The American soldier charged with murdering 16 Afghan civilians a year ago near Kandahar province pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, entered the plea inside of a
military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington
state early Wednesday, the Associated Press reported from the
site.
According to the AP, a military judge will hear Bales’ firsthand
account of what happened during the March 2012 outburst before
deciding if the plea will be accepted by the court.
One of the attorney representing Bales, John Henry Browne, told
the AP that he expects his client will admit to “very specific
facts.”
Bales was brought into custody last year after opening fire on
civilians residing within two tiny villages in southern
Afghanistan. He slipped away from his post at Camp Belambay in
Kandahar on the early morning of March 11 equipped with a 9 mm
pistol and an M-4 rifle outfitted with a grenade launcher, then
went on a rampage in the village of Alkozai. He returned after to
his camp covered in blood, told at another soldier about the
attack and then left to kill again, that time attacking civilians
in the village of Najiban.
Bales, an Ohio native and father of two, was charged with 16
counts of premeditated murder – one for each life he took.
In an email to USA TODAY this week, defense attorney Emma Scanlan
wrote that Bales “is ready to accept responsibility for what
he has done.” Browne previously told reports that Bales would
offer the plea in hopes of avoiding the death penalty. He
apparently prepared a 50-page deal that a military judge will
have to review before that determination is made.
The AP wrote Wednesday afternoon that Bales pleaded guilty to all
16 counts, but came short of doing such for another charge lobbed
against him: impeding an investigation. If the judge accepts his
plea, a jury will likely decide later this summer the fate for
the soldier – life, or life without the possibility of parole.
According to an AP reporter at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Col.
Jeffrey Nance went over a stipulation of facts signed by Bales,
then asked the soldier to confirm whether he understood the four
elements that apply to each of the 16 charges.
A press release issued by the Army stated that certain conditions
would have to apply for Bales to be subjected to the death
penalty, an option unlikely even if his plea is rejected and he’s
convicted of stricter crimes.
“For capital punishment to be imposed, the court-martial
members must unanimously find: the service member is guilty of
the eligible crime; at least one aggravating factor exists; and
that the aggravating factor must substantially outweigh any
extenuating or mitigating circumstances found by the
court-martial members,” the statement read.
“Obviously, avoiding the death penalty is our number one goal.
We’ve accomplished that, assuming the judge accepts the plea, and
we believe he will,” Browne told the AP earlier this week.
No members of the US military have been executed as a result of a
conviction since 1961, although five currently face that
possibility.
Bales was serving his fourth combat deployment with the
atrocities occurred last year, and his lawyer told the court
previously that he had been drinking alcohol and snorting Valium
on the night of the killings. Bales is reported to suffer from
post-traumatic stress disorder, and was facing foreclosure on his
home shortly before the time of the incident. Browne described
the soldier as “crazed” and “broken” last week, but
stopped short of labeling him legally insane.
This article originally appeared on: RT