Hearing For Staff Sergeant In Afghan Deaths

A soldier accused of masterminding the killings of three Afghan civilians last year and collecting body parts from the dead is due to appear in an Army courtroom..

The Army is reopening a preliminary hearing for Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., on Thursday to give him a chance to question the government's key witness in the case, Pvt. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska. Morlock has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Gibbs is one of five soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle charged in the deaths of the three Afghan men. Some soldiers in the unit said it was his idea to start killing civilians and stage the deaths to make them appear to have been combatants.

Gibbs maintains all of the killings were legitimate.
Associated Press