AP: Texas

05/23/2005

By ANGELA K. BROWN  / Associated Press

A month after he backed out of a plea deal, an Army soldier faces trial on a charge alleging he killed an unarmed suspected Iraqi insurgent in retaliation for a deadly attack on a U.S. base.

Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, 32, faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder and obstruction of justice.

Before the military trial starts Monday, the judge was to decide whether to allow testimony about one of Werst's superiors allegedly giving an illegal order for troops to hunt down a list of suspected insurgents and kill them. Prosecutors have said part of their case involves that issue.

But Werst's attorneys said Capt. Matthew Cunningham would testify that he never gave those orders, showing there was no premeditation when Naser Ismail was killed in January 2004.

Another soldier told Army investigators that Werst punched and shot Ismail, then planted a handgun on him to make the shooting appear as self-defense, according to previous court testimony.

During a pretrial hearing in Werst's case last week, the judge, Col. Theodore Dixon, denied a defense request for immunity for Cunningham, expected to be charged with offenses related to ordering soldiers to kill Iraqis during raids after a mortar attack in Balad killed Army Capt. Eric Paliwoda.

Because Cunningham faces charges, he would not testify in Werst's case without immunity.

However, the judge questioned the relevance of evidence about alleged orders and asked defense attorneys and prosecutors to submit paperwork on the issue. Dixon said he would rule before the trial whether the issue was admissible.

Werst, of El Toro, Calif., was a combat engineer in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colo., part of the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division.