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Soldier convicted of aggravated assault

A US soldier charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi has been convicted by a military jury of aggravated assault.

Specialist Christopher Shore, based in Hawaii, had insisted that his platoon leader ordered him to kill the Iraqi man on June 23 near Kirkuk and that he intentionally fired to miss.

Aggravated assault carries a maximum of eight years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and a drop to the Army's lowest pay grade.

Shore had no visible reaction when the verdict was read Wednesday. He declined to comment after the verdict and hugged friends and relatives outside the hearing room.

Captain James Leary, the prosecutor in the court-martial, had argued that duress was not a defense for murder, pointing to witness testimony that the victim was talking and moving before Shore fired his weapon.

"Everyone else wants to be back inside. They didn't want to be part of it," Captain James Leary said.

Although Shore may not have wanted to hurt the victim, Leary said, the decision to fire two shots at him was itself illegal.

Shore said he fired at the man after platoon leader Sargent 1st Class Trey Corrales ordered him to finish off the Iraqi, suspected of firing at a US helicopter.

Corrales, charged with premeditated murder, is to go on trial on April 22.
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