As Iraq rape trial begins, attorneys attack law

PADUCAH, Ky. -  The first former Army soldier to be charged as a civilian under a 2000 law that allows him to be prosecuted for alleged crimes committed overseas faces a trial of his peers – in a federal courtroom in Kentucky.

Steven Dale Green, a former member of the 101st Airborne Division, was accused along with four fellow soldiers of raping a 14-year-old girl and killing her and her family in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, but he won’t face an Iraqi or military jury.

Instead, Green will face jurors in Paducah, more than 6,700 miles away under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. Jury selection started Monday morning.

Congress passed the law in 2000 to allow U.S. authorities to prosecute former military personnel for crimes committed overseas. The law specifically cites a “jurisdictional gap” that leaves perpetrators unpunished for crimes by Americans occurring in countries that won’t prosecute them or that the United States is unable to investigate or prosecute. It also covers civilians, their spouses and military contractors.

The use of the law against Green, who faces 17 charges including murder and sexual assault, has drawn fire from his attorneys as well as the attorney for a former Marine who was tried under the law.

They argue the law wasn’t intended for defendants like Green, who left the Army before his co-defendants faced courts-martial.

“The law wasn’t designed to do what it’s doing to Green,” said Darren Wolff, a former military attorney who represents Green.