FT. BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury sentenced Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death Thursday night, unmoved by a brief apology he made from the witness stand asking forgiveness for killing two American officers and wounding 14 other soldiers in a nighttime grenade and rifle attack as the U.S. was on the verge of war with Iraq.
If the sentence is upheld, Akbar will be moved to the military death row at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where the 34-year-old Muslim from South Los Angeles will join five other soldiers awaiting execution by lethal injection.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday May 03, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
Army murders -- A headline on a Page 2 news summary in Friday's Section A described Hasan Akbar, the man sentenced to death for an attack on fellow soldiers, as an Army officer. Akbar is a sergeant.
He is the first soldier since the Vietnam War to be convicted of killing a comrade during wartime.
Akbar turned on his fellow soldiers on March 23, 2003, tossing grenades into officers' tents and shooting at them as they ran from the burning compound in Kuwait.
His assault was first thought to be a coordinated attack by Iraqis.
Spending less than a minute on the witness stand Thursday morning, Akbar gave an unsworn statement, which under military law meant he could not be cross-examined.
He spoke so softly that prosecutors cupped their ears to hear. Many of his victims sitting in the front rows had to lean in to hear.
Akbar's lawyers wanted him to submit a six-page written statement to the jury. But they said he decided to speak directly to jurors because he thought the typed version, which was not released, sounded like an "excuse."
He had but 31 words to say: "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness."
The 15 jurors, ranging in rank from sergeant to colonel, deliberated for seven hours; Akbar, standing as his death sentence was read, showed no emotion.
Except for a few muffled cries from relatives of his victims, the only sound in the courtroom was the clanging of iron chains placed on Akbar's hands and wrists and around his waist as he was led away.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael E. Mulligan pointed several times at Akbar and angrily said: "He is the enemy."
Mulligan added: "War is a violent act. War is a dirty business carried out by rough men under extreme circumstances. War is bloody and gruesome. It is carried out by soldiers who have steeled themselves, suppressed their feelings and prepared themselves to fight."
But the attack on Camp Pennsylvania two days before the invasion of Iraq "was Akbar's war," he said.
