The US Army dropped a murder charge, but added others, including steroid use, against a soldier accused in a deadly shooting rampage in Afghanistan, his lawyer said on Friday.
Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is now accused of gunning down 16 civilians in a pre-dawn raid on two Afghan villages in March. Initial reports pinned the number of dead at 16, but the army put the figure at 17 when it first charged Bales.
Due to discrepancies in the names on lists of the victims, officials had apparently counted one of them twice, but are now certain there were 16 killed, said Lieutenant Colonel Gary Dangerfield, a spokesman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where Bales is based.
His attorney, Emma Scanlan, said there was nothing surprising in the new charges, which also accuse Bales of assaulting an unidentified Afghan male with his hands and knees the month before the shooting.
“We’re looking forward to putting on a defense and seeing what they can prove,” she said.
The army dropped off 5,000 pages of discovery materials at the defense team’s office on Friday, she said.
Bales now faces 16 counts of premeditated murder; six of attempted murder; seven of assault; one of possessing steroids; one of using steroids; one of destroying a laptop computer; one of burning bodies; and one of using alcohol.
“At some point, steroid use could become an issue in this case, and where he got it could become an issue in this case,” said Bales’ other lawyer, John Henry Browne.
He declined further comment.
The charges said Bales used steroids or alcohol in the months before rampage.
A 2008 survey by the US Department of Defense showed that 2.5 percent of army personnel had illegally used steroids within the past year — a jump of a full percentage point from three years earlier. Anecdotal reports have suggested that use is not uncommon among soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Increased irritability and aggression — “’roid rage” — is a side effect of steroid use.
According to documents that were obtained in 2010 under a public records request by the Seattle Times, several soldiers in a Lewis-McChord battalion, including a captain, admitted using steroids to bulk up just before a 2009 deployment. They estimated that at least half of the 700 soldiers in their battalion had used steroids.
Bales was assigned to a different battalion.
Dan Conway, a military defense lawyer who has handled several high-profile cases, said he recently had a client who was sentenced to five months after being convicted of steroid use.
The soldier reported that many in his chain of command — including his first sergeant and his battalion’s executive officer — used the drugs.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
POST-UPRISING: Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers were yesterday expected to formally elect Tarique Rahman as their leader and new head of government Bangladesh’s prime minister-to-be Tarique Rahman and lawmakers were yesterday sworn into parliament, becoming the first elected representatives since a deadly 2024 uprising. Rahman is set to take over from an interim government that has steered the country of 170 million people for 18 months since the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown. The lawmakers, who promised loyalty to Bangladesh, were sworn in by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lawmakers are expected to formally elect Rahman as their leader, with President Mohammed Shahabuddin then to administer the oath of office to the prime minister and his ministers
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
RSS