A U.S. Army soldier accused of an Afghan village massacre is due to appear in a military courtroom Monday, where prosecutors will for the first time lay out their case against him.
Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who is 39 years old and the father of two, is alleged to have walked out of his southern Afghanistan military base under the cover of darkness March 11, gunning down 16 people, including nine children, in nearby villages. Some of the bodies were set afire.
U.S. forces have paid compensation to families of the dead and to those wounded in the attack.
The preliminary hearing Monday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the state of Washington is an Article 32 hearing designed to determine if Bales should face a court martial.
Relatives of the victims and witnesses are expected to testify via videolink from southern Afghanistan.
Bales' wife and his civilian lawyer, John Browne, have said the soldier cannot remember anything about the killings.
Browne has admitted that his client had something to drink before the shooting spree, despite a military alcohol ban.
Browne has said his client was "likely suffering from combat stress." While PTSD is the defense of choice in the media and court, there is no evidentary link between those with PTSD and acts of criminal violence.
Bales, who served three tours of duty in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan last December, is reported to have suffered a traumatic brain injury in Iraq in 2010.
News reports have emerged that Bales has had past brushes with the law in the U.S. involving alcohol. He also had a $1.5 million securities fraud judgement issued against him several years ago.
Bales could face the death penalty if convicted of the shootings. The U.S. military has not executed a service member in five decades. VoA.
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