FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army soldier has been cleared of killing an unarmed Iraqi he said he shot to save a fellow soldier. Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, 32, was acquitted Thursday by a jury of four soldiers and two officers. He had faced a maximum of life in prison without parole for the premeditated murder charge.
Defense attorney David Sheldon said the jurors, who deliberated less than three hours, apparently considered evidence that Werst had to make a split-second decision during a nighttime raid in a dangerous environment.
"Soldiers have to be able to know that they're not being second-guessed in the battlefield and in close-quarters combat," Sheldon said.
Before the jury announced the verdict, the judge found Werst innocent of obstruction of justice, so the jury's verdict on that charge was not revealed. Col. Theodore Dixon said he decided to rule on that charge.
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20050527/ap_on_re_us/soldier_murder_trial
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