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Insanity plea possible in murder, rape case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former Army soldier charged with murder and rape in Iraq may rely on an insanity defense when the case goes to trial next year.

The attorneys for Steven D. Green said in two motions filed Thursday that they may raise the issue both at trial and sentencing if Green is convicted of attacking and killing an Iraqi teen and her family.

Green is scheduled to go to trial on April 27, 2009. Green, 22, of Midland, Texas, faces a possible death sentence if convicted on 16 charges that include premeditated murder and aggravated sexual assault.

Thursday was the deadline for Green’s lawyers to file their motions if they want to keep open the option of an insanity defense.

Prosecutors say Green raped, killed and set afire the body of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and shot and killed her father, mother and sister in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles from Baghdad, in March 2006. He pleaded not guilty in November 2006.

Green was deployed in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. The unit is based at Fort Campbell, an Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border about 185 miles southwest of Louisville.

Green is being prosecuted in federal court because he was discharged from the military for having an anti-social personality disorder before being indicted.

Five pages of documents filed by Green’s attorneys in U.S. District Court in Paducah, Ky., do not give details, but serve as notice of intent to possibly raise an insanity defense and introduce expert testimony at the trial and sentencing.

The Associated Press reported in January 2007 that Green was found to have “homicidal ideations” after seeking help from an Army Combat Stress Team in Iraq on Dec. 21, 2005.

The AP reported that Army doctors prescribed Green a drug to regulate his mood and directed him to get some sleep. A day after the medication prescription, Green was returned to duty in a particularly violent stretch of desert in the southern Baghdad suburbs known as the “Triangle of Death.”

Patrick Bouldin, the federal public defender representing Green, declined to comment on the filings Thursday.

A telephone message seeking comment was left Thursday with the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va., which maintains records related to Green’s service.

Army officials declined to comment specifically on the filings.

“This is a matter being reviewed by civilian authorities under civilian jurisdiction and will ultimately work itself out in a court of law,” Army spokesman Paul Boyce said.

Telephone and e-mail messages left with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. were not immediately returned.

“Because this is an active case in the federal court system, I am unable to comment at this time,” said Cathy Gramling, spokeswoman for Fort Campbell, where Green last served.

Four other soldiers pleaded guilty or were convicted for their roles in the crime for which Green faces charges.

Pfc. Jesse Spielman, the only soldier to contest the charges in military court, received a 110-year sentence, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. Spc. James Barker, Sgt. Paul Cortez and Pfc. Bryan Howard all cooperated with military prosecutors.

Barker received a 90-year sentence. Cortez was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Howard received five years in prison.