JOINT BASE LEWIS- MCCHORD — A lawyer for one of five U.S. soldiers accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport said Tuesday he will ask an appeals court to allow the release of grisly photographs in the case, saying his client can’t present an adequate defense without them.
The Army has kept a tight lid on dozens of photos seized from soldiers in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord infantry platoon because it fears their publication could provoke violent anti-American backlash around the world. Some of the photos depict badly mangled corpses and soldiers posing with dead bodies, according to those who have seen them.
Pfc. Andrew Holmes, of Boise, Idaho, is charged with conspiracy, premeditated murder, and other crimes stemming from the deaths of three civilians in Kandahar province early this year.
Statements from soldiers in the platoon say Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs and Spc. Jeremy Morlock created a “kill team” and discussed how they could get away with killing civilians by making them appear to be combatants.
Gibbs insists all of the three killings were legitimate, while Morlock gave investigators extensive statements describing the plot.
Holmes allegedly took part in the first of the three killings during a patrol in January, after Morlock threw a grenade at a man who emerged from a poppy field. The second killing was in February, and the third in January.
Holmes acknowledges that he had heard Gibbs and others discuss killing civilians, but says he didn’t know he was shooting at a civilian when Morlock yelled, “Grenade!,” and ordered him to open fire.
Much of the Army’s case is based on statements by Morlock, who implicated Holmes in the killing.
Holmes told an investigating officer during a hearing Monday that he “did not commit murder.”
The hearing, called an Article 32 proceeding, wrapped up Tuesday. It involves a military judge looking into charges to see if there is enough evidence to send the case to a court martial.
The investigating officer rejected a request by Holmes’ lawyer, Daniel Conway, to have photographs of the victim’s body presented at the hearing because they’re subject to a protective order.
Defense attorneys are not allowed to have copies of the photos, but may view them at an office at Lewis-McChord, a base south of Seattle.
Conway said after the hearing that the 10 or so pictures of the victim do not appear to show any bullet wounds that could have come from the heavy machine gun Holmes was carrying, and one witness said it appeared that Holmes’ shots missed the man.
“Pfc. Holmes has a right to an open trial and a right to present exculpatory evidence,” Conway said. “When somebody’s shot with a machine gun, you expect there to be bullet holes.”
The investigating officer has access to the photos and will consider them in making his recommendation on whether the case should proceed to a court martial, said Army spokeswoman Maj. Kathleen Turner.
But Conway said he needs to provide copies to a forensic pathologist who could opine about the cause of the victim’s death. He said he expected to file an appeal with the Army Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday, seeking an order that would stay Holmes’ case or allow the photos to be presented in open court.
Holmes father, 8-year Navy veteran Forest Holmes, said after the hearing he was troubled that the Army had charged his son despite a lack of physical evidence.
Investigators said it would have been difficult or impossible to exhume the body months later in a war zone — and even if they did, they said, it would have upset the locals.
“We feel confident our son told the truth,” Forest Holmes said.
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