A military panel found a 101st Airborne soldier guilty of three counts of negligent homicide but not guilty of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees.
Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard, 24, smiled as he hugged his defense lawyer and family members after the verdict was read. He faced up to life in prison had he been found guilty of premeditated murder.
The panel, which deliberated for four hours, also found Girouard guilty of obstruction of justice for lying to investigators, of conspiracy for trying to conceal the crime and of failure to obey a general order.
Girouard could be sentenced to a maximum of 21 years in prison, said his lawyer, Anita Gorecki. He could get a maximum of three years for each negligent homicide charge, five years for the conspiracy charge, five years for obstruction of justice and two years for failure to obey a general order. The sentencing portion of the trial begins Monday.
http://www.monroe.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=news.view.subscriber&newsid=138618I've been following this case a little bit, as it is hometown news for me, and Ray Girouard's family comes into my restaurant to eat.
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