Sgt. still in Army after Iraq murder acquittal

[unhappycamper]

Sgt. still in Army after Iraq murder acquittal
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Dec 9, 2008 15:12:50 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A New York National Guard soldier may be released from duty in North Carolina now that he’s been acquitted of murder in the deaths of two superior officers in Iraq.

Fort Bragg officials said in a statement Tuesday that Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez may be released from active Army duty and returned to his National Guard unit in the 42nd Infantry Division. He was assigned to a unit at Fort Bragg during the trial.

The 41-year-old Martinez of Troy, N.Y., was acquitted Thursday by a military jury in the June 2005 deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito of New York and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of Pennsylvania. Both men were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated near their room at a U.S. military base in Iraq.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers declined comment Tuesday, and Fort Bragg officials wouldn’t say what Martinez was doing or where he was living.


Article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_martinez_120908/%2e