Jurors can't reach decision, ex-soldier's gets life without parole

A federal jury today was unable to decide whether former Pvt. Steven Dale Green should live or die for killing an Iraqi family in March 2006, meaning that by law he will receive the lesser sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdict of nine women and three men came after a four-week trial and nearly 11 hours of deliberations. Chief Judge Thomas Russell will sentence Green on Sept. 4.

Green broke into a slight smile when the verdict was announced.

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Green, 24, originally of Midland, Texas, was convicted of 12 counts of capital murder in the deaths of Abeer Al-Janabi, 14, her 6-year-old sister, Hadeel, and their parents, Kassem and Fakhriya.

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In emotional closing arguments yesterday, Justice Department attorney Brian Skaret asked the jury to take Green’s life for the murders, which occurred in March 2006 in the family’s home 20 miles south of Baghdad. One of Green’s lawyers, Scott Wendelsdorf, pleaded, “For God’s sake, spare him.” Wendelsforf said the Army failed to properly treat Green for stress after it said he suffered an emotional breakdown while serving in the most dangerous area of Iraq in a platoon that suffered that most casualties of any in the war. Skaret called Green’s crimes — which included raping Abeer and shooting her in the head — “unthinkable and outrageous” and asked a jury to “finish what he started” by putting him to death.
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The jury had to wade through 250 pages of jury instructions that included 10 aggravating factors supporting the death penalty and 39 mitigating factors. Three of Green’s co-conspirators — Specs. Paul Cortez and James Parker and Pvt. Jesse Spielman — already had been court-martialed and sentenced to long prison terms, although they are eligible for parole in 10 years after starting their sentences.