WASHINGTON, DC -- On 1 May 2008 an Army jury at Ft Hood, Texas returned a verdict of not guilty to all charges and specifications faced by SGT Leonardo Trevino. The jury deliberated for no more than an hour in returning the complete acquittal of SGT Trevino, who was facing allegations of premeditated murder, solicitation of murder, attempted murder and obstruction of justice in the general court-martial. SGT Trevino was defended by civilian attorney Richard V. Stevens. The alleged victim in the case was an Al Qaida insurgent in Iraq.
This case arose out of a 26 June 2007 small kill team (SKT) mission near Muqdadiyah, Iraq. Testimony at trial described SGT Trevino leading the SKT (similar to a sniper team) into an enemy neighborhood that had been taken over by Al Qaida insurgents. The purpose of the mission was to ambush the terrorist insurgents who were launching attacks against American forces, using the neighborhood as their base of operations.
On this mission, four terrorist insurgents were engaged from the SKT's rooftop position; one insurgent was carrying an RPG. After the initial engagement, one insurgent was dead and the three others had escaped. When SGT Trevino and others cleared the house the insurgents were coming out of, AK-47s, ammunition, grenades, IEDs, IED making equipment, Al Qaida propaganda and ski masks were discovered. A blood trail was also discovered which indicated one of the three terrorist insurgents who escaped was wounded during the initial engagement.
The blood trail led to another enemy house in the village in which the terrorist was discovered and where he ultimately died. SGT Trevino's role in the insurgent's death was at issue in the case. During hours of trial testimony, SGT Trevino described the mission and the many threats the SKT encountered, to include threats posed by the second terrorist insurgent who was killed.
The defense in the case focused on the credibility and motives of the witnesses, the apparent planting of evidence in SGT Trevino's room, the inconsistencies between the testimony about what occurred and the picture of the dead insurgent (which did not match what the witnesses claimed), what wound(s) caused the insurgent's death, and, finally, the threat posed by the second terrorist insurgent according to the applicable rules of engagement.
Six days before the Trevino verdict, on 25 April 2008, after approximately seven hours of deliberation, an Army jury at Wheeler Army Airfield returned a verdict of not guilty to all charges and specifications faced by SFC Trey Corrales. SFC Corrales was accused of premeditated murder, solicitation of murder and obstruction of justice in the general court-martial. He was defended by civilian attorney Frank Spinner. The alleged victim in the case was an Iraqi terrorist insurgent.
On the mission in question, SFC Corrales and his troops identified Iraqi terrorist insurgents arming an IED in the road near Kirkuk. This sparked an engagement that included a helicopter missile strike at the insurgents. Ultimately, the insurgent at issue escaped into a village in which he was again engaged by the Americans. He died of his wounds days after the engagement, after being medevaced by the Americans.
Testimony in the case indicated that SFC Corrales risked his life during the engagement to ensure that only the insurgents were engaged, and collateral deaths of women and children in the area were avoided.
The defense in the case focused on the credibility of the witnesses, the threat posed by the terrorist insurgent according to the applicable rules of engagement, and what the source of the fatal injuries was.
Unlike other military offenses, premeditated murder has a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment. Therefore, a conviction on the most serious offense would have mandated a life term in both cases. Both SFC Corrales and SGT Trevino are now returned to their Army units to continue their military service.
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