Judge to review all rulings in Kuwait grenade attack case

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A judge agreed yesterday to reconsider all previous rulings on motions made in the case of a paratrooper charged in a deadly grenade attack on his own troops in Kuwait.

Attorneys for Sergeant Hasan Akbar have said there were no witnesses to the March 2003 attack, and that Akbar was accused because he is Muslim.

Prosecutors objected to reviewing all of the rulings, but a new judge hearing the case, Colonel Stephen Henley, agreed to reconsider 42 motions previously ruled on by another judge, who has been transferred to duty in Korea.

The first judge, Colonel Patrick Parrish, refused defense requests to move the trial, to eliminate the death penalty as a possible punishment, and to sequester the military jury when the trial begins.

Akbar, 32, is charged with carrying out one of the deadliest attacks ever by a US soldier against his own officers. Killed were Army Captain Christopher Seifert, 27, and Air Force Major Gregory Stone, 40. The grenade attack also wounded 14 members of the 101st Airborne Division.

The case marks the first time since the Vietnam War that an Army soldier has been prosecuted for the murder or attempted murder of a soldier during wartime.

The defense attorney, Captain David Coombs, argued that a major who questioned Akbar after the attack did not inform him of his right to be silent. Coombs said the statements should be tossed.

Henley said he would take the arguments for reconsideration under advisement and issue a ruling later.

Last week, a civilian defense lawyer said attorneys also plan to ask to delay Akbar's trial because a psychiatrist does not have time to analyze an Army examination of Akbar.

Akbar, who is scheduled for trial Oct. 25, faces the death penalty if convicted on two counts of premeditated murder. He also is charged with three counts of attempted murder.