Posted on: Thursday, August 5, 2004

Schofield soldier's statement allowed

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

A statement made by a Schofield soldier charged with murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian that he knew the man was handcuffed when he shot him is admissible, a military judge in Iraq said Tuesday.

Judge Lt. Col. Robin Hall ruled on several motions Tuesday at the court-martial of Pfc. Edward L. Richmond Jr. Richmond is charged with fatally shooting a handcuffed, unarmed Iraqi civilian Feb. 28 while on patrol about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk. He's charged with unpremeditated murder, and a conviction means a mandatory term of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Richmond, 20, a native of Gonzales, La., is assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, at Schofield Barracks.

Hall denied a defense motion to suppress the statement Richmond made after a polygraph examination. In the statement, Richmond said he saw that the Iraqi's hands were in flexicuffs before he shot him in the head, the Army said.

Hall also squashed a government motion that rules of engagement were changed to allow the shooting of any male who fled the village. The government theory is that Richmond has never claimed that he shot the Iraqi because he was trying to flee, but because he thought he was a threat to Richmond's partner, Sgt. Jeffrey Waruch, making the rules of engagement evidence irrelevant, the Army said.

In addition to that evidence, Hall ruled that the defense may question Waruch about a "bad shoot" that took place 10 days before the Richmond incident. No charges were filed in that case, the Army said.

Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.