Death penalty sought in Iraqi slayings

**FILE PHOTO** In this July 3, 2006 photo provided by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Steven D. Green is shown. An Iraqi army medic described for a U.S. military hearing Sunday, Aug. 6, 2006 the horrific scene that confronted him when he found the naked and burned body of a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by American soldiers south of Baghdad. Green was arrested in North Carolina in June on rape and murder charges in the case. (AP Photo/Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, File)

3 July 2007

By BRETT BARROUQUERE

Fall in Iraqi civilian deaths Video

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -Federal prosecutors filed notice Tuesday that they will seek the death penalty if former soldier Steven D. Green is convicted of killing an Iraqi family and raping a 14-year-old girl.

The notice, filed in U.S. District Court, cites 12 alleged offenses related to the slayings, including that the deaths were premeditated, involved sexual abuse and were committed with a firearm.

Green, a former 101st Airborne Division soldier, was indicted Nov. 1 in the rape and murder of the girl and the slayings of three others in her family in March 2006.

Patrick Bouldin, the assistant federal public defender representing Green, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Green was charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual abuse, murder, aggravated sexual abuse, aggravated child sexual abuse, obstruction of justice and four counts of use of a firearm in a crime of violence.

Green served 11 months with the 101st Airborne Division. He received an honorable discharge and left the Army in May 2006. He was discharged because of an "anti-social personality disorder," according to military officials and court documents. He is being tried in civilian court because he was discharged before he was charged. No trial date has been set.

Three soldiers already have been convicted in military court for their roles in the attack in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. A court-martial for a fourth soldier is scheduled July 30.

The rape of the Iraqi girl and the slayings of her and three family members were among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

Investigators said the soldiers set fire to the girl's body to destroy evidence.