Witness: Iraqi Teens Posed No Threat Before Death

Barbera, 31, was a staff sergeant when fellow soldiers say he shot and killed the teenage brothers in Diyala Province. The Army charged Barbera last fall with two counts of premeditated murder, which carry a mandatory life sentence. Barbera's attorney, David Coombs, called the allegations baseless and highlighted the lingering questions about why it has taken so long to bring the case to court. Coombs alleged that the newspaper's "hit piece," which won an investigative reporting award, and congressional pressure had improperly influenced the Army's decision to file charges. Barbera's fellow soldiers didn't begin to come forward to report concerns about the shooting until 2009, and a criminal investigation was conducted then. Coombs, who represented Chelsea Manning, the Army private convicted of leaking a massive trove of information to Wikileaks, argued in his opening statement that even though the soldiers' rules of engagement required them to report violations, it was two years before any raised concerns. Prine was called as a witness Wednesday to testify about an allegation that Barbera threatened his wife in 2011, saying words to the effect of: "For your own personal safety, you need to tell your husband to back off the story," Hillner said Wednesday. The first witness to testify Wednesday, former Army medic Andrew Harriman, fired the shot that killed the cousin and said it appeared the man had been reaching for a weapon.

Topics:  diyala   province   the army   david coombs   chelsea manning   wikileaks   prine   hillner   andrew harriman   barbera   army   the   coombs   witness   threat   wednesday   soldiers   called   killed   shot   testify   fellow   report   concerns   
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