September 9, 2005 - 12:08 a.m. CDT
Soldier acquitted in detainee's beating
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer
FORT BLISS, Texas — For the second time in two days, an Army reservist has been acquitted of charges that he beat an Afghan detainee who later died and then lied about it.
A military jury took about three hours to clear Sgt. Darin Broady, 26, of Jeffersonville, Ind., of charges of aggravated assault, maltreatment and making a false official statement.
Relatives and friends crowded into the small Fort Bliss courtroom clapped, sighed aloud and cried as the verdict was read.
Lt. Col. Mark Sposato ordered that they remain silent or he would clear all the spectators from the courtroom.
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Greatorex and Broady each said they have no hard feelings against Patterson, the only eyewitness in either of their cases.
"I still respect her," Broady said.
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http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/gen/ap/TX_Afghanistan_Prisoner_Abuse.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Earlier story on evidence given at trial:
MP officer says she saw sergeant kick prisoner
FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) - A military police officer testified Tuesday she saw a fellow sergeant kick a chained detainee in the knees days before the prisoner died in U.S. custody in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Keri Patterson told the military court that Sgt. Christopher W. Greatorex and another officer took turns hitting the detainee, known as Habibullah, as he stood in an isolation cell with his hands chained to the ceiling at Bagram Airfield.
Greatorex, a reservist with the 377th Military Police Company in Ohio, is charged with abusing Habibullah and then lying about it. Habibullah died days later, in December 2002.
According to a 2004 military report, Habibullah died of a pulmonary embolism apparently caused by blood clots formed in his legs from beatings.
Patterson said she was working at the isolation unit when she watched Greatorex and Sgt. Darin Broady. She said Broady also gave Habibullah "a kind of kung-fu kick" to the abdomen as the man shouted "Allah" several times. A third officer was also present, she said, but she could not recall his name.
Patterson acknowledged that she should have reported the incident, but instead wrote in a log only that the prisoner had been reprimanded.
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2005/09/06/1204578-ap.html