Hearing set in Afghanistan killing spree at Lewis-McChodd base

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — A pretrial hearing for the soldier accused of an Afghan killing spree has been set for Nov. 5 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is expected to appear at the Army base for the Article 32 hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. The second week of the hearing will be held in the evening hours so that villagers can testify during daylight hours in Afghanistan.

Defense lawyer John Henry Browne plans to fly to Afghanistan to cross-examine the witnesses, while other members of the defense team remain at Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle.

Bales is accused of killing 16 Afghans in attacks on March 11 on two villages.

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