Defense attorney Michael Waddington asked Lt. Col. Raul Gonzalez to dismiss a murder charge against Spc. Christopher P. Shore, 25, of Winder, Ga., saying there wasn't enough evidence to convict.

Waddington said Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, 34, on June 23 fired bullets into the Iraqi and then ordered Shore to finish him off. The man died a few days later.

Gonzalez has been hearing evidence to decide whether Shore should be court-martialed for the killing. A similar hearing on a murder charge against Corrales is set to begin Monday.

In his opening statement, Waddington described Corrales as an unpredictable soldier prone to dramatic mood swings who had threatened to harm the men in his platoon in the past. The attorney said Corrales ruled over his men using fear and intimidation.

The defense planned to call Corrales to testify, but he invoked his right not to incriminate himself.

"The man wasn't shot at close-range, there's no evidence of that. The man was clearly shot, as we'll be able to prove later on today, the man was shot standing up, walking backward at a distance," Waddington told reporters during a lunch break.

Prosecutors did not make an opening statement, but called another soldier who was at the scene, a medic and a medical examiner to testify.

Platoon member Spc. Franklin Eugene Hambrick testified that after the Iraqi man had been detained, Corrales told him to run.

The detainee, looking confused, walked backward, Hambrick said.

Hambrick said he then saw Corrales raise his weapon at the man, but the soldier said he turned and went inside a house because he didn't want to be involved in the shooting of an unarmed man.

"I was afraid of what was happening," Hambrick said.

Hambrick said as he went inside, he heard several shots.

The soldier said he later found an AK-47 that appeared to have been planted to look as if the detainee had had a weapon. Hambrick said he didn't know who put it there.

Shore has been charged with the premeditated murder while his platoon pursued men they believed were planting roadside bombs near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Both Shore and Corrales, of San Antonio, have denied the charges.

The two accused soldiers recently returned to Hawaii after spending more than a year in Iraq. Their unit, the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, is based at Schofield Barracks.

The hearings are similar to grand jury hearings in civilian courts in that they will determine whether the case goes to trial. But they are different in that the defense may cross-examine witnesses and present evidence against the government's case, and the proceedings are open to the media.

The 25th Infantry Division's commanding general, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, will examine recommendations compiled by the hearing's investigative officer to decide whether there's enough evidence for a trial.