Jurors say soldier not guilty of murder, mutilation

A Fort Bragg soldier accused of killing an unarmed Afghan and then cutting off the man's ear has been found not guilty on all counts.

The jurors deliberated about four hours before announcing their decision.

Lawyers in the trial of Master Sgt. Joseph D. Newell gave their closing arguments Wednesday morning. The panel began deliberating around 1 p.m.

Newell, 39, of Tecumseh, Mich., was charged with premeditated murder and mutilating a dead body. He could have faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted.

The charges stemmed from an incident during combat operations outside Hyderabad, Afghanistan, on March 5. Newell was a team sergeant with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group when the incident occurred.

The man he shot had been detained after a vehicle stop when Newell discovered a picture of a Russian machine gun commonly used by Taliban forces on the man's cell phone.

Newell testified that he shot the man twice because the man lunged at him during questioning.

Military judge Col. Patrick Parrish instructed jurors that if they found Newell not guilty of premeditated murder, they would need to consider the lesser charge of non-premeditated murder.

Capt. Seamus Barry, a lawyer for the prosecution, said the defense's assertion that Newell acted in self-defense could not be taken seriously.

Barry said eye witness accounts proved the man did not constitute a threat and that if he had lunged, he would have been seen by the witnesses, who were standing three feet and five meters away, respectively.

“This case is about murder. This case is not about a developmental mistake, a close call or self-defense,” Barry said. “The accused had it in his mind that he was going to kill that man.”

Barry said the man was unarmed and defenseless. He told jurors that Newell's actions were discrediting to the Armed Forces and a burden on fellow soldiers, who had to deal with the situation between missions.

“And as if the shooting wasn't bad enough... he severed the man's ear,” Barry said.

Newell was a good man and a good soldier, Barry said, but on March 5, he was a murderer.

“This isn't the movies, where every killer is a monster in a hockey mask,” Barry said. “Good people and good soldiers do bad things.”

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