WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD — A court-martial panel yesterday found a Schofield Barracks soldier not guilty of murder and other charges in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year.

Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the panel read the verdict.

The jury of nine soldiers acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after more than seven hours of deliberation.

Corrales would have faced a minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted.

Corrales said it was like a 200-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I felt confident. I know this is going to sound weird but I wasn't surprised," he said. "But it was just a long time coming."

Corrales' wife, Lily, told their daughter Victoria, 7, "Your daddy's free! He's OK" moments after the verdict was read.

The sergeant held his 10-year-old son, Trey II, in a long embrace.

Corrales, 35, of San Antonio, admitted to shooting the man after his platoon burst into a house in the village of Al Saheed near Kirkuk last June. The platoon was looking for insurgents they suspected of firing at U.S. helicopters and planting roadside bombs.

But Corrales argued the killing fell within the rules of engagement governing the use of deadly force. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

The prosecution argued that the Army platoon sergeant deliberately shot and killed the man after he was subdued and securely in the custody of U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors said Corrales told the man to run and then shot him.

But Frank Spinner, Corrales' defense lawyer, cast doubt on the credibility of the prosecution witnesses and said the government failed to prove the bullets from Corrales' M4 killed the man.

"There are pieces of the puzzle that are missing," Spinner said during his closing argument. He said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Spinner said Corrales fired his weapon because he reasonably believed the man posed a threat to the platoon.

"This was a dynamic environment, an intense mission and he believed he was acting to protect his men," Spinner said.

OTHER OPTIONS FOR JURY

The incident came about 11 months into a 15-month deployment for Corrales' 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks.

Although Corrales was charged with premeditated murder, military Judge Col. Donna Wright instructed the jury that the range of offenses Corrales could be judged on were premeditated murder, unpremeditated murder or aggravated assault, an official said.

Additionally, Corrales was judged on charges of wrongfully soliciting another soldier to murder an unarmed wounded Iraqi who previously had been shot by Corrales; and wrongfully impeding an investigation by causing an AK-47 rifle to be placed near the victim after he had been shot.

A second defendant in the shooting, Pvt. Christopher Shore, 26, was tried on a charge of third-degree murder — equivalent to a civilian manslaughter charge — but was found guilty in February of aggravated assault and sentenced to 120 days' confinement.

Shore, of Winder, Ga., also was given a reprimand and reduction in rank.

SCARE TACTIC

Schofield soldiers had raided a house in the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk on June 23 after U.S. forces saw insurgents planting a roadside bomb and then enter the house.

The house was secured and no weapons were found. Fellow soldiers in Corrales' platoon testified that Corrales said he was going to kill the next detainee who turned up positive on an explosives residue test, and he marched an unarmed Iraqi outside and shot him.

Corrales said on the witness stand yesterday that he made the statement that he was going to kill a detainee only as a scare tactic to get information.

Corrales said he subsequently shot an Iraqi in the backyard after suddenly coming upon the man. Corrales denied escorting the man outside.

Corrales said he subsequently realized the man he shot had been in the house earlier. He could not explain how the man got past the 16 to 18 Schofield soldiers who had secured the interior of the house.

Shore had said Corrales ordered him to "finish" the Iraqi after Corrales shot the man. Corrales denied giving Shore the order, and said Shore fired two shots of his own volition.

Corrales also said he was not sure how an AK-47 rifle ended up near the Iraqi, who suffered five gunshots and died about two days later.

The Associated Press and Advertiser reporter William Cole contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.