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US Soldier Steven Green Spared Death Penalty for Iraq Rape-Murder

by Jarrett Martineau | May 21, 2009 at 03:10 pm

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Steven Green, the former US soldier convicted of orchestrating the gang rape of Abeer Qassim Hamza, a 14 year old girl, and the brutal murder of her and her entire family in Iraq in 2006, will not face the death penalty in Kentucky.

Green will instead be sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

Had Green been sentenced to execution he would have been the first American soldier ever tried for war crimes in a civilian court to receive the sentence.

Green is the first ex-soldier to be prosecuted in the U.S. for crimes committed overseas.

The 24-year-old man is now officially a convicted war criminal.

His sentence is expected to be formally announced in September.

Steven Green, 24, will now be sentenced to life in prison, after jurors in the state of Kentucky could not agree unanimously on his punishment.

A judge is expected to formally sentence Green in September.

In May, the jury found Green guilty of the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her and her family near Baghdad in 2006.

Four other soldiers are serving sentences of between five and 110 years for their roles in the 2006 incident.

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Amy Judd

at 15:11 on May 21st, 2009

Sorry, but he should have got the death penalty in my opinion - there's no excuse for what he did.

Pythiian1

at 15:56 on May 21st, 2009

I'm certain that this decision will anger many Iraqis and others as it is a truly tragic event.

The verdict spared the former soldier, Steven D. Green, capital punishment for a crime that spurred demands for retribution from Iraqis and raised questions about Army oversight of its most combat-stressed forces.

After deliberating for just one day, the 12-member jury sitting in Paducah, Ky., declared itself hung late Thursday afternoon, resulting in the lesser sentence, said Dawn Masden, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, based in Louisville.

The defense argued that the Army should have provided stronger leadership to Private Green’s unit, and should have removed Private Green from front-line duty for more intensive mental health care.

But the prosecution strenuously rejected that argument, saying that many combat troops face the same kinds of trauma and stress as Private Green and his platoon, but that few commit atrocities.

Jarrett Martineau

at 16:00 on May 21st, 2009

Thanks for the update. The verdict will surely anger many who believe that Green's life should not be spared after perpetrating such horrific acts of violence.

It's hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to forgive him for these atrocities.

Diana Jorgensen (not verified)

at 16:28 on May 21st, 2009

War is disgusting, and it makes monsters out of regular folks. Most of us wouldn't admit we are capable of such atrocities, but I think that the scary thing is-- we are. America absolutely did fail its soldiers-- by having them be there in the midst of guerilla war in the first place. Of course the trauma of war had something to do with this!

That being said, as the prosecution pointed out-- not every soldier subjected to the trauma of war chooses to commit such atrocities. It's tragic for everyone-- most especially for the relatives of this family who was killed. I keep thinking of that 6-year-old sister-- but of course the parents would have known why their other daughter was kept in the other room. This soldier, no matter how broken, deserves the death penalty. I think he should have been tried in Iraq. It's terrible to ponder, but so is what he did. This man can only even attempt to redeem his actions through death-- his "life" in prison doesn't offer him any chance of paying for his crimes. He'll be miserable until he dies. Perhaps this is just punishment after all then.

Kids need to think a bit harder before they join our oppressive US empire building. Since the army continues to expand US policy across the globe, recruits should at least be regularly tested for their state of mental health.

Jarrett Martineau

at 16:32 on May 21st, 2009

Thanks for your insightful and valuable comment, Diana. Much appreciated.

Donnie Anderson (not verified)

at 10:13 on May 22nd, 2009

Good, in my oppion the death peanilty is the easy way out, let him sit in a cell, thinking about what he did and feeling the guilt of doing it.

Mrs Smith (not verified)

at 10:45 on May 22nd, 2009

In my opinion ,they should of never been there in the first place.illegal war.At the same time.He should have been turned over to Iraq for trial because of atocities committed.This will further enrage the middle east.The United States government continues to downgrade what these types of crimes are doing not only to United States but to the world .I always had the opinion that United States were mostly good people.I am at this point so angry for what is happening wordwide concerning all of this.please go to cdf1.ca.........soon this story will be wordwide too.spread the word.

PEACE2ALL (not verified)

at 13:14 on May 22nd, 2009

Absolutely disgusting & none of them should EVER get out ! How can they justify him not getting the DP? If it was an american family the decision would have been completely the opposite... I am with the ppl of Iraq on this one.

muzamil (not verified)

at 03:30 on May 31st, 2009

there should b sm1 who brings GREEN's head in muslim world at any cost I repeat at any cost American's should'nt deal muslim world according to their laws Muslim world has entirly different in culture with them.