of the scene in Iraq that he and his infantry company saw several years ago, Browne said.

The lawyer stressed the Bales does not recognise seemed surprised when his gun was taken away, the newspaper reported.

US military officials said, were drinking in the southern Afghan base Bales on March 11 before the creeping bent away from the village in the middle of the night, Shooting his victims, and then many of them on fire. The nine were children.

Bales has been in the past, alcohol and violence.

In 2002, he was arrested for drunken assault Tacoma Casino security guard. The charge was dismissed after the Bales of anger management training for 20 hours.

In 2008, the pair accused the woman's hand and grabbing his crotch thrusting towards the kicking and punching an intoxicated woman's boyfriend, the Bales before the police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at: http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

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Lawyer: Massacre suspect had depression after Iraq - USA TODAY

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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – The U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians suffered a traumatic incident during his second tour in Iraq that triggered "tremendous depression," his lawyer said Wednesday.

By Spc. Ryan Hallock, AFP/Getty Images

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, participates in an exercise Aug. 23 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

By Spc. Ryan Hallock, AFP/Getty Images

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, right, participates in an exercise Aug. 23 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he could not discuss the details of the matter because it remains classified. But he expects the issue to become a focal point in the case against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

"It caused him tremendous depression and anxiety," Browne said.

The lawyer previously said Bales experienced other major dangers in his deployments, including a serious foot injury and head trauma. In addition, a fellow soldier's leg had been blown off days before the Afghanistan massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes. He is being held at a U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A defense team is now in Afghanistan to collect evidence and interview other U.S. soldiers who knew Bales.

"Everyone they've spoken to in the military has nothing but amazingly positive things to say about him," said Browne, who is not part of the team in Afghanistan.

Due to security concerns, Browne doesn't think the team will visit the villages where the killings occurred. The investigators are likely to stay in Afghanistan a few more weeks.

Browne questioned the U.S. government's case against Bales, noting there is no preserved crime scene to assess.

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The home of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians, is located in Bonney Lake, Wash.

"It's going to be a difficult case for the prosecution to prove," Browne said. "There's no 'CSI' information. There's no DNA that I know of. There's no ballistics that I know of."

Bales has indicated that he had no recollection of prescription drugs he may have been taking before the shooting — something the attorney took as an indicator of larger memory problems. The lawyer also said his client has a sketchy memory of the night of the shootings.

U.S. military officials said Bales was drinking on a southern Afghanistan base on March 11 before creeping away to two villages at night, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine were children.

Bales has had incidents involving alcohol and violence in the past.

In 2002, he was arrested on a charge of a drunken assault of a security guard at a Tacoma casino. That charge was dismissed after Bales completed 20 hours of anger management training.

In 2008, a couple accused an intoxicated Bales of grabbing a woman's hand and thrusting it toward his crotch before kicking and punching the woman's boyfriend, according to a police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue that case.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Lawyer: Afghan Suspect Had 'Depression' After Iraq

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By MIKE BAKER Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. March 29, 2012 (AP)

The U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians suffered a traumatic incident during his second tour in Iraq that triggered "tremendous depression," his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer John Henry Browne said he could not discuss the details of the matter because it remains classified. But he expects the issue to become a focal point in the case against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

"It caused him tremendous depression and anxiety," Browne said.

The lawyer previously said Bales experienced other major dangers in his deployments, including a serious foot injury and head trauma. In addition, a fellow soldier's leg had been blown off days before the Afghanistan massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes. He is being held at a U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A defense team is now in Afghanistan to collect evidence and interview other U.S. soldiers who knew Bales.

"Everyone they've spoken to in the military has nothing but amazingly positive things to say about him," said Browne, who is not part of the team in Afghanistan.

Due to security concerns, Browne doesn't think the team will visit the villages where the killings occurred. The investigators are likely to stay in Afghanistan a few more weeks.

Browne questioned the U.S. government's case against Bales, noting there is no preserved crime scene to assess.

"It's going to be a difficult case for the prosecution to prove," Browne said. "There's no 'CSI' information. There's no DNA that I know of. There's no ballistics that I know of."

Bales has indicated that he had no recollection of prescription drugs he may have been taking before the shooting — something the attorney took as an indicator of larger memory problems. The lawyer also said his client has a sketchy memory of the night of the shootings.

U.S. military officials said Bales was drinking on a southern Afghanistan base on March 11 before creeping away to two villages at night, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine were children.

Bales has had incidents involving alcohol and violence in the past.

In 2002, He was arrested for a drunken assault of a security guard at a Tacoma casino. That charge was dismissed after Bales completed 20 hours of anger management training.

In 2008, a couple accused an intoxicated Bales of grabbing a woman's hand and thrusting it toward his crotch before kicking and punching the woman's boyfriend, according to a police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue that case.

———

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

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Lawyer John Henry Browne on Afghan killings suspect Robert Bales: Was ‘the last tour was too much for someone with a ...

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A defense lawyer for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales said Monday he expects his client to be charged in the murder of 16 Afghans on Thursday. Going into his first face-to-face meetings with Bales, Seattle attorney John Henry Browne said he expected military prosecutors to issue the most severe charges against his client, a 38-year-old career Army soldier and married father of two. And he suggested that the defense may try to argue that Bales should never have been sent to Afghanistan with a concussive brain injury in the first place.

"We know what they are going to say—it's something really bad," Browne told Bloomberg News' David Mildenberg in an interview Monday in Lansing, Kan., near the Fort Leavenworth base where Bales has been held since Friday. The accused staff sergeant is currently residing in a private cell in the military base's medium-security prison.

[Related: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales - what we know so far]

Reports that Bales' family had been suffering financial difficulties and other strains associated with his repeated absences due to three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan were not relevant, Browne said. He also disputed reported accounts from unnamed military officials that alcohol and marital strains may have been a factor leading up to Bales' alleged March 11 house-to-house shooting rampage, which left nine children dead.

"Everyone has had issues in their lives," Browne told Bloomberg. "Some people do six or seven tours, but the question is whether the last tour was too much for someone with a concussive brain injury."

Daniel Conway, a military lawyer who represented another U.S. soldier charged in 2010 with killing Afghan civilians and also from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, told Yahoo News Monday that a military jury is not likely to be sympathetic to a defense that argues Bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was sent on too many deployments.

"Good luck trying to convince a military jury with a PTSD defense," Conway told Yahoo News in a telephone interview Monday. "A lot of them have multiple family stresses. It will be difficult to convince them that kind of defense" is legitimate.

What Browne is probably trying to do is not argue for a complete acquittal of Bales, Conway said, but instead work to ratchet down the charges. A full acquittal would require that Browne convince a military jury that his client "was unable to perceive the wrongfulness of his or her acts," Conway explained. "That's a tough hurdle."

More likely, Bales' defense will argue that his client's acts "were not premeditated," Conway said. That could possibly expose him to lesser offenses, such as second-degree murder or even manslaughter.

Such mental health determinations "are very relevant" in terms of determining whether Bales faces the death penalty for his alleged acts, Conway said.

Click image to see more photos

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"Always positive": Neighbors, army colleagues describe Bales

As his legal preparations get under way, military colleagues and neighbors who knew Bales are still reeling from the shock that he is the suspect in the Afghanistan massacre.

Originally from the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, "Bobby" Bales, the youngest of five sons, was described by neighbors as a well-liked, popular and kind extrovert, a high-school football player who looked out for an autistic child up the street, the New York Times' James Dao reported Monday.

"Mr. Bales was a gregarious, chatty, engaged teenager who played football and threw himself into an array of clubs and activities, including theater," Dao wrote, citing Bales' Norwood High School principal David Griffel: "He's one of those kids you remember: a real extrovert."

Army colleagues in Washington state who served with him in Iraq similarly described a sunny Bales to reporters, using words like "solid," and offering up photos of him wearing a broad grin.

Bales was "a really good" soldier and "one of those guys who was always positive," Maj. Brent Clemmer told NPR's Martin Kaste on Sunday. Clemmer nominated Bales to receive a medal for valor for his conduct in the battle of Najaf in 2007, but he did not receive it, Kaste reported, noting that Bales did get awards for good conduct.

But there may have been signs that things became harder for Bales after his third Iraq tour, in which he suffered a brain concussion when his vehicle hit an IED. On that tour, he also lost part of a foot in another incident.

[Related: Hidden perils of traumatic brain injuries]

"I've talked to people who have done both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they say they'd pick Iraq any day of the week because Afghanistan is just so brutal," Bales' former platoon leader in Iraq, Capt. Chris Alexander, told NPR's Kaste.

Bales' attorney Browne previously said that Bales and his family were unhappy about his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, which he began in December.

The surprise combat tour came after a series of other setbacks and disappointments for Bales and his family related to his Army career over the past year.

In a blog that Bales' wife, Karilyn Bales, kept of family life, which the New York Times reported on, she wrote last year about their disappointment that Bales had not received a promotion to sergeant first class, which would have come with a pay increase of about $350 per month. But she tried to see the bright side, saying maybe it would free the family to relocate to a new military base where they could have adventures and more control over their lives (and fewer combat deployments). On her list of preferred destinations, the Times reported: Germany ("best adventure opportunity!"), Italy, Hawaii ("nuff said!) and Kentucky, near her husband's family in southern Ohio.

That was her last entry, in a blog called the Bales' Family Adventures, which has since been removed.

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A lawyer for the United States military to meet the suspect

U.s. Army Sgt. slaughter is suspected by flying in Afghanistan 16 Villagers to meet with the client, the formal charges against Kansas in the 10-year veteran as the controller during the day.

John Henry Browne said, he intends to Army Staff Sergeant Jacob Robert bales, which are isolated from the cell is the maximum security prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on Monday by the military to meet.

Against the bales, 38, is expected to be submitted within a period of one week, and if the case goes to trial will be held in the United States, the Court said the legal expert of the United States armed forces know the research.

The expert said the payments were still to be decided, and that none of the trial location has not yet been assigned. If the suspect is brought before the trial, it is possible that the victims in the United States in Afghanistan, witnesses and fly to participate, he said.

Military lawyers say the time of the alleged crime-is related to the service member is they believe has information about what has been involved in the original investigation, the lawyers and contributions collected, satisfaction with the draft and submit them to the Commander of the evidence. He or she shall submit to the Court whether or not there is probable cause to believe, then, that the offence was committed and that the accused has done it.

The Commander of the then "instead of" contributions to the convening authority, which is usually the Brigade to which the accused has been addressed, but could be higher than the level of the investment, the Commander.

Records and the interviews have revealed Bales than with friends and family will appreciate the man who won the military commendations. Yet he also have professional disappointment, financial difficulties and brushes.

Information about the interviews had circumvented the Bales, struggled to pay for his house and for his work in Washington State, the military means of eyed base months before he was accused of killing of the Afghan villages.

Although the Bales sat in the single cell, classmates and neighbours suburb Cincinnati, Ohio will be remembered for his ' Happy-Go-Lucky, and I recommend the "high school football player, a special needs child care and the troublemakers in the solution for a few moments.

But court records and interviews Show that the 10-year veteran, good use of the terms in the name of honour, after four trips to Iraq and Afghanistan-string had joined the army, where the Florida investment job went sour, was a Seattle-area home, struggled to pay the traffic to another condemned, and to get a promotion or transfer a year ago failed.

His kehiin are included in the charges, which he sinalakay girl friend and a hit and run accident, ran to the safety of toys is taken from the forests of the military of bleeding, the court records show. He told the police he fell asleep behind the wheel and pay the fine for rejected the charges, records show.

Military officials say that after the consumption of the southern Afghan-base, Bales off the Sleeping village, on the methods of analysis to Shooting his victims, and then many of them on fire. Nine killed, 16 were children and the 11 belonged to one family.

"This is some crazy stuff If it is true," Steve Berling, high school classmate said, the father of the two known as ' Bobby ' about his home town of Norwood, Ohio.

His former team, the Director said, Bales was inspired by the model of military attacks. September 2001 to serve, which saves the life of his second three firefights in Iraq deployments.

"He is one of the best friends, I have worked with," said army captain Chris Alexander, which led to the introduction of the Bales of 15 months in Iraq.

"He is not some psychopath. He has commitments from the military, which has given a lot of this country. "

But the press family issues had Hinted that the wife, Kari, is the number of blogs that are posted to the Bales Family Adventures and BabyBales. A year ago, he wrote that the Bales was a promotion or transfer of armed forces of hope is a common Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Washington nine years.

"We hope to see a lot of control over the future, as far as possible, ' Judy Bales wrote last March 25. "Who knows where we will end. I hope that we will not only be able to rent our cottages, so that we can keep. I believe that we are both still in shock. "

Then the Bales has lost out on promotion of the E7-Sgt. first-class family wanted to go to Germany, Italy or the Hawaii "adventure," he said. On the other hand, the army, his unit-the 2nd Infantry Division of the armoured Stryker vehicles, named after the 3rd Stryker Brigade-Afghanistan-.

Should the fourth tour of war-zone Bales '. He joined the military within two months after the 11. September attacks and spent more than three years in Iraq, one of the three separate assignments since 2003. His lawyer said he was injured twice in Iraq-the lost part of his foot, but his 20 or so is not included in the Purple Heart commendations, because the soldiers was wounded.

Alexander said, Bales had not suffered injury, even though he oversaw the introduction of the "Bales" for him during the second in Iraq. He called Bales ' very solid ' non-aliupseerin officer who has more difficulties than his interaction with the stress of soldiers in the battlefield. Bales shot at his vehicle in Mosul, the team has the objective of Iraq, sending more than a Sinko by flying the vehicle in the event of a grenade.

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Counsel: Friend of the Afghan suspect had his legs blown off - Newsday

Date of publication: 16 March 2012 5: 38 AM
By the ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo credit: AP. John Henry Browne, the lawyer representing the U.S. soldier who is accused of having killed 16 Afghan civilians, spoke to journalists in Seattle. (March 15, 2012)

SEATTLE - U.S. soldier accused of Afghan villagers slaughter 16 last weekend saw the legs of his friend away on the eve of the rampage, his lawyer said Thursday.

Attorney of Seattle John Henry Browne told the Associated Press that family of his client provides the details of the injury of another U.S. soldier. The details have not been verified independently.

"His leg was won, and my client was standing next to him," said.

Browne, said that the incident has affected all the soldiers at the base. It is not clear whether the incident would have could help prompt the horrific middle-of-the-night attack on civilians in two villages Sunday.

The suspect had been wounded twice in his three previous deployments to the Iraq, and he was not prepared to go to the Afghanistan, said Browne.

Browne declined to release the name of his client, citing concerns for the family of the man, who is under the protection of Joint Base of Lewis-McChord near Tacoma. But he said that the soldier had two young children, aged 3 and 4.

The 38-year-old soldier father of two who is originally from the Midwest, deployed last December with the 3rd Brigade of Stryker and February 1 has been attached to a "stability village operation." Browne described as highly decorated and said once, he had been appointed to a Bronze Star, which he has not received.

But he said that the soldier and his family thought he was fighting. At tours in Iraq, the soldier suffered head trauma concussion in a car accident caused by a bomb, Browne said, and he suffered an injury in the battle which resulted in surgery to remove part of his foot.

It was screened by health officials after the prior head injury he redeployed, said Browne. He did not know whether his client had been achieved of post traumatic stress disorder, but said that it could be in the trial, if the experts believe that it is relevant.

He and the rest of his brigade had initially said that they would not have to go to Afghanistan, said Browne.

Browne and his co-counsel, Emma Scanlan, said they had met with the wife of soldier and other members of the family and Browne said that he spoke briefly by telephone with the soldier, that he described as stunned and distant.

His family was "completely surprised", he said. "He has never said anything antagonists on Muslims." It is usually very light-maniéré. ?

Browne said that he knew little of the facts of the shooting, but dispute reports that a combination of alcohol, stress and domestic problems caused him to snap. He said that the family said that they were not aware of any problem with alcohol and describes the marriage of the couple as "fabulous".

The soldier is accused 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.

The soldier requested to be represented by Browne, a well known Seattle defence counsel, when he was placed in detention, said the lawyer.

Browne said that he is spoken to the soldier, but did not consider the merits of the allegations. He said that the soldier had no previous events in his record of the army indicating bad conduct.

Browne has defended once serial killer Ted Bundy and recently represented Colton Harris-Moore, a young thief nicknamed the "barefoot Bandit".

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, which generally is the Commander of the brigade to which the accused is assigned, but may be of a higher rank.

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Lawyer: Afghanistan suspect was loath to deploy - CBS News

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Updated 11:09 PM ET

(CBS/AP) SEATTLE - The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers last weekend had been reluctant to leave on his fourth deployment and had been staying in a camp where someone was severely wounded the day before the shooting, a Seattle lawyer said Thursday.

"We have been informed that at this small base that he was at, somebody was gravely injured the day before the alleged incident -- gravely injured, and that affected all of the soldiers," said the lawyer, John Henry Browne.

Browne declined to release his client's name, citing concerns for the soldier's family, which is under protection on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma. But he did say that the soldier had previously been injured twice, and he and his family thought he was done fighting.

"He wasn't thrilled about going on another deployment," Browne said. "He was told he wasn't going back, and then he was told he was going."

He told reporters that he's met with the wife and other family members of the 38-year-old staff sergeant.

"They were totally shocked," he said. "He's never said anything antagonistic about Muslims. He's in general very mild-mannered."

Browne said he knew little of the facts of the shooting, but disputed reports that a combination of alcohol, stress and domestic issues caused him to snap. He said the family said they were unaware of any drinking problem, and described the couple's marriage as "fabulous."

Earlier, CBS News had confirmed that Browne, whose clients have included serial killer Ted Bundy and "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris Moore, was employed by the suspect's family to serve as an attorney for the suspect.

The attorney has spoken with the suspect and his current military attorneys by telephone, CBS News has learned. The suspect may be moved to the U.S. from Kuwait, though no decision has been made. If that is not possible, then Browne will travel to Kuwait as early as next week.

The suspect requested Browne by name; It was unclear whether he was familiar with Browne from television coverage of the "Barefoot Bandit" case or elsewhere. The suspect in not from Washington state.

The soldier deployed in December. A congressional source, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, told The Associated Press that he was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team before being assigned to a village stability operation near the villages where the attack took place.

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A U.S. military official said on Wednesday that the soldier has been flown out of Afghanistan to Kuwait. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that Defense Department spokesman Capt. John Kirby said the suspect was moved because "we do not have an appropriate detention facility in Afghanistan" and that the move was made on the legal recommendation of the command's lawyer.

The suspect's removal Wednesday came hours after surveillance video was released showing him walking up to his base, laying down his weapon and raising his arms in surrender, according to an Afghan official who viewed the footage.

The official said Wednesday there were also two to three hours of video footage covering the time of the attack that Afghan investigators are trying to get from the U.S. military. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

U.S. authorities showed their Afghan counterparts the video of the surrender to prove that only one perpetrator was involved in Sunday's shootings, the official said. The shootings, which killed nine children among the 16 dead, has further strained already shaky relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan.

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