JURIST - Paper Chase: Court-martial to begin for Marine charged in Iraqi prisoner death

[JURIST] Opening statements in the court-martial of Maj. Clarke Paulus could begin as early as Tuesday afternoon. Paulus is charged with assault, dereliction of duty and maltreatment in the death of an Iraqi prisoner who died while in US custody. Charges arising out of the incident were initially brought against eight men, but were eventually dismissed against everyone but Paulus and Sgt. Gary Pittman, who was convicted of assault and dereliction of duty. Pittman was sentenced to 60 days hard labor and demoted to private first class. During a hearing Monday, military judge Col. Robert Chester ruled that most of the medical evidence in the case against Paulus should be excluded after government prosecutors admitted losing track of body parts from the prisoner. Also Monday, Paulus' defense lawyer argued that the charges should be thrown out on the grounds that the government is selectively prosecuting Paulus. Chester is scheduled to rule on the motion to dismiss Tuesday morning. The San Diego Union-Tribune has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the charges against Paulus.

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