12/02/2008

Associated Press

Defense lawyers presented final witnesses Monday as the military murder trial of a New York Army National Guard soldier wraps up in a Fort Bragg courtroom.

The defense presented the last seven of its rebuttal witnesses for Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez, 41, of Troy, N.Y. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of premeditated murder and faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Three witnesses testified in person, while the rest testified by telephone. One of the witnesses in court, Spc. Ana Portella, told defense attorneys that she never heard Martinez say the words "frag" or "fratricide."

Portella's testimony was in contrast to a prosecution witness who testified last week. Former 42nd Infantry Division cook Sgt. Sandra Pelton said Martinez twice mentioned fragging when he came through her line a few days before the explosion.

The military judge adjourned court at 3:01 p.m. and a military spokesman said it is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning with closing arguments and deliberations.

Martinez is charged in the 2005 deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Louis Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa. Both men were members of the 42nd Infantry Division.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that the lawyers and judge discussed jury instructions during a morning session on Monday.

Martinez was the first soldier from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to be accused of killing a direct superior, a crime known as "fragging" during the Vietnam war.

Prosecutors alleged he planted Claymore anti-personnel mine that detonated June 7, 2005, in a window of the officers' room at Saddam Hussein's Water Palace in Tikrit.

Defense attorneys have said Army investigators have no evidence and targeted Martinez because he was feuding with Esposito.

Esposito supervised the supply room where Martinez worked. The men were at odds because Esposito wanted all the equipment accounted for while Martinez thought the paperwork wasn't necessary, witnesses said.

The situation got more tense as the company prepared to deploy because new and expensive equipment was arriving every day. Esposito eventually planned to move Martinez out of the supply room, several witnesses said.

The military built an operating base around Saddam's palace at Tikrit that sheltered up to 3,000 troops.

The base was attacked by mortar or rocket fire about 200 times during that period during the deployment by the New York troops. When the mine initially exploded, soldiers testified they thought it was an attack from the outside.