Attorney: Charged soldiers were good Samaritans

[unhappycamper]

Attorney: Charged soldiers were good Samaritans
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 26, 2009 5:56:54 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The soldiers charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a colleague were simply trying to help him get home after a night at the bar, defense attorneys said.

One attorney, Capt. Paul Shea, speaking in the investigative hearing Saturday deemed the five soldiers “good Samaritans” for making sure Pfc. Luke Brown wasn’t left behind on the night in July, The Fayetteville Observer reported.

Prosecutors contend that seven soldiers are responsible for Brown’s death because he died either from being choked or from the way he was placed face down in the back of a vehicle on the way home.

“They acted together to restrain him, to punch him, tie him, choke him, hold him, kick him,” said Capt. Paul Dubbeling, one of the prosecutors, in his closing argument. “Are they keeping a soldier safe?”

A prosecution witness testified Friday that he saw the soldiers assault Brown in a patch of woods after the group left a Fayetteville early July 20. He said the soldiers were choking and punching Brown an effort to get him to pass out so they could move him. He said they also bound him with a zip tie when he began to wake up.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_bragg_soldiers_012609/%2e