Fort Hood, Texas – The murder trial of Staff Sgt. Shane Werst – a Fort Carson soldier charged with killing an unarmed Iraqi insurgent suspect – took a temporary step backward when two jurors were dismissed after opening statements.
Werst’s trial was to resume today with jury selection to replace the two panelists. They said they had already formed opinions about at least two witnesses while serving on a previous jury.
The judge denied a defense request for a mistrial but excused the two jurors. Only three jurors remained, and a military jury must have at least five members.
The judge, Col. Theodore Dixon, said more potential jurors would be called today.
After the new jurors are selected, attorneys can repeat opening statements to the entire jury or the new members can read a transcript from Monday, Dixon said.
Werst, 32, faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder and obstruction of justice in the January 2004 death of Naser Ismail.
The killing was allegedly in retaliation for a deadly attack on a U.S. base in Balad that killed Army Capt. Eric Paliwoda.
Werst, of El Toro, Calif., was a combat engineer in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, part of the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division.
When prosecutors called their first witness, 1st Lt. Jack Saville, two jurors interrupted Monday’s proceedings and told the judge they had been jurors in another trial in which Saville was mentioned.
They served in the January trial of Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins, who was convicted of assault and obstruction of justice for forcing three Iraqis into the Tigris River at gunpoint.
Perkins, who was acquitted of manslaughter, was sentenced to six months in prison and was reduced one rank to staff sergeant.
Saville, who was Perkins’ co-defendant, did not testify at Perkins’ trial but was mentioned in other soldiers’ testimony. In March, Saville pleaded guilty to assault and other charges in connection with the river incidents. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to testify against Werst about the house raids that led to Ismail’s death.
Saville and Perkins are also part of Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade.
Because at least one other witness in Werst’s case also testified during the Perkins trial, the judge dismissed the two jurors. Dixon, who during jury selection dismissed one potential juror who served in Perkins’ trial, scolded prosecutors and defense attorneys for not realizing that two remaining jurors also served in that trial.
Earlier Monday, Dixon said he would allow testimony that Werst’s company commander allegedly gave an order for troops to hunt down a list of suspected insurgents. But Dixon would not allow testimony alleging that the commander said none of those Iraqis would come back alive.
Another soldier told Army investigators that Werst punched and shot Ismail, then planted a handgun on him to make the shooting appear as self-defense, according to previous court testimony.
