Trial begins for soldier accused of Iraqi insurgent's death

Sgt. Leonard Trevino, right, and his wife, Veronica Trevino, walk out of a court building at Fort Hood, Texas, Monday, April, 28, 2008. Jury selection began Monday in a court-martial for an Army sergeant accused of killing a severely wounded, crying and unarmed Iraqi insurgent last summer. Sgt. Leonardo Trevino, of San Antonio, faces up to life in a military prison and a discharge if convicted on premeditated murder and other charges in connection with events one night in June in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

FORT HOOD, Texas—An Army sergeant killed a severely wounded and unarmed Iraqi insurgent after ordering a medic to suffocate him and then tried to cover up the crime, a military prosecutor said as the soldier's court-martial began Monday.

But Sgt. Leonardo Trevino's attorney Richard V. Stevens said soldiers' accounts of that June night in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, are inconsistent and contradict evidence from photos of the insurgent's body. Stevens said the insurgent still posed a threat, even though he was wounded.

Trevino, of San Antonio, faces up to life in a military prison and a discharge if convicted on premeditated murder and other charges in connection with the death.

Trevino is accused of shooting the Iraqi twice: in the abdomen, a nonfatal wound, and then in the head, fatally, after ordering an Army medic to suffocate him. Trevino also is accused of lying to his superior, telling a soldier to drop a gun by the Iraqi's body and instructing troops to say the man was armed.

The name of the Iraqi was never known, prosecutors said.

"Sergeant Trevino's actions in that room, in that village were wholly within the rules of engagement," Stevens said during opening statements after the seven-member jury was seated.

Prosecutors were to begin presenting evidence Tuesday.

Maj. Jacob Wolf, a military prosecutor, said Trevino and some soldiers had engaged in a gun battle with insurgents, then followed a blood trail that led to a man with about two dozen bullet wounds and a broken arm. Soldiers have said Trevino fatally shot the man after other attempts failed, Wolf said.

Stevens said other soldiers who witnessed the incident didn't come forward until two months later after Trevino had disciplined them for various infractions, including kicking two soldiers out of his section.

Trevino's trial is expected to last a week.

In two separate military trials last month, Trevino's two co-defendants were acquitted on charges stemming from the incident.