Sentencing expected in US soldier's court-martial

VILSECK, Germany - A U.S. Army master sergeant convicted of murder in the 2007 killings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqis made an emotional closing statement Thursday, urging a jury to let him complete 20 years of military service.

But the prosecution argued that 40-year-old John Hatley _ convicted Wednesday of premeditated murder and conspiracy in the execution-style killings of the detainees _ should be sentenced to life in prison, with or without parole.

A decision is expected later Thursday.

Hatley, who recently underwent knee surgery, limped to the stand to make a closing statement in which he urged the jury to grant him six more months of service, so he could reach a two-decade milestone.

"I've served my country for half my life which I think is the most honorable profession in the world," he said. "I served America with the best men our great country has to offer. And they are so many. My soldiers are like my sons and there's nothing I wouldn't do for them."

Prosecution lawyer John Riesenberg argued the case was about how Hatley used his reputation to lead his soldiers down "the brutal path to murder."

"This among the most colossal failures of leadership," Riesenberg said. He urged the jury to sentence Hatley to life in prison with or without the opportunity for parole, a dishonorable discharge, reduction of rank to private and forfeiture of pay.

Defense lawyer David Court said Hatley was not the evil person the defense was portraying him to be.

"You have to think about what they (these men) were going through (in Iraq) to judge fairly. He loved his soldiers too much, that was his crime," Court said.

He urged the jury to consider what he said were narrow sentencing options and clemency for his client.

According to testimony this week and at previous courts-martial, four Iraqis were taken into custody in spring 2007 after an exchange of fire with Hatley's unit and finding weapons in a building where suspects had fled.

Court has argued that Army prosecutors are basing their case on assumptions and conflicting testimony from this week and other courts-martial, saying there was no physical evidence that anyone was shot or killed. The bodies of the victims have never been found.

Previous courts-martial related to the incident resulted in murder convictions of two other soldiers who served in Hatley's unit.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)